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Guns, but not tennis balls, will be allowed near the RNC after Trump assassination attempt

Following Saturday’s events, the situation is being examined even more closely.

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

Under Wisconsin state law, people will be allowed to openly carry guns and can carry them covertly with a permit in the so-called “soft perimeter” surrounding the inner “hard perimeter” patrolled by the Secret Service. City officials told ABC News they were disappointed by Saturday’s developments but did not expect any changes.

That means people within walking distance of the RNC convention hall—in that “soft perimeter”—can’t carry paintball guns, but they can carry AR-15s.

“(It’s) completely ridiculous,” Milwaukee City Councilman Robert Bauman, the person who proposed adding guns to this city ordinance, told ABC News. “I mean, I can imagine someone coming up to the entry point with, you know, an AR-15 on one shoulder, a long rifle on the other, two handguns on their belt, and the cops asking him, ‘Do you have a tennis ball?'”

Wisconsin is an open carry state that allows the public to carry firearms — including assault rifles. State law also prohibits local governments from regulating firearms beyond what the state allows.

“We as a city can’t make a law out of this,” Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman said at an RNC security press conference Sunday afternoon. “As long as there’s nothing against state law, we have to respect Second Amendment rights to open carry and concealed carry, especially if you’re licensed.”

Officials said Sunday that there was no known threat surrounding Congress following Saturday’s attempted assassination of Trump.

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

The Secret Service’s RNC coordinator said his agency has not made any changes to its security plan and continues to have confidence in the plan officials have devised.

“This event was designated as a national special security event, which is the highest level of security for an event that can be determined by the government. So, it’s a holistic approach from the government. We had a comprehensive planning process to involve many agencies,” Audrey Gibson-Cicchino said.

“No changes have been made to our current operational security plans for this incident,” he said.

Gibson-Cicchino also said there were no plans to expand the convention perimeter and that she did not know whether Wisconsin Democratic Gov. Tony Evers had requested a ban on guns in the perimeter, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.