Politics

<p>Recently, two deadly mass shootings within 24-hours, one in El Paso, Texas, and one in Dayton, Ohio reignited the polarizing and seemingly never-ending debate about gun control. One of the arguments pro-gun people use to defend their right to carry around guns is that &quot;it takes a good guy with a gun to stop a bad guy with a gun.&quot; But how is the general public supposed to know the difference between a &quot;bad guy&quot; and a &quot;good guy&quot;? And how often do we read stories of mass shooters actually being stopped by a &quot;good guy&quot; with a gun?</p><h2>Journalist Charlie Sykes shared a 2013 photo of a man with an assault rifle strapped to his back waiting in line at Starbucks on Twitter and asked people if this would make them feel safer or less safe.</h2><div class="oembedall-container sec-iframe sec-oembed-iframe"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Serious question: You walk into a business and see this —&gt; do you 1. Leave<br>2. Feel Safer<br>3. Don’t Care <a href="https://t.co/ovRLQyBXSH">pic.twitter.com/ovRLQyBXSH</a></p>&mdash; Charlie Sykes (@SykesCharlie) <a href="https://twitter.com/SykesCharlie/status/1159110216958566401?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 7, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div className="ad-splitter"></div><p>He wrote:</p><blockquote> <p>Serious question: You walk into a business and see this &mdash;&gt; do you 1. Leave 2. Feel Safer 3. Don&rsquo;t Care</p> </blockquote><p>Why is this guy carrying an assault rifle openly in Starbucks? Great question. Is he worried the barista might spell his name wrong unless he openly threatens them with a deadly weapon? Maybe. Is he compensating for something? Probably. Is he a &quot;good guy&quot; with a gun protecting the good people of Starbucks against a potential mass shooting? Hard to say. Either way, it&#39;s a terrifying spectacle and very, very American.</p><h2>Most people are responding to say they would leave and many would also alert authorities.</h2><div class="oembedall-container sec-iframe sec-oembed-iframe"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Call the cops. I have no reason to believe this armed individual isn’t potentially dangerous. I don’t give a damn what the local carry laws are. Why should I trust this man-baby with a murder weapon?</p>&mdash; Michael Marshall Smith (@ememess) <a href="https://twitter.com/ememess/status/1159136941306073088?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 7, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div className="ad-splitter"></div><div class="oembedall-container sec-iframe sec-oembed-iframe"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I leave and embarrassed that some dumb motherfucker feels tough with a gun around him at a fucking coffee shop and still wouldn’t have a chance if someone with body armor and an AR15 rushed in there and started firing.</p>&mdash; Tony Posnanski (@tonyposnanski) <a href="https://twitter.com/tonyposnanski/status/1159116725587238914?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 7, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div className="ad-splitter"></div><div class="oembedall-container sec-iframe sec-oembed-iframe"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The FBI sharpshooting instructor I took a class with &amp; the FBI agent in my family suggest giving them a wide berth. <br><br>&quot;Respect the weapon&quot; is rule #1. This is not respecting the weapon.<br><br>Also:<br>1) Stranger<br>2) Deadly weapon<br>3) Don&#39;t know their skill level<br><br>Mitigate risk. Leave.</p>&mdash; Chris Griffith (@streetnoodle) <a href="https://twitter.com/streetnoodle/status/1159124514472636417?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 7, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div className="ad-splitter"></div><div class="oembedall-container sec-iframe sec-oembed-iframe"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Leave. Immediately. Try not to make any sudden movements on my way out.</p>&mdash; Elie Mystal (@ElieNYC) <a href="https://twitter.com/ElieNYC/status/1159168522066583556?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 7, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div className="ad-splitter"></div><div class="oembedall-container sec-iframe sec-oembed-iframe"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Leave. Call the manager and owner and say I won&#39;t be back. Create petition with my neighbors to ban guns in that store. Friends: time to take our spaces back.</p>&mdash; Rabbi Jill Zimmerman (@RabbiJill) <a href="https://twitter.com/RabbiJill/status/1159120631553597440?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 7, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div className="ad-splitter"></div><div class="oembedall-container sec-iframe sec-oembed-iframe"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Leave and tell the establishment exactly why they lost my business. This isn&#39;t difficult.</p>&mdash; Portia McGonagal (@PortiaMcGonagal) <a href="https://twitter.com/PortiaMcGonagal/status/1159115749564174336?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 7, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div className="ad-splitter"></div><h2>As many others are pointing out, openly carrying an assault rifle is not a sign of a &quot;good&quot; or &quot;safe&quot; or &quot;sane&quot; person&mdash;basically the last person you would want to be carrying one.