open carry protest capital
A protester carries his rifle at the State Capitol in Lansing, Michigan. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

It seems easy to dismiss this bit of naked agitprop linking the expansion of gun rights since over the last 50 years to insurrectionist sentiment and action, since it comes from Michael Bloomberg’s paid flaks at The Trace. Naturally, they trace the roots of the “problem” back to the NRA and Cincinnati. But it’s only a matter of time before this take — linking civilian gun rights, terrorism and insurrection — bleeds through into the wider corporate media.

As the new Congress moves forward with a raft of new gun control measures, look for those pushing the legislation to get plenty of help from their supporters in the jernalizm community, spinning up plenty of thoughtful think pieces on the inherent risks and democracy-endangering knock-on effects of allowing civilian gun ownership.

In other words, they’ll conclude, it’s time to do something.

[T]his is all happening as firearms make their way into more and more public spaces. How do you think the role of guns in political life has changed since 2016? 

Well, I think they’re far more ubiquitous. It’s far more normalized to have people assemble outside places of governance with not just sidearms, but with very lethal weapons. It’s now more common to see that as a feature of political protest than it ever was, in even 2016.

It’s one thing if everyone leaves their guns at home, and you just have an armed populace. It’s another thing if people think, “It is my right to take these arms and overawe the political actors and political process.” That’s why the normalization of public arms at political events is hazardous. If we have a scenario in the future where the people who mobilize with guns have a bigger voice than the ones who respect a peaceful political process, then we are at the end of American democracy.

— Olivia Li interviewing Duke Law Professor Darrell Miller in The Gun Rights Rhetoric That Helped Seed the Insurrectionist Mindset

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72 COMMENTS

  1. So predictable and unimaginative! But like everything else theyve done, theyll probably get away with it. Keep your powder dry boys and girls!!!

    • Absolutely. While Pelosi wants to impeach Trump again over this craziness, AOC gets away with publicly stating “let this moment radicalize you”. Just who is it that foments insurrection?

  2. Much easier link for them to push if a bunch of people in Trump regalia, looking indistinguishable from the mob that invaded the capital, show up at pro-rights rallies such as the one in Richmond.

  3. “with not just sidearms, but with very lethal weapons” – this is their idea of a gun policy expert???

  4. Close, but no cigar.

    What fuels the insurrectionist mindset is perceived threats to civilian gun rights.

    Gun rights proponents just want to be left alone.
    If you don’t start trouble for them, you won’t have trouble from them. .

    • Not just gun rights.

      The inability to defend yourself, period.
      The invasion of privacy and censorship of anything deemed “threatening”.
      Education.

      So many more infringements I honestly dont even know where to begin. And it effects everyone, more so the ones without guns.

      Gun rights are just the easiest to target. Why?

      Because we won’t show up armed and take the capital. We won’t fight police and military. We are “peaceful” and “law abiding”.

      We are selfish cowards. Let it sink in. Those of us who have larped in the past now know there is only one way out. Protests don’t cut it.

    • That and a rigged election. People are much more willing to rebel when they believe a government is illegitimate.

    • Locked up, with any ammo locked up separately, subject to government inspection to make sure it’s not actually ready for use.

      • Heller ruled that expressly unconstitutional.

        Guns in the home may be ready for instant use…

      • Serpent was saying that’s a condition antigunners might, possibly accept – with a few other caveats.

  6. What he obviously doesn’t understand is that guns PROTECT the American republic and our democratically elected representatives…

    • You should understand that the left wants neither a Republic, nor elected Representatives, other than in name only.

      “You’d better get it straight that it’s not a bunch of boy scouts you’re up against… We’re after power and we mean it… ” Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged.

        • They already refer to our nation as a democracy. Have been for a long time.

          North korea is a democracy…

        • “North korea is a democracy…”

          Not according to the North Koreans.

          It’s name is “The Democratic People’s Republic” (DPRK)…

      • I love that line from Atlas Shrugged. Many people on the left are wannabe tyrants, and now ultimate power is within their grasp.

  8. Of course. If we start respecting the peasants’ rights they’ll begin to expect their rights to be respected. That will lead to insurrection when we trample on their rights.

  10. Right, because there were only responsible gun owners at the recent insurrection and attempted violent overthrow of the United States government.

    Of course, the important question is, was this gentleman a member of the same BLM terror cell as Ashli Babbit?

