Fake News: AP, WaPo Claim NRA Bans Guns at Mike Pence Speech

Establishment news outlets put forth stories suggesting the NRA was banning concealed carry during the May 4 segment of the upcoming NRA Annual Meetings in Dallas, Texas.

May 4 is the day President Trump and Vice President Pence will be at the meetings, and outlets like the Associated Press and Washington Times reported the ban on concealed carry in a way that made the NRA appear culpable.

The AP did this with a tweet, which they later deleted, and the WaPo did it with a story titled, “The NRA said guns will be banned during a Pence speech. Parkland students see hypocrisy.”

The problem with the WaPo’s provocative title is that the NRA did not ban concealed carry on May 4. Rather, the Secret Service did–and the WaPo admits this in the text of their column.

The Secret Service made clear that the arena in which Trump and Pence will appear is “under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Secret Service” and, subsequently, a number of different items, including weapons, are banned. Prohibited items include:

• Aerosols
• Ammunition
• Backpacks
• Bags larger than 18”x13”x7”
• Drones and other unmanned aircraft systems
• Firearms
• Glass, Thermal, or Metal Containers
• Gun Parts, Holsters, Magazines, etc
• Knives
• Laser Pointers
• Mace/Pepper Spray
• Selfie Sticks
• Signs
• Toy guns
• Weapons of any kind
• Any other

Hot Air copied the text of the AP’s tweet before it was deleted. It said, “NRA bans guns at President Trump, VP Pence speeches during it’s annual meeting in Dallas.”

As with the WaPo piece, the AP then linked to a story that admitted the Secret Service had actually put the ban in place.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News, the host of the Breitbart podcast Bullets with AWR Hawkins, and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.