Press Asks Perry ... Are You Packing Heat?

Texas Gov. Rick Perry is a leading advocate of gun rights who likes to boast of having dispatched a coyote on a recent jog, so I asked him during today's walking press conference at the Iowa State Fair whether he was armed.

"I never comment on whether I'm carrying a handgun or not," he said. "That's why it's called concealed."

(If he was armed, he could have found himself in hot water with the state police over a ban at the fair that has rankled some local gun groups.)

Perry's appearance at the fair, where he challenged reporters on whether they were "tough" enough to walk with him, chomped on meat and a hard-boiled egg and struck rugged poses was a well-staged political triumph. (The word "manly" got thrown around a lot, with varying degrees of irony, in the press pack.) It was also an opportunity to explore Perry's politics, and reporters are currently transcribing their long recordings of his free-flowing comments.