Protester carried rifle as publicity stunt

PHOENIX, Aug. 19 (UPI) -- A protester who carried a semiautomatic rifle near the Phoenix Convention Center as President Obama spoke about healthcare reform said it was a publicity stunt.

The man, who identifies himself only as "Chris," appears in a YouTube video, shot Monday, showing off his rifle and saying it "aids me in my resistance efforts," The Arizona Republic reported.

"We will forcefully resist people imposing their will on us through the strength of the majority with a vote," Chris tells an Obama supporter in the video. "Just because you sic the government on people doesn't make it morally OK to steal money from people. Taxation is theft."

Chris had met with Libertarians with whom he had worked on Ron Paul's presidential campaign, and they helped arrange the stunt, the Republic said.

Ernest Hancock, the publisher of a Libertarian publication, Freedom's Phoenix, told CNN Chris was a Phoenix-area resident, an independent conservative and a member of the John Birch Society.

Chris was one of a dozen demonstrators carrying firearms at the rally. Arizona law allows people to openly carry firearms in public.