    “A man who had an assault rifle was charged with threatening Nancy Pelosi, the House speaker, after he traveled to Washington for the pro-Trump rally on Wednesday and sent a text message saying he would put “a bullet in her noggin on Live TV,” the federal authorities said.

    Federal agents said the man, Cleveland Grover Meredith Jr., had been staying at a Holiday Inn in Washington and had weapons in his camper-style trailer, including a Glock handgun, a pistol, a Tavor X95 assault rifle and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.

    Mr. Meredith was charged with transmitting a threat in interstate commerce, possession of an unregistered firearm and unlawful possession of ammunition, according to court records. It was not immediately clear if he had a lawyer.“

    • Shhhh.

      Nobody cares about you.

      You will die alone, whimpering to yourself.

      Ignore the troll everyone. It’s getting desperate.

    • So the irresponsible gun owner is being punished to the full extent of the law…

      So what does that have to do with responsible gun owners? You kind of lost me there.

    • minor 49 I Q…After 4 years of the sleazy marxist media pooping in your ears you continue to regurgitate their poo as if it were gospel you could bet your life on. Don’t you know anything coming from the media is never to be trusted?
      When praytell are you going to man up and hold your beloved nasty nice democRat Party liable for centuries of their democRat Party race based atrocities? Why if I did not know better I’d think you were trying to hang democRat Party race based atrocities around the neck of the Party of Lincoln by always pointing fingers at those who voted to reelect POTUS DJT and defeat Jim Crow Gun Control joe and the ho. There is a rain cloud over you and you need to explain yourself or gfy.

    • @MINER49ER
      Quoting your idol nancy Pelosi from the summer of 2020
      “People do what People do” 👊

  11. The left is going to do whatever china tells joe to do. Censorship? Already here. Removing human and civil rights? Underway.

    Universal poverty? In the works.

  13. After the war all mealy mouth gun control nazis will be tried for treason and if found guilty will be sentenced to hard labor in ammo factories. Get the lead out you gun control ratbassturds.

    • “…and if found guilty will be sentenced to hard labor in ammo factories.”

      Not a good idea, they will sabotage the ammunition. Much better to put ’em in a lead mine…

  14. What the fock does she think 2A is for if not to overawe the political class? Which is exactly why the political class hates it.

  15. The “insurrectionist mindset” is NOT coming from the right. It is the left that is behaving like insurrectionists. We are dealing with psychological and biological warfare. Too many people are finding it easier believe lies.

    “Naturally, they trace the roots of the “problem” back to the NRA and Cincinnati.”
    That’s only because the left is so short sighted that they cannot see past their own hatred for the NRA. It’s why it becomes easy for them to refer to the NRA as a terrorist org. It’s an extension of the hate for the Constitution. They have no clue and they don’t care that they don’t.

    “How do you think the role of guns in political life has changed since 2016? ”
    That role has NOT changed. This relates to the hatred of the NRA. Guns and politics of gone together since the founding of the country. It’s why the 2nd Amendment was put there so long ago. The ONLY thing that has changed is that there are ALOT more guns in civilian hands now than ever before. That had nothing to do with 2016, 2017, 2018, or 2019. That had everything to do with 2020.

    “If we have a scenario in the future where the people who mobilize with guns have a bigger voice than the ones who respect a peaceful political process, then we are at the end of American democracy.”
    The ones who respect life ARE the overwhelming majority of legal gun owners in America. It is the left that does NOT respect life. That’s why abortion is so heavily pushed by the left. That is NOT the future, It’s been that way since Roe v. Wade. and likely even before that.

    Duke Law Professor? LMFAO

  16. Yeah, to liberals what happened at the Capitol was their “Reichstag” moment and what they intend to do to conservatives is going to be an extended “Kristallnacht”.

    • The Washington left wants to label the people that broke into the White House as Insurrectionists but that is not what they are. If it were actually an Insurrection then it would have been a great deal more than selfies at Pelosi’s desk. What we say were people ‘breaking and entering’. It was only a serious threat because of the number of people involved. An Insurrectionist does not stop at silliness like that. The only thing that event showed the world is just how easy it is to get in when you have the numbers.

      There is absolutely nothing about it that Trump is to blame for. If anyone can be blamed for it, it is Pelosi, Schumer, the Washington left, and any republican that will not stand up to their wanton destruction.

      Their is a great deal of frustration out there and everyone knows it. There are also a great many guns and everyone knows that too.

  17. Sort of how beating your wife makes plot against you.

    The power structure could just stop beating us.