</h2><div class="oembedall-container sec-iframe sec-oembed-iframe"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I would leave. I don&#39;t know that man and I do not automatically trust him not to shoot everyone in the place. I am a good guy, and I will not wait around to make sure he is a good guy. That gun belongs at home, locked in a safe.</p>&mdash; 🌊❄️🆘🏳️‍🌈 Dexter (@SoyBoyManBun) <a href="https://twitter.com/SoyBoyManBun/status/1159219468628897792?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 7, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div className="ad-splitter"></div><div class="oembedall-container sec-iframe sec-oembed-iframe"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">There&#39;s something demented about a person that feels they need to make a point by walking into a store with a weapon.<br><br>Can you because the law currently says so? Yes.<br><br>Are you a domestic terrorist in the eyes of every patron around you? Yes.</p>&mdash; Brad Reason 🌊 🌎 🆘 🧢 🍑 🗽🌹 🌈 (@BradReason) <a href="https://twitter.com/BradReason/status/1159140758961700865?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 7, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div className="ad-splitter"></div><h2>While many people say they would fear for their life.</h2><div class="oembedall-container sec-iframe sec-oembed-iframe"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Is this in a “stand your ground” state? Cos if I saw I this guy walk in with an assault rifle, I would be in fear for my life. <a href="https://t.co/edGzlqbGFT">pic.twitter.com/edGzlqbGFT</a></p>&mdash; Tim Dragga 🇺🇸 (@timdragga) <a href="https://twitter.com/timdragga/status/1158806562552500225?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 6, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div className="ad-splitter"></div><div class="oembedall-container sec-iframe sec-oembed-iframe"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I would not assume anyone openly carrying a gun is a good guy. I would assume he is a crazy guy and that everyone is in danger.</p>&mdash; 🌊❄️🆘🏳️‍🌈 Dexter (@SoyBoyManBun) <a href="https://twitter.com/SoyBoyManBun/status/1159220525564071942?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 7, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div className="ad-splitter"></div><div class="oembedall-container sec-iframe sec-oembed-iframe"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">As a veteran, I would feel tremendously unsafe and likely leave. I have no idea who they are, what level of training, if any, they have; and while the pic is grainy, that rifle appears to have been loaded and readied.</p>&mdash; PanzerLion in an Autumn of Disquiet (@POCGamer) <a href="https://twitter.com/POCGamer/status/1159189253533782016?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 7, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div className="ad-splitter"></div><div class="oembedall-container sec-iframe sec-oembed-iframe"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I’m black, so I leave immediately. And riddle me this, why is he wearing a weapon? Is he fresh from a hunt? Are deer in the parking lot? Or is this just to intimidate humans. What a big man! We now know how small it is. So very small.</p>&mdash; yvette nicole brown (@YNB) <a href="https://twitter.com/YNB/status/1159244091722366976?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 7, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div className="ad-splitter"></div><h2>As actor Yvette Nicole Brown and others have pointed out, the fact that this man is white plays a huge part in his privilege to openly carry an assault rifle in a public place.</h2><div class="oembedall-container sec-iframe sec-oembed-iframe"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Loved your tweet Yvette. I wonder if it were a big, black man with the same weapon if he would have been viewed similarly, or if someone would have called the cops to say a black man was terrorizing patrons in Starbucks with a semi-automatic rifle.</p>&mdash; Rommel Miller (@RommelMiller) <a href="https://twitter.com/RommelMiller/status/1159541660872794118?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 8, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div className="ad-splitter"></div><div class="oembedall-container sec-iframe sec-oembed-iframe"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">He’d be dead. Already dead.</p>&mdash; yvette nicole brown (@YNB) <a href="https://twitter.com/YNB/status/1159545113632071680?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 8, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div className="ad-splitter"></div><h2>As this man noted, black people in this country get gunned down by cops for even appearing to be in possession of a gun.</h2><p>Tamir Rice was killed for playing with a toy gun at age 12.</p><div class="oembedall-container sec-iframe sec-oembed-iframe"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Because he’s white &amp; American Apartheid is real.<br><br>If he were a person of color, the police would’ve taken him down because someone would’ve called 911.<br><br>Tamir Rice. Killed playing with a toy gun. He was 12 years old.<br><br>John Crawford. Killed holding an air rifle sold in a WalMart. <a href="https://t.co/nkVXFEX9PV">https://t.co/nkVXFEX9PV</a></p>&mdash; Mattison (@Mattison) <a href="https://twitter.com/Mattison/status/1159113422610546689?