“Why would you want to take guns away from law-abiding citizens?” said Mike Black, 54, of Dublin, Va., at the massive pro-gun rally in Richmond Monday. “I’ve had this gun for God knows how long, and I’ve never shot anyone.”

I traveled to Richmond from Washington, D.C., with another student journalist. It was the first time I covered a pro-gun rally. What I found there was not what I expected.

We met the night before to discuss our strategy. Some of it was mundane, like what angle we wanted to cover, who would carry the camera bag and what time we should arrive. But other parts of the planning were more serious: stick together, look out for anyone who could be a white supremacist. We planned where we would meet if people started shooting.

Along with much of the country, we paid careful attention to the media coverage preceding the rally.

The New York Times reported that “a sense of crisis enveloped the capital of Virginia on Thursday.” NBC News ran a headline saying, “As gun rights rally looms in Virginia, Richmond Resident Fear Another Charlottesville.” And on the morning of the rally, MSNBC anchor Craig Melvin said, "Right now thousands of gun-rights activists, white nationalists, militia groups are all swarming the Virginia state capitol in Richmond.”

And some of the coverage was warranted. There were credible threats, according to officials, that led Gov. Ralph Northam to declare a state of emergency ahead of the rally and ban weapons from the capitol grounds. Northam warned that armed militia groups planned to storm the capitol.

Days before the rally, the FBI announced the arrest of three Maryland men suspected of belonging to a neo-Nazi hate group called the Base. The men had weapons and discussed attending Monday’s rally. A day later, three more men with ties to the neo-Nazi group were arrested in Georgia.

But what I saw in Richmond surprised me.

The sheer number of firearms was astounding. Almost every protester was carrying one, either a handgun or a rifle or both. Many others brought shotguns, sniper rifles and even tomahawks. Militia groups from across the country clad in camouflage fatigues, some wearing body armor, marched down the street in formation, to the tune of a fife and drum.

But although seeing such a large concentration of high-powered weapons was a shock, it quickly felt normal, and strangely safe. The crowds at the rally were relaxed and even jovial at times, and surprisingly diverse.

“The very first gun control laws in Virginia were passed to keep blacks from owning firearms,” said Brandon Brod, 44, a member of the Virginia Civil Defense League, the group organizing the protest. Brod held a sign that read “Gays For Gun Rights.”

At one corner just outside the capitol grounds, protesters with handguns on their hips handed out bottled water. When navigating the crowd of thousands in a tight space, there was no pushing or shoving but instead an abundance of politeness and caution — perhaps because everyone within a mile radius was carrying a gun.

Volunteers wearing “Women for Gun Rights” shirts handed out bright orange stickers that read “Guns Save Lives.” By the end of the rally, nearly every attendee was wearing one and some had affixed the stickers to the ends of their rifles.

Several hours in to the rally, a man dressed like George Washington worked his way through the crowd, reading lines from the Constitution and taking selfies with attendees.

When asked about the reports of possible violence, Doug Austin, 52, from Virginia Beach said, “Gun owners of American are some of the most law-abiding people you will find… . We don’t come out here to cause trouble. There’s not going to be any trouble today. Everyone here is perfectly safe.”

When asked for an interview, members of a militia group clad in tactical gear and carrying semi-automatic rifles declined. “Sorry, we don’t talk to the press,” they said, “you guys like to twist what we say.”

According to a Gallup poll, only 41% of Americans have a “great deal” or “fair amount” of trust in the media to accurately report the news. Among Republicans, many of whom oppose gun control efforts, just 15% have a fair amount of trust in the press.

The coverage preceding the protest raises questions about how well members of the press understand the different factions within the country’s conservative communities, and how easy it can be to group conservatives like pro-gun rights activists with the fringe white supremacist and nationalist groups. It would serve the country to give gun rights protesters like those in Richmond a fair hearing.

The danger is that in a deeply divided political climate, misrepresenting gun owners, a large swath of Americans, will only deepen resentment on both sides. And, the misrepresentation of these groups will further their distrust of the press, making it increasingly difficult for journalists to relate to those Americans.

Despite the media buildup, this was a rally like many others except for the presence of firearms. In the end, the Richmond police made no arrests during the rally.

Mark Satter is a graduate journalism student at Northwestern University. He wrote this column for The Dallas Morning News.