No Stupid Questions

You make very good points that I do not disagree with at all, so I am correcting myself.

This is not the same as Eckford because Eckford had the support of the federal government. The National Guard had the firearms for her. This week, the protests are against the people that protected Eckford. FYI, the government has the authority, means, and experience on violence. A lone gunman isn't going to accomplish anything positive unless there is some highly unlikely scenario in which they use it to protect a victim, they are trained and experienced. But, as @[email protected] pointed out, the Black Panthers were armed and did achieve progress in the 60s and 70s. Also, I have high regard for the original Black Panthers and even have a t-shirt with Huey on it.

Therefore, if you are part of a highly organized political group that has a strong identity based on centuries of brutal oppression, an established unified message, undergone weapons training, experience in lethal altercation with police, a lawyers present, a protocol for functioning as a unit at protests, and haven't been infiltrated by the FBI yet, then listen to your leaders on whether to take a firearm or not (if that is legal because I don't want to get in trouble for saying something that is clearly meant to highlight ill-consideration; don't break the law).

However, if you are a lone protestor or going with a few friends because you care or to check it out, my recommendation is that you DO NOT TAKE A FUCKING FIREARM. I would like to add a few more arguments for my recommendation. If the cops don't like your face and say that you were threatening them and you have a firearm, good luck convincing the jury that you had no ill intentions. You might win the trial with a good expensive lawyer that you will never be reimbursed for, but if you lose, you are royally fucked. Moreover, let's even put the cops aside and only focus on you. If you have never been in an altercation where people are firing at each other, that is not the time to learn or figure things out. You will be under the most extreme stress possible for a person. You will not be able to analyze properly or make decisions in an extremely chaotic situation. You will be overwhelmed with your body's naturally designed desire to survive. You will be reacting, not responding rationally. Making a lethal mistake will ruin your life at the very least, and ruin or end the life of others. But, let's set the situation to be even more in your favor. Even if you make the best decision possible and fire at someone that is miraculously identified by a glowing arrow floating above their head like a video game that reads "KILL THIS GUY", you may still miss and kill an innocent person. I'm not going to elaborate on the consequences of that.

This is merely my recommendation based on my limited knowledge and biases. To me, it seems like there are too many ways for this to go very bad, and not enough ways for it to go well. I guess maybe you could be a hero somehow? I may be wrong. I may not know a lot of information that would be contradictory to my stance. I definitely don't know any of you individually. If you know something I don't, that's valid. Maybe ask people that have been arrested for taking a firearm to a protest. That would be useful information. It's ultimately your decision, so make it. Just think it really fucking well.

Holy hell, I hope this manuscript saves even just one person from serving prison time.