Turned away by security at Obama's Chicago event

I was planning to go to Obama's Chicago appearance this evening. We had tickets and everything. We got there in reasonable time and waited in line for admittance, but upon reaching the door I was informed by security that I would not be permitted to enter with my dSLR. (This despite the fact that I had already seen several people with dSLRs enter.) Apparently the UIC Pavilion considers "cameras with detachable lenses" a security risk because (get this) someone might be tempted to throw the lens. Yeah, right. If there's a risk that I might throw my detachable lens, then there's just as much a risk that I might throw a cheap disposable camera, most of which cost less than the EF and EF-S lenses that my Canon 400D uses.

I was not interested in handing my camera over to some check counter (yeah, right, I'm going to hand over $1200 in midrange photography equipment just because the professional photographer lobby has managed to convince your security people that amateurs with dSLRs are a "security risk"), and so we left the venue. So much for the idea of getting decent photographs of Obama.

I did manage to get a few half-decent shots in on Saturday. Here's one of the best:

If Obama continues to appear in such restricted forums, though, I won't likely be able to do much better, unless, that is, I manage to score press credentials somehow. Maybe I can get them from WikiNews.