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 7, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div className="ad-splitter"></div><h2>Even gun lovers are pointing out that this guy seems to be a threat because of the reckless way he&#39;s handling his weapon.</h2><div class="oembedall-container sec-iframe sec-oembed-iframe"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">If that person had any tactical weapon handling training there is zero chance he would be carrying that rifle in public, let alone in that manner. All firearm and weapon training begins with instilling respect and eradicating this type of clownish behavior.</p>&mdash; Kevin Buckby (@kevbuckby) <a href="https://twitter.com/kevbuckby/status/1159229928816013313?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 7, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div className="ad-splitter"></div><h2>Of course, there are a few people arguing that the guy has the &quot;right&quot; to walk into a Starbucks with an assault rifle strapped to his back.</h2><p>This person claims he&#39;s &quot;not doing anything illegal, or threatening.&quot;</p><oembed>https://twitter.com/derek_mafs/status/1159125172198268928</oembed><div className="ad-splitter"></div><h2>This person says they would feel <em>safer</em> because &quot;no one is likely to be violent while he is present.&quot;</h2><div class="oembedall-container sec-iframe sec-oembed-iframe"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Feel safer.<br><br>No one is likely to be violent while he is present. <br><br>As for him being the danger — if a person is not acting strangely, they probably aren’t in fight-or-flight, seconds from homicidal mania. But you should definitely learn the carry laws in your state, too.</p>&mdash; David Steinberg (@realDSteinberg) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDSteinberg/status/1159212856459649026?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 7, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div className="ad-splitter"></div><p>This guy says he would be ready to stop this supposed bad guy with a gun with his own (much smaller) gun.</p><div class="oembedall-container sec-iframe sec-oembed-iframe"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">4. I have my hand ready to draw a concealed handgun faster than he can get that around his back just in case he’s up to no good.<br><br>Or if I don’t have concealed on me then leave or take defensive position<br><br>I think what he’s doing is obviously for show and entirely unproductive.</p>&mdash; Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) <a href="https://twitter.com/robbystarbuck/status/1159148514175258624?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 7, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div className="ad-splitter"></div><p>So now we have a full-on shoot-out at Starbucks?! I&#39;ll take a venti caramel latte for here please, since it&#39;s probably going to be my last meal on this earth.</p><div className="ad-splitter"></div>

Photo of guy carrying assault rifle in Starbucks sparks debate about gun safety.

Recently, two deadly mass shootings within 24-hours, one in El Paso, Texas, and one in Dayton, Ohio reignited the polarizing and seemingly never-ending debate about gun control. One of the arguments pro-gun people use to defend their right to carry around guns is that &quot;it takes a good guy with a gun to stop a bad guy with a gun.&quot; But how is the general public supposed to know the difference between a &quot;bad guy&quot; and a &quot;good guy&quot;? And how often do we read stories of mass shooters actually being stopped by a &quot;good guy&quot; with a gun?Journalist Charlie Sykes shared a 2013 photo of a man with an assault rifle strapped to his back waiting in line at Starbucks on Twitter and asked people if this would make them feel safer or less safe.Serious question: You walk into a business and see this —&gt; do you 1. Leave2. Feel Safer3. Don’t Care pic.twitter.com/ovRLQyBXSH&mdash; Charlie Sykes (@SykesCharlie) August 7, 2019 He wrote: Serious question: You walk into a business and see this &mdash;&gt; do you 1. Leave 2. Feel Safer 3. Don&rsquo;t Care Why is this guy carrying an assault rifle openly in Starbucks? Great question. Is he worried the barista might spell his name wrong unless he openly threatens them with a deadly weapon? Maybe. Is he compensating for something? Probably. Is he a &quot;good guy&quot; with a gun protecting the good people of Starbucks against a potential mass shooting? Hard to say. Either way, it&#39;s a terrifying spectacle and very, very American.Most people are responding to say they would leave and many would also alert authorities.Call the cops. I have no reason to believe this armed individual isn’t potentially dangerous. I don’t give a damn what the local carry laws are. Why should I trust this man-baby with a murder weapon?&mdash; Michael Marshall Smith (@ememess) August 7, 2019 I leave and embarrassed that some dumb motherfucker feels tough with a gun around him at a fucking coffee shop and still wouldn’t have a chance if someone with body armor and an AR15 rushed in there and started firing.&mdash; Tony Posnanski (@tonyposnanski) August 7, 2019 The FBI sharpshooting instructor I took a class with &amp; the FBI agent in my family suggest giving them a wide berth. &quot;Respect the weapon&quot; is rule #1. This is not respecting the weapon.Also:1) Stranger2) Deadly weapon3) Don&#39;t know their skill levelMitigate risk. Leave.