ABSTRACT
In August 2009, a man with an assault rifle slung over his shoulder walked just outside the gates of a Phoenix, Arizona, convention hall where President Barack Obama was holding a discussion about health care reform in the United States. Given a history that includes the assassination of four U.S. presidents by gunfire, it would seem reasonable that the police officers outside the convention hall would use all powers at their disposal to subdue the armed man before he got any closer to the arena where the president was speaking. However, as the man moved around the perimeter of the hall, the Phoenix police officers standing guard quietly watched him without taking any actions to either disarm or restrain the rifle-toting Arizonan.
