The Editorial Board

USA TODAY

At the deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville in August, Virginia's public safety secretary, Brian Moran, did a double take when he spotted men in military fatigues with assault weapons clipped, infantry-style, to lanyards around their necks.

"They're not ours, are they?" Moran asked his deputy, momentarily confusing the men with state National Guard soldiers, according to a Washington Post account.

No, they were not. Rather, they were part of a homegrown militia: heavily armed men self-appointed to ostensibly help keep the peace. They failed at that, as did Charlottesville law enforcement. The day ended with one woman killed when a man identified as a Nazi sympathizer rammed his car into a crowd of counter-demonstrators.

MILITIA LEADER:We keep the peace

Police also arrested a man previously identified as a Ku Klux Klan leader who, like militia members, brought a gun to the rally. A video shows him pulling out a pistol and firing it into the ground in the direction of a counter-demonstrator.

In the wake of Charlottesville, other potential flashpoints for violence loom. On Thursday, white nationalist leader Richard Spencer is to deliver a speech at the University of Florida in Gainesville, an event that led Gov. Rick Scott to declare a state of emergency for surrounding Alachua County to free up law enforcement resources. And next week in Tennessee, white nationalists and counterprotesters are expected to face off at a "White Lives Matter" rally.

Many Americans might be surprised to learn that in most states, it's perfectly legal to walk down the street with a rifle in your hand, much like gunslingers of the Wild West. But just because something is legal doesn't make its unfettered expression the right — or smart — thing to do.

What could go wrong? A lot.

After this month's horrific slaughter of 58 people in Las Vegas, someone toting an assault-style weapon in public might be attacked in a misguided effort to prevent another spree killing.

Moreover, a crowd of sullen men carrying rifles stands a good chance of intimidating otherwise peaceable demonstrators. The result would be the Second Amendment suppressing First Amendment rights to free assembly and speech, and where's the wisdom in that?

Openly displaying a gun just because you can is also bad politics. Even some firearm advocates agree.

"I have no problem with open carry if you're carrying a gun for self-defense," says Alan Gottlieb, founder of the Second Amendment Foundation, a gun-rights advocacy organization. "I don't like the idea of open carrying if you're making a political statement. Other people are going to feel intimidated or scared. It doesn't help our case. It closes people's minds."

Especially when tensions are running as high as they are now, law enforcement should be left to the professionals. Adding heavily armed militias and protesters to the mix is a recipe for tragedy.

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