The Antifa group mentioned in that article does support gun rights, but they have issued a statement that their position on this March was mischaracterized.
https://antifa7hills.blackblogs.org/
I’d never heard of this group before. But about 6 seconds of Googling revealed that the National Review, predictably, didn’t do a good job reporting this.
::shakes fist at LHOD::
On the bloody morning after, how many tin soldiers will ride away?
To go a bit against the grain here, I think while there will be a turnout, it will not be as many as they think, and while there will be much bold talk and flourishing of weapons, there will be no significant violence in Richmond tomorrow.
For one, there has been so much forewarning that the cops will be prepared and in large numbers and most of these guys (and it is, IMHO, mostly guys) really are not looking for a confrontation with armed officers; they want to yell and shout and act rowdy but not too rowdy…
Because in the end they do not have what it takes to be revolutionaries. They are not that smart, they are not as organized as one thinks (despite the advantages of twitter and other social media), and despite their talk, they are not going to start an uprising where a large number of them are likely to be shot.
Best I can describe them is that they are the modern version of the Copperheads. To give a very brief history (you can google for much more), this was a movement to end the Civil War by taking over the Northern government or splitting the Western states (in this case Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, etc., into an independent nation itself). They held mass rallies, elected Congressmen (see Clement Vallandigham) and took over state legislatures, and talked pretty big at the time…but never steeled themselves to do something that the ruthless men in Washington (and Lincoln, for all his whimsy, was one of the most ruthless men ever in the White House when it came to reaching his goals) would react to violently.
I could be wrong. But there has been actions before (Ruby Ridge, Oklahoma City, those nuts in the Park out west) that called for mass support–and got virtually nada.
My prediction is the same as those. Much sound and fury, but in the end signifying nothing.
IMHO as always. YMMV.
Not to overly detract from the ongoing conversation or its real-world seriousness, I found this paragraph from the news link in Post 26 of this thread to be darkly hilarious, particularly the final sentence:
“Although the document suggests the group member believed to be Mathews stayed with a Georgia cell member for months, he is later reportedly characterized as “incompetent” and “stupid” and is seen as a liability to the local group. In fact, he eventually becomes a new potential murder target.”
I think that now there have been some arrests, the would-be militia are probably going to play it safe and either not show or show but keep themselves in check. But had it not been for law enforcement apprehension of these homegrown traitors, this could have been ugly. We’re lucky in the sense that these guys were stupid: they wanted attention. I worry about the rabid ideologue who isn’t just talking shit to get his mug spread on the internet but actually wants to wreck people and doesn’t care whether he’s famous or not.
I gotta tell you, I don’t think this is true. Trump is an idiot. He doesn’t want distractions from the impeachment. He wants to crush those who dare impeach him, or at least, tweet a bunch of schoolboy taunts. Inevitably, a different news story comes along at some point and gets our attention because that’s how news works. Then people endow Trump with a caginess his pea brain doesn’t have and claim he found a clever way to distract from the impeachment or whatever we’re all ticked about.
Alternate camera angle:
A lot of people there.
God look at those little weirdos playing dress up.
But Alex Jones is there, I’m sure he’ll provide a calming influence. (He’s also in the gun free zone, maybe he’s a bit concerned?)
Just a quick indication of the judiciousness of the attendees.
Yes, I agree this rally is a potentially volatile situation where a mistake in judgement could lead to a cascade of violence. And the reason that this situation is so volatile is idiots like you with more bullets than brains, who think the solution to chaotic gun fire is more chaotic gunfire.:smack:
All the headlines I’m seeing just say “thousands.” Is that three, 50, or 100 thousand? Big difference.
From the washington post
So probably in the vicinity of 10,000 maybe more.
So to protest the disarming of The American Patriot, they allowed themselves to be disarmed.
Brilliant.
Thanks. 
This is a preview of what we’re going to see surrounding the White House if trump loses the election.
:dubious:
“In common use” where? Define “common”. Define “use”.
Credit where it’s due, from what I’m hearing, the organizers have managed to keep this a bloodless event. I wasn’t expecting that, so good job, gun rights folks.
I mean, that’s setting the bar pretty low, but yeah, congrats to them for fairly earning their “We Didn’t Murder Anybody Today” merit badge.
This article from a local news outlet says 22,000.
Sounds about right from what I’ve seen. Because one thing I noticed is that the actual rally area, where guns were NOT allowed, wasn’t really incredibly crowded. But the streets outside were
The attendance statistics I’m seeing are a bit mixed up.
Was it “hundreds” in the fenced-in no-guns zone and 6000 more outside?
Or was is 6,000 in the no-gun zone and even more outside?
I imagined it would be an all-day morning-to-night hate-fest with tiki torches after dark. Apparently it didn’t happen like that at all. Did it actually wind down and dissipate after just a few hours?
Good on the gun nuts, I guess, for keeping it civil. From what I read, there were NO arrests, NO violence, and only a small handful of very minor incidents. They even left NO litter behind.
Were any minds changed? Will the peaceful nature of the event lead more legislators to vote against the gun-control proposals? Will the rally prove to be a success in that respect?