I did a “whiskey-tango-foxtrot” when I read this. I’m surprised the Gipper didn’t tell his security detail to pound sand.
Ronald Reagan had a long history with guns. As a young man, he supposedly used a Colt pistol to save a person he saw being attacked in the street (no shots fired). Nancy Reagan spoke of the “cute little gun” she kept readily at hand in the White House. Legend says that Reagan got a permit to carry a Smith & Wesson .32 in a shoulder holster when he got death threats back in his Screen Actors Guild days.
Most American presidents have been gun owners…until, ahem, recently. There is that faked-looking photo of Barack Obama shooting at clay birds. Bill Clinton had some part in assassinating a duck with a Benelli shotgun in a waterfowl hunt supposedly staged to show his support for Second Amendment rights. (Yeah, right.) And, yes, when you kill something for political reasons, I think “assassination” is the appropriate term.
A bit more on Presidents and their guns, and more discussion on Secret Service separating Reagan from his guns.
When we read the story, we assume it happened during his Presidency. However, the Secret Service protection continues after the Presidency, as well. Maybe I missed it, but I couldn’t find a date for the incident. Could it have occurred when he was borderline with Alzheimer’s? If so, that would explain why they insisted on him giving up his guns and he why he complied (probably with pressure from Nancy).
Given the recent scandals involving the U.S. Secret Service, a president today would be wise to carry his own piece.
Probably uttered by today’s secret service:
“Thinskin shot. Into the water, we need a new ball”
@TW:
From the article:
“The heron scare at the ranch happened before John Hinckley, Jr., tried to assassinate Reagan at the Washington Hilton.”
Which happened 69 days into his presidency (first term).
President Reagan was too much a gentleman to tell anyone to pound sand.
As a young sports announcer Reagan with gun saved a woman, see here:
http://www.wnd.com/2004/06/24991/
Also, it is likely Reagan carried a snub revolver in his briefcase while POTUS, see here:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/president-ronald-reagan-packed-heat-briefcase-article-1.2257391
He supposedly carried a 1911 in a shoulder holster the first time he met with Gorbachev in Iceland.
Somewhat related: Eleanor Roosevelt disliked being attended by Secret Service agents, and would often ditch them. The Director of the Service finally told her, “If you won’t let us do our job, at least be prepared to protect yourself.” She agreed to carry a .38 issued to her by the Service, and trained with it at the Service’s DC range. She carried it for the rest of FDR’s Presidency, and probably until her death.
She still had it in the 1950s, when she went to a civil rights event in rural Tennessee, in the face of death threats from the KKK. A local lady picked her up at the Nashville airport; as they drove off to the event, Mrs. Roosevelt had her gun out on the car seat.
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