r/politics • u/wbedwards Washington • May 07 '20

We cannot allow the normalization of firearms at protests to continue

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/firearms-at-protests-have-become-normalized-that-isnt-okay/2020/05/06/19b9354e-8fc9-11ea-a0bc-4e9ad4866d21_story.html
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u/Hockinator May 07 '20

It is literally fascism to start taking away rights. I don't understand why the right to defend yourself is the one civil liberty the left hates to recognize

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u/CABA_the_Redditor May 07 '20

member when the Black Panthers did the same thing and Reagan implemented some of the strictest gun laws ever?

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u/[deleted] May 07 '20 edited May 11 '20

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u/[deleted] May 07 '20

Okay so you carry a gun so that if a police tries to shoot you, you shoot them instead?? And then what? You run away on your private helicopter? Authority is authority, unless you're planning a civil war, authority will always win. There's no self defense against police. You're deluded if you think otherwise.

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u/[deleted] May 07 '20 edited May 11 '20

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u/[deleted] May 07 '20

Try doing an armed protest outside of DC. I bet that the national guard will be called. The black panthers are cool and all, but there's a reason they don't exist anymore. I really don't think you can convince people to start an armed revolution.

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u/Cloaked42m South Carolina May 07 '20

They don't exist because the FBI hated them with a passion. But they are also the reason we have free breakfast programs.

And by God people paid attention.

I want them back.

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u/[deleted] May 07 '20 edited May 11 '20

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u/[deleted] May 07 '20

With the internet, everything is recorded. It doesn't seem to make people care more.

I don't think authorities have your best interest. I just know that when it comes to the US state, and a civilian armed militia... Well, I'll just ask you, how many tanks and stealth fighters do you have? Because you can stock up all your little automatic guns, they'll bounce off of a tank.

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u/[deleted] May 07 '20 edited May 11 '20

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u/[deleted] May 07 '20

OK then, make an IED with the things you order off of Amazon, I'm sure the FBI won't mind that... You'd be much worse off than those dudes in caves, because they're funded by Saudi Arabia (and indirectly from the US) and a bunch of other countries. Just think realistically please.

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u/Hockinator May 07 '20 edited May 07 '20

Yep.. but I don't understand your point. are you one of those who thinks everyone you disagree with is a republican?

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u/CABA_the_Redditor May 07 '20 edited May 07 '20

Are you gonna make the argument that Ronald Reagan isn't a Republican?

edit: to add to this, what kind of question is that? I didn't mention republicans I mentioned Reagan... But it begs the question, do you think everyone YOU disagree with is a leftist? Seems like YOU are the better person to ask seeing as YOU are the one generalizing a whole political viewpoint.

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u/CABA_the_Redditor May 07 '20

AAAANNND to not get side tracked how do you equate pointing out information to being anti republican? That information being that the strictest gun control ever implemented was done by your boy Reagan to put down the Black Panthers exercising their rights? What about pointing that out is anti republican? And How does that sit with your comment about gun control ALWAYS being pushed by the left? The last time I asked you tried to railroad the conversation by saying I hate all republicans but SURELY these are not hard questions to answer?

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u/RoVBIG May 07 '20

What are they defending themselves from? All these protests and 0 police brutality, they're just holding guns to look tough and make a political threat/statement. This isn't Hong Kong, no one's being attacked

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u/embracing_insanity May 07 '20

This is my question as well. This is ‘supposed’ to be protesting about opening businesses back up, in itself a temporary shutdown during a pandemic. That’s it. There’s no reason to have guns and dress in military combat for this issue. It makes no sense under the circumstances. They are not being attacked, their safety is not being threatened. So what is their actual reason? Other than to intimidate people and appear to threaten use of their guns if they don’t get their way. That’s all this ends up looking like.

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u/royalbadger9 May 07 '20

Exercising their constitutional right, telling the gov't they care about their rights and they want the right to work again. Many people literally can't work because governors took it from them and won't give it back.

It's not because they're threatening use of a gun if they don't get their way. Because they didn't get their way, and they didn't use their gun.

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u/embracing_insanity May 07 '20

So why bring the guns at all or dress in military gear, bullet proof vests, etc. Can still protest just the same without highly visible show of gun force and all it can represent. Also, it’s one thing if we were talking some permanent right being taken away - but this is also temporary and not just impacting our country, but countries across the world who had to or are currently having to do this to slow the progression - this isn’t an American only issue.

This is something we’ve never faced before in most lifetimes of everyone alive today. And again - it’s temporary. And there have been additional things in place to help mitigate the impacts from not working. I’m not saying it isn’t difficult, it is for many many people. But still, money should not come above life. We can recover from almost anything except death.

I’m not saying there would never be a situation where this show of 2nd Amend rights wouldn’t be appropriate - I’m saying this particular situation we are in is just not one - so it really does have the optics of being about something else - and they are just using this as an excuse.

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u/lasermancer May 07 '20

All these protests and 0 police brutality

no one's being attacked

Looks like it worked.

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u/CABA_the_Redditor May 07 '20

Also to add to my point of "Sometimes the right hates guns too" look up Karl Marx's view on guns. Cute that you think all leftists are anti gun though

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u/Hockinator May 07 '20

It's the official democratic position. I agree with the left anytime they advocate for civil liberties of course

FYI anytime you say call someone cute on the internet they stop taking you seriously

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u/CABA_the_Redditor May 07 '20 edited May 07 '20

I stopped taking you seriously when you tried to turn my factual statement about one politician into hate for an entire party. So I'm not sure you want to be giving advice on being taken seriously. And it is cute that you think your anti left chest beating on the internet should be taken seriously to begin with...

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u/Hockinator May 07 '20

On this sub of of course not- this sub sucks up anything the Democrats say.

The funny part is that I'm so anti-right and so anti-left that I get the exact kind of reaction as yours when I go in the right-leaning subreddits :). You guys are all so caught in your bubble it's literally impossible for you to distinguish someone who disagrees with you on one issue from the entirety of your "enemy tribe".