&mdash; Chris Griffith (@streetnoodle) August 7, 2019 Leave. Immediately. Try not to make any sudden movements on my way out.&mdash; Elie Mystal (@ElieNYC) August 7, 2019 Leave. Call the manager and owner and say I won&#39;t be back. Create petition with my neighbors to ban guns in that store. Friends: time to take our spaces back.&mdash; Rabbi Jill Zimmerman (@RabbiJill) August 7, 2019 Leave and tell the establishment exactly why they lost my business. This isn&#39;t difficult.&mdash; Portia McGonagal (@PortiaMcGonagal) August 7, 2019 As many others are pointing out, openly carrying an assault rifle is not a sign of a &quot;good&quot; or &quot;safe&quot; or &quot;sane&quot; person&mdash;basically the last person you would want to be carrying one.I would leave. I don&#39;t know that man and I do not automatically trust him not to shoot everyone in the place. I am a good guy, and I will not wait around to make sure he is a good guy. That gun belongs at home, locked in a safe.&mdash; 🌊❄️🆘🏳️‍🌈 Dexter (@SoyBoyManBun) August 7, 2019 There&#39;s something demented about a person that feels they need to make a point by walking into a store with a weapon.Can you because the law currently says so? Yes.Are you a domestic terrorist in the eyes of every patron around you? Yes.&mdash; Brad Reason 🌊 🌎 🆘 🧢 🍑 🗽🌹 🌈 (@BradReason) August 7, 2019 While many people say they would fear for their life.Is this in a “stand your ground” state? Cos if I saw I this guy walk in with an assault rifle, I would be in fear for my life. pic.twitter.com/edGzlqbGFT&mdash; Tim Dragga 🇺🇸 (@timdragga) August 6, 2019 I would not assume anyone openly carrying a gun is a good guy. I would assume he is a crazy guy and that everyone is in danger.&mdash; 🌊❄️🆘🏳️‍🌈 Dexter (@SoyBoyManBun) August 7, 2019 As a veteran, I would feel tremendously unsafe and likely leave. I have no idea who they are, what level of training, if any, they have; and while the pic is grainy, that rifle appears to have been loaded and readied.&mdash; PanzerLion in an Autumn of Disquiet (@POCGamer) August 7, 2019 I’m black, so I leave immediately. And riddle me this, why is he wearing a weapon? Is he fresh from a hunt? Are deer in the parking lot? Or is this just to intimidate humans. What a big man! We now know how small it is. So very small.&mdash; yvette nicole brown (@YNB) August 7, 2019 As actor Yvette Nicole Brown and others have pointed out, the fact that this man is white plays a huge part in his privilege to openly carry an assault rifle in a public place.Loved your tweet Yvette. I wonder if it were a big, black man with the same weapon if he would have been viewed similarly, or if someone would have called the cops to say a black man was terrorizing patrons in Starbucks with a semi-automatic rifle.&mdash; Rommel Miller (@RommelMiller) August 8, 2019 He’d be dead. Already dead.&mdash; yvette nicole brown (@YNB) August 8, 2019 As this man noted, black people in this country get gunned down by cops for even appearing to be in possession of a gun.Tamir Rice was killed for playing with a toy gun at age 12.Because he’s white &amp; American Apartheid is real.If he were a person of color, the police would’ve taken him down because someone would’ve called 911.Tamir Rice. Killed playing with a toy gun. He was 12 years old.John Crawford. Killed holding an air rifle sold in a WalMart. https://t.co/nkVXFEX9PV&mdash; Mattison (@Mattison) August 7, 2019 Even gun lovers are pointing out that this guy seems to be a threat because of the reckless way he&#39;s handling his weapon.If that person had any tactical weapon handling training there is zero chance he would be carrying that rifle in public, let alone in that manner. All firearm and weapon training begins with instilling respect and eradicating this type of clownish behavior.&mdash; Kevin Buckby (@kevbuckby) August 7, 2019 Of course, there are a few people arguing that the guy has the &quot;right&quot; to walk into a Starbucks with an assault rifle strapped to his back.This person claims he&#39;s &quot;not doing anything illegal, or threatening.&quot;https://twitter.com/derek_mafs/status/1159125172198268928This person says they would feel safer because &quot;no one is likely to be violent while he is present.&quot;Feel safer.No one is likely to be violent while he is present. As for him being the danger — if a person is not acting strangely, they probably aren’t in fight-or-flight, seconds from homicidal mania. But you should definitely learn the carry laws in your state, too.&mdash; David Steinberg (@realDSteinberg) August 7, 2019 This guy says he would be ready to stop this supposed bad guy with a gun with his own (much smaller) gun.4. I have my hand ready to draw a concealed handgun faster than he can get that around his back just in case he’s up to no good.Or if I don’t have concealed on me then leave or take defensive positionI think what he’s doing is obviously for show and entirely unproductive.&mdash; Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) August 7, 2019 So now we have a full-on shoot-out at Starbucks?! I&#39;ll take a venti caramel latte for here please, since it&#39;s probably going to be my last meal on this earth.

Recently, two deadly mass shootings within 24-hours, one in El Paso, Texas, and one in Dayton, Ohio reignited the polarizing and seemingly never-ending debate about gun control. One of the arguments pro-gun people use to defend their right...