Strict rules in place during next month’s Republican National Convention ban Coke cans, glass bottles, tennis balls and “any projectile launcher,” specifically BB guns, paintball guns and water guns from a broad swath of downtown Cleveland. But actual guns are allowed in public areas of the restrictive 1.7 square mile event zone.

And at least some people traveling to the convention are expected to seek to exercise their right to bear firearms in full view of the public, as allowed by Ohio law, following violent clashes this year outside Donald Trump rallies in cities across the country.

“You can take my string and you can take my duct tape, but you can’t take my gun – it’s open carry,” says Tim Selaty, director of operations at Citizens for Trump, a coalition of groups including bikers and truckers who support the presumptive GOP nominee.

Citizens for Trump, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio, last week won a ruling from a federal judge shrinking a large event zone in which various weapons and everyday items like canned goods and lumber – but not guns – will be banned.

Dan Williams, a spokesman for the city of Cleveland, confirms guns will be allowed within the event zone.

“That’s what we have to abide by: state law, open carry,” he says.

Although nearby protesters will be allowed to pack heat – so long as they don't cool down with a canned soda – guns will not be allowed inside the actual Quicken Loans Arena convention venue, despite pressure from gun advocates.

A Secret Service spokesman said earlier this year federal law "provides the Secret Service authority to preclude firearms from entering sites visited by our protectees," and that only law enforcement "working in conjunction with the Secret Service for a particular event may carry a firearm inside of the protected site."

Outside of Secret Service-protected sites that host convention-goers, Selaty says there’s reason to believe there will be a need to protect against violence, rattling off the names of controversial groups and individuals who have expressed interest in visiting Cleveland.

“Now you’ve got Westboro Baptist in the mix, the KKK and David Duke, you’ve got anarchist groups showing up, Black Panthers, Black Lives Matter, communist groups showing up – you’re talking about, for lack of better words, ‘The Purge’ here,” he says, referring to a film in which all crime is permitted one night each year.

“Once you’re inside our event area, you’ll be protected,” he says.

The pro-Trump group has a conference call Friday with city officials regarding access to a city park along the Cuyahoga River for a rally. Striking a final arrangement would move settlement of the ACLU lawsuit’s First Amendment claims closer to being submitted to the judge for approval.

The lawsuit settlement, still is being finalized, doesn’t expand the right to carry guns, which never was curtailed by strict rules rolled out in May, but it does beat back other restrictions, allowing area residents including the homeless to carry banned items.

Other goods specifically prohibited for nonresidents include “containers of bodily fluids,” gas masks and umbrellas with metal tips.

The final details of Citizens for Trump’s protest plans and those of a left-wing coalition, Organize Ohio, will be hashed out before the final lawsuit settlement is presented to a federal judge for approval after the Fourth of July holiday, ACLU of Ohio spokesman Steve David says.

The ACLU won a broad, although not comprehensive, victory with its lawsuit, reflected in amended rules approved Wednesday by the Cleveland Board of Control.

The city’s original 3.5 square mile event zone, announced last month, was hemmed to about 1.7 square miles, David says, expanding the number of parks available for rallies.

A single first-come, first-serve “Official Speaker’s Platform” lost its monopoly on speeches within the event zone. People still won’t be allowed to bring soapboxes or milk crates, but they will be permitted to stand on existing items such as park benches.

And a designated parade route was extended. Marches will no longer terminate in an “industrial wasteland” but rather next to downtown, David says.

Cleveland officials, meanwhile, are somewhat tight-lipped about contingency plans for a large number of arrests. Though they claim they regularly arrest a large number of people and therefore can handle an influx efficiently, Philadelphia – an even larger city that will host the Democratic convention – has reopened an abandoned prison turned horror movie set to house protesters.

As part of a lawsuit last year, the ACLU forced the city to refine its mass-arrests protocol to ensure prompt detainee processing.

“It is in the city’s police protocol that they should have those arrangements in place so people can be processed efficiently through the court system, instead of languishing waiting for attorneys and prosecutors,” David says.

A request to interview David Carroll, acting commissioner of Cleveland’s Division of Correction, was denied by Williams, who cited security concerns. Carroll said he could not speak without authorization, but at a May press conference said the city had struck deals with neighboring jurisdictions to take inmates if there are large numbers.