Rallying for gun rights

AUSTIN (KXAN) - With empty holsters on their waists, gun rights activists left their weapons at home and showed up to the Austin Police Department armed with miniconstitutions instead.

"The founding fathers believed the second amendment was the authority clause to protect the first amendment, the third amendment and the fourth amendment," said Harlan Dietrich, owner of Brave New Books . "You need to have an armed populace, that is willing to stand up to its government to protect those rights."

The rally comes after APD told the property owners of a local gun show spot that crimes were being committed on their property with illegal gun sales. The property owners eventually decided to shut down the show and avoid a liability.

"Some people would go to certain vendors, attempt to purchase a firearm, and if they were asked to fill out paperwork or do a background check they would bypass them and go to another vendor until they found one that didn't require a background check," said Det. T.J. Vineyard, with the Austin Police Department.

APD originally made recommendations that the gun show use only licensed gun dealers to sell firearms or have federal firearms licensees assist with the transactions. Police also said the property should hire security to keep an eye out for illegal parking lot deals.

Activists said these recommendations will only serve to intimidate people from holding gun shows in the first place.

"They're still going to get illegal firearms because they're criminals," said John Bush with Texans for Accountable Government . "The law abiding citizens who use firearms properly to defend themselves, their property and their family - they're the ones who get the bad end of the deal."

APD said police did not make the decision to shut down the gun show and they merely wanted to make sure illegal immigrants and felons were not illegally getting their hands on guns.