What Presidents might have carried a weapon, concealed or otherwise?

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orpington

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A recent thread about Trump and his statement that he has carried a concealed weapon in the past inspired this thread. I would LOVE it if, not only did he carry a weapon, but that he would not even conceal it!

However, which Presidents might have had a weapon with them, irregularly or otherwise? This seems like it could have been fairly commonplace in the 19th Century, but this is just a guess. Without knowing the facts, this sounds like something that President Andrew Jackson might have done. But again, this is nothing more than a guess, educated or otherwise.
 
It would have made more sense in the era before Secret Service protection. Teddy Roosevelt probably carried, considering that his predecessor, McKinley, had been assassinated by a man using a pistol at close range. Roosevelt was a big gun fan anyway. (Incidentally, the McKinley assassination was the very thing that prompted Secret Service protection of the President.)
 
I don't think it really matters "whether or not."

The mere fact that the issue has come up in the normal information outlets tends to normalize the idea that ordinary folks should be able to bear arms.

We need that.
 
I don't know about American Presidents, but Winston Churchill carried a small revolver in the 1920s and 1930s. When there was assassination attempt on him early in the war his bodyguard persuaded him to upgrade to something with a bit more firepower. He began pocket-carrying a Model 1911 in .45 ACP and did do at least for the duration of the war.

I never saw mention of Roosevelt carrying a gun, but Churchill related an incident at the Qeubec Conference in 1943. An inventor had brought a block of "bulletproof" material he wanted to use to build unsinkable aircraft carriers. George Marshall hauled his service pistol out and took a shot at it to see if it was really bulletproof. Right in front of three chiefs of state and various muckety-mucks. Who were probably tetchy until their ears stopped ringing...
 
Thomas Jefferson. The NRA museum has one of his pocket pistols, one of a pair. The other is lost.
 
Mother Jones Magazine, of all places, has a good layout of Presidents from Teddy Roosevelt onward carrying and firing guns, including Ike and JFK.

When they're not coming for yours, presidents love their guns. Below, photos of modern presidents enjoying their right to bear arms. (And scroll down for some bonus shots featuring Eleanor Roosevelt, Dick Cheney, and Joe Biden.)
Click to expand...
 
Teddy Roosevelt was quite the gun guy...
theodore_roosevelt.jpg
 
Revisionist historians have probably scoured away much of the record of presidents and their relationship with weapons but I find it hard to believe that many haven't kept one close before, during or after their time in office.
 
I realize that many Presidents owned firearms--I know that TR used them regularly, a gun given to Lincoln is in the Smithsonian, and a S x S shotgun and an M1 Carbine(?), belonging to Benj. Harrison and Kennedy, respectively, were recently auctioned off. And Cleveland was an outdoorsman as well. BUT, what Presidents might have carried a sidearm, while President, within arm's length, other than Truman and Reagan, as mentioned above.

I learned something in my research. I thought the Secret Service was formed in 1865 to protect the President; it was indeed formed that year, but to combat counterfeiting. MOST INTERESTING, as, given the times, it seems to me it would have formed then in response to Lincoln's assassination. Indeed, its role was not to protect the President until 1901, following the assassination of two more presidents, Garfield in 1881 and McKinley in 1901. Also, President Taylor died in office in 1850, and I'm not sure it was ever definitively determined that he perished from natural causes, or not?
 
Lincoln was a gun guy and even designed a rifle sight. He scared his bodyguards by testing guns on the WH lawn. Teddy supposedly carried a FN semi in his tux and once dropped it on the foot of the King of Spain. If this is true, I don't know.

Most politicians will go shoot an O/U shotgun at the dreaded skeet to show they support the 2nd Amend.!
 
I don't believe leadership should be some privileged class but I do believe they should lead and if there are arcane laws on the books that allow the President and others to carry in DC and elsewhere I'd love to see it and have them promote the notion for the public at large.
 
X-Rap said:
I don't believe leadership should be some privileged class but I do believe they should lead and if there are arcane laws on the books that allow the President and others to carry in DC and elsewhere I'd love to see it and have them promote the notion for the public at large.
Click to expand...

I'm thinking that when you are the head of the Executive branch and all of the military, police, FBI, NSA, etc works directly for the executive branch, it comes with some perks like being permitted to carry.
 
Trump won't open carry because of all the gun people who would get all backed up over him not carrying their weapon of choice. Actually, he wouldn't care.

Digging into the deep past for presidents carrying guns is irrelevant. Presidential protection wasn't anywhere near what it is today and neither was anti gun sentiment. It was a different world very different from ours.
 
shafter said:
Trump won't open carry because of all the gun people who would get all backed up over him not carrying their weapon of choice. Actually, he wouldn't care.

Digging into the deep past for presidents carrying guns is irrelevant. Presidential protection wasn't anywhere near what it is today and neither was anti gun sentiment. It was a different world very different from ours.
Click to expand...

It certainly was a different world. Three Presidents, Lincoln in 1865, Garfield in 1881, and McKinley in 1901, were assasinated, up close and personal by handguns, in a 36 year time period, and the public barely batted an eye.
 
I'd like to know if that is actually codified into law or just assumed and also how far down into the Gov it goes.
Can the attorney general or other appointees carry?
VP or speaker?
 
Squire Western said:
It certainly was a different world. Three Presidents, Lincoln in 1865, Garfield in 1881, and McKinley in 1901, were assasinated, up close and personal by handguns, in a 36 year time period, and the public barely batted an eye.
Click to expand...

There was enough death in Lincoln's day for no one to waste too much time grieving someone who didn't fight. That's not a plug against Lincoln, it's more of a mindset of well I that's why we have vice presidents. The country was numb by spring of 65. In the years following we were growing and exploring rapidly. Why mourn someone who's face you may have seen once or twice in a newspaper?
 
shafter said:
There was enough death in Lincoln's day for no one to waste too much time grieving someone who didn't fight. That's not a plug against Lincoln, it's more of a mindset of well I that's why we have vice presidents. The country was numb by spring of 65. In the years following we were growing and exploring rapidly. Why mourn someone who's face you may have seen once or twice in a newspaper?
Click to expand...

All you are doing is agreeing with me. The public was blase' after the carnage of the War Between the States killed close to a million combatants and civilians.
 
I am just glad to see a modern President who even admits to owning a firearm. I did not think the PC politics would ever allow it.
Big Don, belongs to the NRA and carries a concealed weapon. I am relaxed and the sun is shining through the clouds. ;)
 
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