Nebraska is gun country, the sort of place where one of the newsroom hunters sometimes brings deer jerky from a white-tail buck he shot himself to share with colleagues.

We have no problems with responsible gun ownership.

But the sight of gun-carrying citizens and protesters gathering near locations where President Barack Obama is scheduled to speak creeps us out.

Stop it.

This unfortunate trend discourages civic debate and could have the effect of emboldening someone with a sick mind.

It's true, as many have pointed out, that the dozen or so gun-carrying people who gathered outside the convention center in Phoenix where Obama was speaking were merely exercising their legal rights.

So was the man standing with the gun strapped to his leg carrying a protest sign, "It's time to water the tree of liberty," near the location in New Hampshire where Obama was scheduled to hold a town hall meeting.

The sign apparently referred to a quote from Thomas Jefferson that said, "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."

Liberal columnist E.J. Dionne asked a provocative question: "Try a thought experiment: What would conservatives have said if a group of loud, scruffy leftists had brought guns to the public events of Ronald Reagan or George W. Bush?"

There's no doubt in our minds that conservatives would have been upset, perhaps outraged.

The Obama administration so far has shown little reaction. Spokesman Robert Gibbs said the armed protesters were not a "cause for concern" and added that, "There are laws that govern firearms that are done state or locally. Those laws don't change when the president comes to your state or locality."

Just because it's legal doesn't make it a good idea.

The Gun Owners of America group has made the strained argument that health care reform is linked to gun rights because information in a government database possibly would be used to declare people "medically unfit" to carry a gun.

Oh please.

If the group is seriously interested in discussing health care reform, it ought to leave the guns at home. It ought to know that few people will be inclined to argue with someone who is carrying a gun.

No good will come from carrying guns to political events. This trend should stop before it goes any further. Leave the guns at home.