    Instead they want to double down on the beatings. Yeah. That’ll heal the insurrectionist mindset.

  18. If this was insurrection Biden would not be on his way to the white house. But they will now pass a bill outlawing support for any cause they disagree with. Going to be a big bill for sure.

  19. “The insurrectionist mindset” is fundamental to being an American. It is the mindset that, at the end of the day, the government exists to serve the people and “That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government”

  20. I think that this is what the framers of the constitution had in mind when the added the second amendment.

    • A lot less.

      We are at 37%

      They rebelled at 3%

      What the hell are we waiting for? Leadership? Never gonna find it because it will be censored.

  22. Funny how a stolen national election with every avenue of dispute blocked is OK, but a few protestors being led into the capital by the police is insurrection.

    • Or 3 years of “Russian collusion” with as they would say – “zero evidence”.

      Doesn’t matter what conservatives do, it’s always wrong and immoral. Killing babies is acceptable tho. Because “muh rights”. Funny how that works.

  23. “It is my right to take these arms and overawe the political actors and political process.”????? You mena like these comments?
    “The preservation of the sacred fire of liberty and the destiny of the republican model of government are justly considered, perhaps, as deeply, as finally staked on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people.” -George Washington

    “There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with power to endanger the public liberty.” -John Adams

    “Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny.” -Thomas Jefferson

    “a little rebellion now and then is a good thing.” Thomas Jefferson

  24. Do people forget that an ‘insurrectionist mindset’ is part of why America exists as a sovereign nation in the first place?

    • People forget that without hackers, our computers would not exist.

      I agree with your premise. It comes with a high price though. That’s why only 3% went the distance.

      This is not what we saw last week. What we saw was vandalism. NOT insurrection.

      • Agree with you there.

        I admire the spirit, but beyond that there isn’t much for me to celebrate. That mob beat a man to death.

      • Ye shall be known by the company ye keep.

        Trump supporter and felon, convicted of attempted murder.

        “A news release from the U.S. Department of Justice states Michael Curzio, of Summerfield, has been charged with knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, or knowingly, with intent to impede government business or official functions, engaging in disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds; and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.

        The charges were brought in federal court in the District of Columbia.

        Curzio is a convicted felon. He was charged with attempted murder in April 2012 in Marion County, according to state records. He was sentenced one year later to an eight-year prison term.

        State records show the 35-year-old man was released from prison on Feb. 7, 2019. Locally, he has not been arrested since then.“

        • Please forgive me Chrissy , but I must point out that you are lying, I do not celebrate anyone’s death.

          Open your eyes, almost everyone in this form is advocating for the violent death of their fellow Americans.

          I am one of the few on this forum who does not daily advocate for the violent death of politicians or journalists or my fellow Americans.

          It seems about 70 million Americans have a great difficulty in discerning fact from fiction.

  26. CONSITITUTION AND BILL OF RIGHTS PROTECTS US ALL . MUST PROTECT USA CAPITIAL AND CONSITITUTION FOR ALL OF US . TRAITOR FRAUD tRUMP IS ONLY ONE TRYING TO STEAL THE ELECTORAL VOTES. ELECTORAL VOTES OK WITH HIM WHEN HE WON IN 2016 . BIDEN AND HARRIS WON ELECTORAL VOTES 2020 . THANK GOD .

    • Trump won without Falsifying the Election, Biden couldn’t, not without having the Election Rigged,

      • The proof of that rigging (that so many people say they want) is in the fact that election laws were illegally and unconstitutionally changed just before the election. This is hard proof. But no one in authority seems to care.

  27. We gotta stop saying Gun rights and My Second ammendment rights. Stop. Say Defending life. Defending lives. Stay on OUR message. Dont use their words to say our message. Even though it’s too damn late.

  28. When Trump supporters protest at the Capitol it is not an insurrection. If it was they would have brought a hell of a lot more artillery. Which by the way many of them have. And liberals don’t.

    They were exercising their first amendment rights. Something that obviously upsets a lot of people. Which is why they call it and “insurrection”.

  29. Know I am late to this party. Why are these tools so nervous that people chose to excercize more than one right silimultaneously. I mean there walnut size can’t comprehend that free men and women will do things that they don’t like.

    Also waiting on the Dems to try to make the Republican Party illegal. Hopefully I am wrong.

    Hope they take of the mask so the world can see what Totalitarians at heart they really are and we reclaim control of the government in the next round of elections.

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