150 armed anti-government protesters have taken over a building in a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon. These protesters were accusing officials of unfairly punishing ranchers who refused to sell their land. The protesters said “We are using the wildlife refuge as a place for individuals across the United States to come and assist in helping the people of Harney County claim back their lands and resources.”
http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/03/us/oregon-wildlife-refuge-protest/
One of the main protesters is Ammon Bundy, a 40 year old son of a rancher. When CNN spoke to Ammon he said he wanted the government to restore the peoples constitutional rights. The problem with these protesters is, people do not know if this is an act of terrorism or not. Some think the fact that they are mostly American white males instead of any other ethnic group has protected them from government intervention. As of right now law enforcement has no reason to believe that this is any act of terrorism or that anyone is in danger.
If there were to be a protest like this in Fairfax county then I believe that it would be taken a lot more seriously than it is being taken in Oregon. Oregon is such a small populated area but people here in our densely populated Northern Virginia region are less friendly to guns. Also being so close to DC people would automatically assume the worst about any armed protest.
I don’t think that this is an act of terrorism. I think the militia is just trying to make a point, and they are taking there protest seriously in order to get the change that they want. Its understandable to have thoughts of things like this to be an act of terrorism because of all the bad things that are happening around us in the world. I think if it was an act of terrorism they would have already done something dramatic.
This story got me thinking about differences in Gun Culture in America by Geography and I came across this interesting MAP. Explore for yourself the regional differences from GUN Ownership to PIZZA and MORE.
