4 ms·

When this year is over, US citizens will hold the world record for protests against their own government.

shostack 10y ago
That's if we're allowed to continue protesting. The GOP just introduced bills across many states to make it more difficult, including such things as a felony and 5 years jail plus $7500 fine for blocking roads during protests (impossible to have a large one without doing this). Land of the free. Some restrictions apply.
- dragonbonheur 10y ago
  That's why you like your guns, right? To protect your "liberties" ? The 2nd amendment protects the 1st and all that jazz?
  - eli_gottlieb 10y ago
    We're definitely starting to get into that sort of area, yes. Given how utterly unresponsive the government now is to the majority of Americans (rather than to the small minority who constitute the voting "majority" in their own, gerrymandered districts), yes.
    - Arizhel 10y ago
      The people with all the guns are the ones who are big fans of this new administration.
      - eli_gottlieb 10y ago
        I don't think that's actually true. As a native to the Northeast, I was quite surprised by just how many guns I saw everywhere when staying in Mountain View and working in Redwood City for a short while. Also, many Republicans aren't big fans of this new administration.
      - rhcom2 10y ago
        There are liberals with guns. I'm one of them and mostly pro 2A but not a single issue voter like many 2A people. Also there is an irony in the switch between all the talk on the right about armed resistance to the BLM and Hillary and now the left talking about armed resistance to Trump.
        Arizhel 10y ago
        Yes, there are liberals with guns out there, just like there's people out there with their internal organs reversed (heart on the right, etc.). But by and large, there aren't very many; the vast majority of the gun owners are Republican voters. And they aren't going to offer any armed resistance to Trump or anyone else because they're generally pro-authoritarian. I haven't heard of anyone on the left seriously discussing armed resistance to Trump. If they are, they sound rather delusional, just because of numbers. There simply aren't many politically active people on the left in this country who are also armed, or even believe in being armed. This sounds like a tiny number of radicals at best. This isn't like Central American nations in the past, or other parts of the world, where the leftists were actually violent and believed in using violent means to achieve social change. Gun control has been one of the big tenets of the "left" here for a very long time. Note that I'm not supporting the right-wingers here (personally I was a fan of Bernie for the most part), I'm just pointing out the reality in this country. It's the right-wingers who make up the vast bulk of the gun-lovers and owners.
      - mikestew 10y ago
        Put down your stereotypes and you'll realize that with more guns than people in the U. S. simple math would likely dictate much more diversity in gun ownership than you apparently think. Hard to do a join on gun owners and voting records, but given the numbers on the popular vote and the number of guns in the U. S., it's entirely possible that your statement is flat-out wrong. Additionally, going with the idea that you're right for the moment, you think gun owners are happy about hunting land being taken away?
        Arizhel 10y ago
        >Additionally, going with the idea that you're right for the moment, you think gun owners are happy about hunting land being taken away? Yes. They vote this way, and they've always voted this way. They continually vote for people who push the whole "privatization!!!" religion. So they're getting what they voted for.
- cpburns2009 10y ago
  It's one thing to protest peacefully. But it's completely different to protest by infringing on the rights of other people to travel.
  - throwaway2048 10y ago
    Because 5 years in jail + felony conviction + $7500 fine is totally about other people's right to travel, and not about hammering down public dissent.
    - cpburns2009 10y ago
      Is that the minimum or maximum penalty? If that's the minimum, it is excessive. If that's merely the maximum, then for reference if you steal mail (also a federal offense), the maximum penalty is 5 years in prison and $250,000 which seems much worse to me. There has to be some deterrent to prevent unruly protesters from forcibly preventing people from getting to work and potentially being fired as a result.
  - eeeeeeeeeeeee 10y ago
    You don't have a right to drive your car, that is a privilege. We have a right to protest.
    - nate_meurer 10y ago
      Are emergency services also a "privilege"? Do you think our right to free assembly means we get to block ambulances and fire fighters from passing?

That's if we're allowed to continue protesting. The GOP just introduced bills across many states to make it more difficult, including such things as a felony and 5 years jail plus $7500 fine for blocking roads during protests (impossible to have a large one without doing this). Land of the free. Some restrictions apply.

dragonbonheur 10y ago
That's why you like your guns, right? To protect your "liberties" ? The 2nd amendment protects the 1st and all that jazz?
- eli_gottlieb 10y ago
  We're definitely starting to get into that sort of area, yes. Given how utterly unresponsive the government now is to the majority of Americans (rather than to the small minority who constitute the voting "majority" in their own, gerrymandered districts), yes.
  - Arizhel 10y ago
    The people with all the guns are the ones who are big fans of this new administration.
    - eli_gottlieb 10y ago
      I don't think that's actually true. As a native to the Northeast, I was quite surprised by just how many guns I saw everywhere when staying in Mountain View and working in Redwood City for a short while. Also, many Republicans aren't big fans of this new administration.
    - rhcom2 10y ago
      There are liberals with guns. I'm one of them and mostly pro 2A but not a single issue voter like many 2A people. Also there is an irony in the switch between all the talk on the right about armed resistance to the BLM and Hillary and now the left talking about armed resistance to Trump.
      - Arizhel 10y ago
        Yes, there are liberals with guns out there, just like there's people out there with their internal organs reversed (heart on the right, etc.). But by and large, there aren't very many; the vast majority of the gun owners are Republican voters. And they aren't going to offer any armed resistance to Trump or anyone else because they're generally pro-authoritarian. I haven't heard of anyone on the left seriously discussing armed resistance to Trump. If they are, they sound rather delusional, just because of numbers. There simply aren't many politically active people on the left in this country who are also armed, or even believe in being armed. This sounds like a tiny number of radicals at best. This isn't like Central American nations in the past, or other parts of the world, where the leftists were actually violent and believed in using violent means to achieve social change. Gun control has been one of the big tenets of the "left" here for a very long time. Note that I'm not supporting the right-wingers here (personally I was a fan of Bernie for the most part), I'm just pointing out the reality in this country. It's the right-wingers who make up the vast bulk of the gun-lovers and owners.
    - mikestew 10y ago
      Put down your stereotypes and you'll realize that with more guns than people in the U. S. simple math would likely dictate much more diversity in gun ownership than you apparently think. Hard to do a join on gun owners and voting records, but given the numbers on the popular vote and the number of guns in the U. S., it's entirely possible that your statement is flat-out wrong. Additionally, going with the idea that you're right for the moment, you think gun owners are happy about hunting land being taken away?
      - Arizhel 10y ago
        >Additionally, going with the idea that you're right for the moment, you think gun owners are happy about hunting land being taken away? Yes. They vote this way, and they've always voted this way. They continually vote for people who push the whole "privatization!!!" religion. So they're getting what they voted for.
cpburns2009 10y ago
It's one thing to protest peacefully. But it's completely different to protest by infringing on the rights of other people to travel.
- throwaway2048 10y ago
  Because 5 years in jail + felony conviction + $7500 fine is totally about other people's right to travel, and not about hammering down public dissent.
  - cpburns2009 10y ago
    Is that the minimum or maximum penalty? If that's the minimum, it is excessive. If that's merely the maximum, then for reference if you steal mail (also a federal offense), the maximum penalty is 5 years in prison and $250,000 which seems much worse to me. There has to be some deterrent to prevent unruly protesters from forcibly preventing people from getting to work and potentially being fired as a result.
- eeeeeeeeeeeee 10y ago
  You don't have a right to drive your car, that is a privilege. We have a right to protest.
  - nate_meurer 10y ago
    Are emergency services also a "privilege"? Do you think our right to free assembly means we get to block ambulances and fire fighters from passing?