The nation stands alert, anxious about armed actions planned for Jan. 17 and Jan. 20 to contest the election of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. The FBI has warned of the potential for armed demonstrators targeting legislatures, and extremist groups have made their intentions clear on message boards.

Last week we witnessed an insurrection, with white supremacists storming our nation’s capital, some ready to take whatever actions they thought necessary to ensure their leader remained in power, despite decisive Electoral College and popular votes against him. The insurrectionists killed a police officer, brutally beat news reporters and other police officers, and chanted, “Hang Pence.” The Capitol was breached, leadership were rushed to secret secure locations, congressional offices were stormed, and bombs were planted outside the offices of the Democratic and Republican National Conventions. Many members of Congress and staff and those charged with securing their safety feared for their lives. After a long summer of protesting to affirm to the nation that Black Lives Matter, we saw the Confederate flag on parade in the U.S. Capitol.

As the nation steels itself for the threat of repeat performances across the country, some have asked what states can do to protect their people and representatives. In particular, can weapons be banned at protests? In the ACLU’s view, the answer is yes — so long as the ban is applied neutrally to all, without regard to the viewpoints of a march.

To be clear, what happened at the Capitol on Jan. 6 was not a protest, but a violent insurrection that left five dead and many more injured and endangered. Violence, true threats, and incitement have no place in the exchange of ideas and are not protected by the First Amendment.

But where the issue is a protest and one that is peaceful, can states nonetheless ban protesters from carrying guns? Yes.

The U.S. Supreme Court has held that the Second Amendment protects a right to possess a gun in one’s home, but that right is not absolute. As the Supreme Court stated, it is not a “right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose.” The Second Amendment permits “reasonable regulations” of arms. Indeed, the court was explicit that nothing in its opinion recognizing a right of individuals to bear arms “should be taken to cast doubt on … laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings.”

We have longstanding laws to keep guns out of sensitive places like government buildings and airports. Visitors can’t bring guns into the U.S. Capitol or the Supreme Court. In other jurisdictions, people can’t bring a gun to polling sites during voting. Police confiscate any weapons that revelers bring to the National Mall on the Fourth of July every year. The rationale for these constraints is clear: Guns create safety risks that the state has a right to regulate. While some regulations of the possession and use of guns raise Second Amendment concerns, a ban on carrying weapons at a protest does not.

The result is the same under the First Amendment. To be sure, openly carrying a gun can send a message, but the government has long had the power to set limits on the time, place, and manner of assemblies. Such restrictions need only be reasonable and content-neutral, meaning that they apply equally to all, regardless of ideology, political affiliation, or message. The government can limit the hours and volume of protests held outside hospitals or schools, for example — as long as the rule applies without regard to the content of the speech.

Similarly, a ban on guns is a reasonable time, place, and manner restriction on a protest — provided that it is applied uniformly to all protests and all protesters. It’s about safety, not expression.

Importantly, barring weapons at a protest doesn’t stop gun owners from speaking about any topic. It doesn’t stop speech in protest of the restriction, nor does it stop speech however odious or hateful. Those who seek to protest Donald Trump’s loss in the November election are free to do so — as long as they do so peacefully. And states and local governments also have the authority to bar weapons at protests.

Our right to speech is about words, not weapons.

This past weekend, the national board of the ACLU convened an emergency meeting to respond to the events at the Capitol building on January 6. After hours of deliberation, the board voted unanimously to call for the impeachment of Donald Trump—for the second time—just days before his term is set to end. The resolution published by the National Board states “President Trump has … violated his oath to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution, and poses a ‘grave and imminent threat to civil liberties.'” On Monday, Congress followed suit, filing an article of impeachment.

“Impeachment is important even if the president is not removed, because I think what the impeachment does is it provides accountability,” this week’s podcast guest, ACLU President Susan Herman told listeners. “It stands as a record that this president has committed high crimes and misdemeanors.”

Herman, who is the Ruth Bader Ginsberg Professor of Law at Brooklyn Law School, joined us to discuss how the ACLU came to this historic decision, how the impeachment process works, and what it may mean for the future.

Why the ACLU Called for Trump's Impeachment

Why the ACLU Called for Trump's Impeachment

This past weekend the national board of the ACLU convened an emergency meeting to respond to the events at the Capitol building on January 6th. After hours of deliberation, the board voted unanimously to call for the impeachment of Donald Trump, j...

