Yes, America under Trump, circa 2020, where common sense is gone and the Second Amendment – already responsible for countless preventable deaths – now leads to news stories that can be confused with a satire site. This is not satire, not “fake,” we only wish.

These men, you will notice, look every bit like the stereotypical terrorist, ISIS wanting to show off their guns, and intimidate you, but afraid to show their faces. They are not there to make friends, they are there to show you that you can do nothing about them and intimidate you.

Gun rights activists carrying semi-automatic firearms walk through the Capitol Building on January 31, 2020 in Frankfort, Kentucky. 📷: @woolstonphoto pic.twitter.com/YCGHNtTJNS

— Getty Images News (@GettyImagesNews) January 31, 2020

You cannot walk into your local courtroom with a knife (try it), you cannot walk onto a plane with the wrong shampoo (I’ve tried it), you cannot walk into a bank wearing a ski mask, but you  can bring a weapon of war hung over your shoulder while hiding away your face and identifying features.

Can you carry a grenade? Is that an “arm” and if not, why not? Grenades were not a thing in 1787 when the 2nd Amendment was inserted? Neither were semi-automatics, and they damn sure weren’t carried into the capitol.

I am not giving them any ideas.

I wonder if the secret service would allow these fervent Trump supporters come to one of his rallies? (Can we all agree that it is unlikely that these men just came in from an Elizabeth Warren phone-banking operation?). Would they let these Trump supporters anywhere near the arena, never mind inside? Under the NRA’s thinking with respect to my daughter, and her school, isn’t Trump more protected with people like these guys around?

I suppose the Kentucky legislature can deal with this. Except, what do you want to bet they already have? Does anyone doubt that weapons had been banned in the capitol, but some NRA-type complained and thus they get this?

This column is almost nothing but questions. But doesn’t this leave you doing nothing but asking questions … ?

There is also another irony at play here, which leads one to an obvious conclusion:

https://twitter.com/JJ_J0NE5/status/1223348118617542657

We have seen how that plays out when one has brown skin and no weapon. The results here wouldn’t be any different, no different at all. One never actually sees the NRA out protesting when a black man is gunned down in a car for legally carrying a weapon. Strange.

And a very appropriate question that gets past the NRA types every time I hear them arguing for good guys with guns:

Okay, serious question:

How is a cop, armed security guard or generic "good guy with a gun" expected to turn a corner, come upon these MASKED men with assault weapons, and not draw their own guns & possibly shoot over a "reasonable, imminent threat" defense?

— Ray Yelle (@ryelle62) January 31, 2020

I have no idea. None. The entire idea behind “open carry” is that they are protection against “bad guys with guns,” yet how is a policeman supposed to know? A policeman won’t know until a trigger is pulled and the victim identified as a “bad guy.” In fact, in the El Paso mass shooting last year, the gunman had not committed a crime by walking into Walmart fully armed like the enrage terrorist that he was, until his finger pulled the trigger on an innocent person. He may have been trespassing on Walmart property breaking a Walmart rule, but not a law. In public places – apparently including the capitol in Kentucky, it’s “the law.”

That’s us, that’s your nation, circa 2020, under Trump. And they’re only getting more belligerent, demanding more each day.

****

Peace, y’all, for godsake.

Jason

[email protected] and on Twitter @MiciakZoom