A lot of what you said is so true. I would counter though, that there’s a difference between a run of the mill firearm and the weapons of war that were being brandished at legislators. As such, the possibility of a mass shooting erupting as a result of that is increased. Maybe those weapons were loaded, and maybe they weren’t as a safety precaution against flaring tempers. How would anyone there know though? It wasn’t worth the risk they imposed. I support protest too. State legislatures are the place for vigorous debate, not performative protest like that. Too much could go wrong.

It was just a bad move no matter how you look at it. I hope Michigan bars weapons from State buildings as a result. Maybe even all protest, including sit ins. More so, I wish they didn’t have the need to because protestors decided to exercise some common sense and spent a lot of time thinking and discussing about what message they were actually sending with their protest.

The mock funeral processions were a much better form of performative protest. It made the point quite elegantly and didn’t endanger anyone with Covid-19 or a mass shooting. Nor did it require a redistribution of social resources (first responders and police) to keep things in check when all those people are needed to handle the pandemic.

Ultimately, if protestors refuse to protest responsibly, eventually there will have to be a civil response to keep all hell from breaking loose. Then we all lose. Regardless of whether you’re right or left.