This comes as the shooting in Dallas is making Republican National Convention organizers in Cleveland increasingly concerned about Ohio’s open-carry laws. During the sniper attack in Dallas Thursday, Texas’s open carry laws made it difficult to determine who were suspected shooters and who were protesters. At least 20 marchers attended the protest openly carrying AR-15s and other military-style rifles—which is legal in Texas. During the Dallas attack, police circulated a photo on Twitter identifying an African-American protester carrying a weapon as a shooting suspect. The man, Mark Hughes, turned himself in to police and was released after being detained and questioned for hours. His lawyer has said he’s since received hundreds of death threats. After the attack, Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings said he supported increased gun control: “There should be some way to say I shouldn’t be bringing my shotgun to a Mavericks game or to a protest because something crazy should happen. I just want to come back to common sense.” Ohio also has open-carry laws. The RNC begins in Cleveland next week.
