What does a TRUMP presidency look like?

[Eddie Teach]

A citizen carrying a gun somewhere he is legally allowed to and not brandishing it in a threatening manner shouldn't be much more threatening than someone in a police uniform doing so.

[The Larch]

A citizen carrying a gun somewhere he is legally allowed to and not brandishing it in a threatening manner shouldn't be much more threatening than someone in a police uniform doing so.

Just openly carrying a gun (and not just a gun but an assault rifle) is inherently threatening.

[Eddie Teach]

I kinda agree, but it's socially acceptable in most of the US.

[grumbler]

They terrified your wimpy legislature to the point they canceled their session to avoid them...or at least supposedly.

I have no idea why you refer to the Michigan legislature as "your legislature."  I live almost a thousand miles away from east Lansing.

It strikes me as a very narrow distinction. They are both politics by means of fear.

Machiavelli advocated politics my means of fear.  So did Genghis Khan, Oliver Cromwell, Julius Caesar, etc, etc.  Is everyone a terrorist in your book?

The weakening of "terrorist" into "someone I don't like" is as bad as the weakening of Nazi to the same principal.

But hey it is your idiotic state laws and your, allegedly, cowardly pathetic legislature so if it doesn't bother you, it doesn't me.

Again, not mine, and I have no idea why you want to make this a personal beef.

[grumbler]

I kinda agree, but it's socially acceptable in most of the US.

That of course, is a big part of the problem.  People aren't thinking about here this could lead.

[DGuller]

A citizen carrying a gun somewhere he is legally allowed to and not brandishing it in a threatening manner shouldn't be much more threatening than someone in a police uniform doing so.

Whether something is threatening or not depends a whole lot on the reason.  We know why people in police uniform open carry, and these reasons are not threatening.  There is no rational reason for someone to open carry in legislature building except to show that you're armed, and that displays derangement in a way that police officers don't.  Deranged people with guns are threatening by their very presence.

[PDH]

We know why people in police uniform open carry, and these reasons are not threatening. 

Well, not threatening to white people.

[grumbler]

Whether something is threatening or not depends a whole lot on the reason.  We know why people in police uniform open carry, and these reasons are not threatening.  There is no rational reason for someone to open carry in legislature building except to show that you're armed, and that displays derangement in a way that police officers don't.  Deranged people with guns are threatening by their very presence.

Especially groups of people, where you have the potential for a mob mentality.  If I walked down the street and encountered ten different people carrying guns, I'd not be greatly concerned.  If I encountered one group of ten people carrying guns, I'd be greatly concerned.

[Zoupa]

I don't get it.

Do you think what happened in Michigan is ok? Please expand on your answer, no booleans.

[Admiral Yi]

Do you think what happened in Michigan is ok? Please expand on your answer, no booleans.

I disapprove and think it should be outlawed.

[Razgovory]

Whether something is threatening or not depends a whole lot on the reason.  We know why people in police uniform open carry, and these reasons are not threatening.  There is no rational reason for someone to open carry in legislature building except to show that you're armed, and that displays derangement in a way that police officers don't.  Deranged people with guns are threatening by their very presence.

Especially groups of people, where you have the potential for a mob mentality.  If I walked down the street and encountered ten different people carrying guns, I'd not be greatly concerned.  If I encountered one group of ten people carrying guns, I'd be greatly concerned.

Huh?

[The Minsky Moment]

No but see it's fine because it's legal. Also stop being a pussy by calling them terrorists.

Or something. Who knows. It's hard to follow banana republic logic.

Let's call them child rapists, wife beaters, and bad tippers.  That's how they do things in civilized countries.

We don't have any reason to suspect any of these people rape kids, beat wives or tip badly
(although I kinda have my suspicions about the tipping part . . .)

However, we do have reason to believe they brought weapons into a public place with the intention of intimidating elected officials, and that they appear to have had some success in doing so.

I wouldn't use the emotionally laden word "terrorist" to describe it, but its in the same broad category of conduct in a sense that cheap tipping isn't - using fear or threats of violence, explicit or implicit, to affect political conduct and results.

As Valmy points out, the question isn't whether zoupa is scared, or grumbler, or you or I, but whether the intended target - Michigan legislators - were intimidated.  It appears they were and that makes the matter a public concern.

[The Brain]

If the legislators are intimidated by people carrying guns around their workplace why did they make it legal? It gets weird when a legislature is so into self-harm like that. If the harmee has gone out of its way to facilitate the harm then is it really harm?

[grumbler]

If the legislators are intimidated by people carrying guns around their workplace why did they make it legal? It gets weird when a legislature is so into self-harm like that. If the harmee has gone out of its way to facilitate the harm then is it really harm?

Because the majority of the legislators apparently agree with the protesters and want the excuse to stay out of session.  It's a Republican legislature and a Democratic governor (and one Trump has publicly criticized for not tongue-washing his anus like the Republican governors do) and this gives the Republicans an excuse to blame the governor for everything that goes wrong, including the protesters.

[grumbler]

As Valmy points out, the question isn't whether zoupa is scared, or grumbler, or you or I, but whether the intended target - Michigan legislators - were intimidated.  It appears they were and that makes the matter a public concern.

That's actually my point, not Valmy's.  Valmy's point was that this legislature was somehow mine and I was somehow responsible for the protestors being able to carry guns into the legislative chamber.