[maestro pistolero]

No one was afraid at the rally. Why weren't they afraid? They understood that it was speech, not intimidation.

I will point out again that NONE of the people in any of the footage, nor the local police, nor the SS, nor even the woman in the video debating with the AR-carrying gentlemen, appear the least bit intimidated. She was SAYING that it was intimidating, but she clearly wasn't intimidated. That, or she's the bravest person I have ever seen.

People who were there at the rally, knew that the gentlemen was exercising 2A and 1A at the same time. NO ONE took cover, ran for their lives, or any other response that one would expect to see from any normal human in fear of their life.

The presence of a firearm to someone unfamiliar, or unaccustomed to seeing them, can be chilling and unnerving, even if no-one is bearing it. Many people would have a similar reaction to a lone firearm sitting all by itself in a driveway. Is that intimidation, or does intimidation require the accompanying behavior of an live intimidator?

'Intimidate' is a verb, not a feeling. It requires action. We need to separate out pure fear of firearms as objects, and intimidation via firearm. Fear is fear, but these are two different sources of fear. At the root of 'feeling' intimidated is mistrust. People generally trust police, therefore they are less likely to 'feel' intimidated by an armed officer. They've been conditioned to 'feel' intimidated by an armed civilian, whether that civilian is doing any intimidating or not.

There is an unavoidable reconditioning that will have to occur as rights are restored if the carrying of firearms is see to it's cultural renaissance. Now, many of us agree that these events might not be the best method for all sorts of excellent reasons.

However, the incidents of the past two weeks have clearly demonstrated on the international stage that the mere presence of a firearm, even in the hands of a civilian, EVEN if it's an AR15 with a full, 30 round magazine, does NOT automatically spell disaster and mayhem, and does NOT automatically warrant a violent crackdown from armed authorities.

That's huge, and can be a pivotal moment in the return of civilian bearing of arms to it's rightful place in our society. Let's not screw it up.

It was risky, but the point has been made. I hope that we can just take the win, lay low, and let Gura and others carry these success stories unblemished into the SCOTUS next term and carry out the coup de grâce: incorporation, and the right to bear in DC.

Once that happens, we can start knocking down some dominoes in NY, MA, CA, IL, HA, WI, and every other recalcitrant enclave of 2A tyranny.