Gun Protestors Plan To March On D.C. With Fully Loaded Weapons

A group of gun rights advocates are reportedly planning to march on Washington D.C. with fully loaded weapons in “civil disobedience” against the government and new plans to restrict gun ownership in the U.S.

A Facebook event titled “Open Carry March on Washington” put together by libertarian radio host Adam Kokesh invites gun advocates to take part in a 10,000-strong “civil disobedience” demonstration in Washington D.C., where it is illegal to openly carry firearms.

The event is planned for July 4th, and has thus far attracted nearly 900 RSVPs out of a planned 10,000.

Though the demonstration sounds pretty terrifying at face value, Kokesh makes clear several times that violence will not be permitted among the demonstrators, even if government officials or law enforcement aggressively intervene. In fact, that’s the whole point.

Check out the invitation announcement, via Facebook:

“This is an act of civil disobedience, not a permitted event. We will march with rifles loaded & slung across our backs to put the government on notice that we will not be intimidated & cower in submission to tyranny. We are marching to mark the high water mark of government & to turn the tide.This will be a non-violent event, unless the government chooses to make it violent. Should we meet physical resistance, we will peacefully turn back, having shown that free people are not welcome in Washington, & returning with the resolve that the politicians, bureaucrats, & enforcers of the federal government will not be welcome in the land of the free.

“There’s a remote chance that there will be violence as there has been from government before, and I think it should be clear that if anyone involved in this event is approached respectfully by agents of the state, they will submit to arrest without resisting. We are truly saying in the SUBTLEST way possible that we would rather die on our feet than live on our knees.”

Left-wing publications (and “classy” left-leaners in the event page’s thread) are already sounding the alarm over the protest, with Salon‘s Alex Seitz-Wald accusing Kokesh of increasingly radical views. The implication being that the demonstration could indeed turn violent. We won’t know for sure until when/if it really happens.

What do you think? Will the planned gun rights protest be a peaceful act of “civil disobedience,” or is it a powder keg waiting to go off?

[Image via: Nomad_Soul, Shutterstock.com]