PatchChat: Concealed Carry, Gun Control and 'Anti-Fascists'

In the midst of chaos, violence and tragedy, our Patch readers took it upon themselves to start a conversation.

It was—and remains—one that has at times been combative and accusatory. It has also been constructive and raw. After all, isn't that the nature of conversations that foster outcomes to the world's conflicts?

Shortly after breaking the news of a mob of 'anti-fascists' attacking a specific group of guests at a restaurant on Saturday, the story received its first comment from user :

"This is exactly why I carry and conceal whether or not the law in this state says its ok.. you come at me with a hammer.. you die with it at your feet," he said.

Naturally, this got people talking—and mostly in a constructive way. Comments were closed for several hours when personal attacks on others were being made. That was an effort to ensure the safety of our readers and others who may have been the target of those verbal and public accusations. 

As the dust settles , we encourage you to keep productive conversations rolling. Patch is your community. Your coffee shop. Your local town square. So by all means, jump in. The water is (luke) warm.

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Here's a collection of some of the comments the story's received thus far, unedited and in no particular order:

• At 3:57 p.m.,  said, "Most states with conceal and carry laws, don't actually allow guns into a lot of public places, so everyone that's posting about it, in that fashion, is wrong. This is an unfortunate incident, but give your bravado a rest for once."

•  jumped in at 4:24 p.m. to say, "Let people carry guns and you will see the crim will drop immidiatly, our laws protect the criminal not law obbedient citizen, therse criminal carry guns anyway, they do not care about the law n the first place, let us carry guns for 2 years just to try it and see what happened, we can change the law anytime if it did not work."

• About 30 minutes later,  added his 2 cents. "All you conceal-carry proponents (sorry to use a big word, go look it up in a dictionary if you dont know what it means) are out of your minds. When has conceal carry EVER prevented violent crime? Never, that's when. Conceal carry just lets hillbilly vigilante wannabes carry a gun."

• He later added this: "It's so great the the guys busting in are the good guys, and most people here would have been "Yee-Haw"-ing and shooting away with their happy concealed weapon. The whole time the Neo-Nazis would have been rooting them on."

•  jumped in on Sunday. "I'm not a fan of violence, but I'm happy to see neo-nazi's put in their place," he wrote. "It sickens me that there is such a presence (with an "economic summit" in Tinley Park) in the suburbs of Chicago."

•  made an interesting point shortly afterward. "the word, "credited" for the attack.....just doesnt sound right. it almost sounds as if you are praising them by using that word. am i the only one who feels this way?"

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