After Trump Assassination Attempt, Guns Will Still Be Allowed Near RNC, But Not Tennis Balls

Firearms are not allowed inside the Fiserv Forum and in the immediate security perimeter around the Republican National Convention, which begins Monday night. However, firearms will be allowed immediately outside the convention center in the outer perimeter surrounding the Secret Service-controlled area due to Wisconsin state law.

The situation is under increased scrutiny following the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump on Saturday at a rally in Pennsylvania.

Under Wisconsin state law, citizens will be allowed to carry guns openly and can carry them concealed with a permit inside the “soft perimeter,” which surrounds the inner “hard perimeter” patrolled by the Secret Service. City officials told ABC News they were frustrated by Saturday’s events, but didn’t expect a change.

A recent city ordinance passed by the city of Milwaukee specifies what is prohibited in the outdoor perimeter, including tennis balls and paintball guns. But it does not cover most firearms and only prohibits weapons already banned by the state, including fully automatic weapons.

This means that within walking distance of the RNC convention center — within this “soft perimeter” — people cannot carry a paintball gun but can carry an AR-15.

“It’s absolutely ridiculous,” Robert Bauman, a Milwaukee city councilman who proposed adding firearms to the city ordinance, told ABC News. “I can easily imagine this image of someone approaching the port of entry with, you know, an AR-15 strapped over one shoulder, a long rifle over the other, and two pistols on their belt, and the police officers asking, ‘Do you have any tennis balls?’”

Wisconsin is a gun control state, which allows the public to carry firearms, including assault rifles. State law also prohibits local governments from regulating firearms beyond what the state allows.

“As a city, we can’t legislate outside of that,” Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman said at a news conference on RNC security Sunday afternoon. “Unless there’s something that’s against state law, we have to respect Second Amendment rights, especially when it comes to carrying a firearm in a visible and concealed manner if you have a permit.”

Earlier Sunday, officials speaking in the wake of Saturday’s assassination attempt on Trump said there were no known threats surrounding the convention.

The FBI special agent in charge of the agency’s Wisconsin field office said there has been an expected increase in threats the FBI has seen online.

The Secret Service’s coordinator for the RNC said her agency had made no changes to the security plan and that officials remained confident in the plan they had devised.

“This event is designated as a National Special Security Event, which is the highest level of security for an event that can be designated by the government. So it’s a whole-of-government approach. We’ve gone through an extensive planning process to include many organizations,” said Audrey Gibson-Cicchino.

“There have been no changes to our current operational security plans for this event,” she said.

Gibson-Cicchino also said there were no plans to expand the convention grounds and said she was unaware of any requests from Wisconsin Democratic Gov. Tony Evers to ban guns from the outer perimeter, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.