-- Members of Congress Who Ought to Know Better

Members of the United States Congress do the very same thing. Some of them rationalize they have "researched" the subject and found it lawful. I sincerely doubt it. I suspect, more likely, these people have been thinking within the framework and limitations of an ideology instead of law. Some people don't know the difference!

They will only object if it should happen to themselves; to other people it is justifiable. After all, such people could be "emotionally unstable" ["You know!"] or "carrying weapons unlawfully" ["You know!"]. Actually, under law, even if they are really searching for "unlawful weapons," they would still need "probable cause" to search anyone in particular and, if that person should be in lawful possession of a weapon, they could not confiscate it, as they presently do in public buildings.

It's alright for them to carry weapons, however (many attorneys and judges routinely carry firearms in court). But all strangers are potentially unstable, hence the justification for searching strangers.

All friends, and their friends' friends, are perfectly normal and stable. Strangers are not allowed to arm themselves. They could be dangerous ["You know!]! But they themselves are never dangerous; they are only arming themselves from potentially dangerous strangers! After all, they have a "right" to defend themselves -- true -- but fail to recognize everyone else has precisely the same right. No one has a right to supersede the rights of other people.