At Protests, Guns Are Doing the Talking

[Zorro]

Armed Americans, often pushing a right-wing agenda, are increasingly using open-carry laws to intimidate opponents and shut down debate.

Across the country, openly carrying a gun in public is no longer just an exercise in self-defense — increasingly it is a soapbox for elevating one’s voice and, just as often, quieting someone else’s.

This month, armed protesters appeared outside an elections center in Phoenix, hurling baseless accusations that the election for governor had been stolen from the Republican, Kari Lake. In October, Proud Boys with guns joined a rally in Nashville where conservative lawmakers spoke against transgender medical treatments for minors.

In June, armed demonstrations around the United States amounted to nearly one a day. A group led by a former Republican state legislator protested a gay pride event in a public park in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Men with guns interrupted a Juneteenth festival in Franklin, Tenn., handing out fliers claiming that white people were being replaced. Among the others were rallies in support of gun rights in Delaware and abortion rights in Georgia.

Whether at the local library, in a park or on Main Street, most of these incidents happen where Republicans have fought to expand the ability to bear arms in public, a movement bolstered by a recent Supreme Court ruling on the right to carry firearms outside the home. The loosening of limits has occurred as violent political rhetoric rises and the police in some places fear bloodshed among an armed populace on a hair trigger.

https://tinyurl.com/bdcn25aw

[Aristus]

1. Open-carry has never been about self-defense.

It has only ever been about bullying and intimidation.

[Midnight Writer]

2. Exactly.

[twodogsbarking]

3. Thou shalt not take away thy guns. Amen.

[crud]

4. We went to the women's march in Sacramento 2017

We couldn't bring a sign with a stick attached that was more than 1/2 inch thick.

When will the SC rule that brandishing a gun is free speech. a la Citizens United?

Why would folks be intimidated by armed protestors?

Armed protestors? When this shit started it was easy to see that this kind of thing won't end well.

[Hieronymus Phact]

5. You can only be intimidated...

If you allow them to intimidate you.
if they lay a finger on you, obstruct you at all, if they so much as point one of those guns at you, They are no longer intimidating, now they're threatening and assaulting, and the police need to be deeply involved.
But until then, the intimidation is all within you. Be steadfast, don't give them the reaction they want, march right past and do your business. Feel free to record them as you go by. They're like children looking for attention, don't oblige them. They believe all liberals cower in fear at the mere sight of guns, don't play your expected role. Education reduces fear.

I enjoy clay shooting sports. On a range, safety is everyone's business, as a newcomer you wouldn't notice how keenly people are watching others as they walk by: Is that breach in the required open position? are they careful where it's pointing even when empty? is that bolt closed or open? Is that the appropriate style of gun for this sport? Is the barrel too short for club rules? The point if this is: Very subtle differences in handling make a world of difference. If you're not experienced in observing those differences it will allow them to intimidate you easier. Knowledge is power here, the power to not be intimidated by these antics.

While i have not met these assholes i would not be surprised if that's the situation here too. If they were actually pointing those weapons at people that would be a whole new world of problems and someone like me would have called the cops on them for threatening me with a deadly weapon, or there would be a shootout on the news. Sitting there with a gun may not seem too different than sitting there and pointing it at someone, but it is very different according to the law, and that's why they don't get in much trouble for this. They must be careful to stay within the law.

People are afraid at the sight of these assholes which is their goal, I never said i wouldn't be afraid, (because morons with guns is never a great combination) but i won't be intimidated by these performances, because i recognize them as such, and i know what to look for to see when it crosses the line from performance to threat.

It's a shame that that's where we are now, but we need to be strong and smart about it, or they win.

[lees1975]

6. A friend of mine in Maricopa County, Arizona told me

that he got together with a group of about 40 people and they dropped off their ballots in a box where armed insurrectionists had gathered. They took photos and video, waved the envelopes, announced they were Democrats and had a really good time. Last I heard, they've taken to following the election protesters on their Jericho march around.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

7. We need to start bringing Section 1985 claims against proud boys and neo-nazi orgs

Link to tweet

[Dysfunctional]

8. To me, open carry can get you killed.

Someone who wants to kill a group of people will first shoot anyone they see carrying a weapon.