This past weekend the national board of the ACLU convened an emergency meeting to respond to the events at the Capitol building on January 6th. After hours of deliberation, the board voted unanimously to call for the impeachment of Donald Trump, j...

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The post was first published in Florida Phoenix.

Florida presents an ever-changing political landscape. One only needs to study Florida outcomes in general elections the past 20 years to confirm that.

What doesn’t change is the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Florida’s commitment to civil liberties, social justice and citizen participation in our state, despite shifting political winds. We don’t back candidates from any political party, ever. What we champion is the exercise of democracy and equality.

Despite opposition and obstructionism by state leaders — led by Gov. Ron DeSantis — Floridians embrace the ideal of building a Florida that works for everyone. They have demonstrated that many times but especially in 2018 when 65 percent of Florida voters approved Amendment 4, which restored the right to vote to some 1.4 million returning citizens.

The governor and his allies then undermined the will of the people by imposing a poll tax on those would-be voters. But knowing that Floridians are with us, and that we are on the right side of history, we will continue to champion civil rights and liberties. In the face of inaction and oppression from state leadership, our call will be, “We Make The Way.”

The ACLU of Florida is creating a movement that will protect and advance our civil rights for generations to come. To establish the groundwork for lasting change, our goal is to engage at least 2.2 million citizens to vote and advocate for our shared values. We are pursuing an aggressive, multifaceted, statewide strategy to activate this electorate, build long-term power, and create lasting impact.

This year we will work at the state level to advance equality and justice, but ACLU of Florida staff, volunteers and supporters will also increase our activism directly at the grassroots level. It is time to bring our state’s policies in line with the values of our communities.

We will continue to aggressively defend voting rights in 2021. In addition to advocating for the right to vote for returning citizens, we will push for expanded early voting days and hours so that as many Floridians who are eligible to vote can exercise their right at the ballot box. We will press all Florida counties to improve their signature matching methods so that perfectly valid vote-by-mail ballots are not rejected by local voting officials.

Florida’s immigrant population is vital to our economy and our culture, but in recent years  Gov. DeSantis and other state leaders, promoting the virulent anti-immigrant rhetoric spewing from the White House, turned against immigrant communities.

The passage of Senate Bill 168 in 2019, which requires local law enforcement to act as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and enforce detainer requests, has exacerbated a climate of fear and intimidation for immigrants in Florida.

In 2021, the ACLU of Florida will again push for the repeal of Gov. DeSantis’s SB 168 law as well as proactively seek to strengthen protections for immigrants at the local level. We will also continue to call for the repeal of other accords between local jurisdictions and federal immigration authorities that violate the rights of immigrants, such as 287(g) and Warrant Service Officer agreements.

The cry for criminal justice reform echoed nationwide in 2020. What was Gov. DeSantis’ response? He proposed legislation that at best criminalizes the First Amendment right to protest, and at worst, further perpetuates and institutionalizes white supremacy and violent policing.

His proposal is undemocratic and hostile to Americans’ shared values. Gov. DeSantis has one goal: to silence Floridians who want to see justice for Black lives lost to racialized violence and brutality at the hands of law enforcement. The ACLU will defend the constitutional right to protest of all Floridians.

We will also continue to push for criminal justice reforms in Florida, starting with an increase in rehabilitation credits, which will encourage incarcerated people to participate in educational, vocational and self-improvement courses that decrease recidivism, make our communities safer, reunite families, and save Florida taxpayers hundreds of million of dollars wasted on mass incarceration.

Bipartisan groups of elected officials in other states — including our neighbors in the South — have been making these reforms for years; Gov. DeSantis and Florida legislative leaders now have the opportunity to follow their lead.

The ACLU will also campaign to end mandatory minimum sentences and will press state attorneys to adopt sentencing reform. We will go to the courts to try to block the use of unaffordable bail and will campaign to end driver’s license suspensions for non-driving offenses.

We can create a Florida that is more just, more equal, and more free. To see the path toward justice, democracy, and equality in Florida, we must make our own way. We Make The Way — and we can do it together. “WE MAKE THE WAY” TOWARD A MORE FREE AND EQUAL FLORIDA.