Bryan Woolston via Getty Images Gun rights activists in the rotunda of the Capitol in Frankfort, Kentucky.

Men in balaclavas packing semi-automatic rifles and wearing camouflage, bulletproof vests and combat boots marched into the Kentucky Capitol in Frankfort on Friday, driving out terrified visitors.

The men were gun rights activists and members of the group We Are KY Gun Owners, staging a Second Amendment rally proving they have a right to appear to be a paramilitary operation in the open carry state. They were allowed by security to step around the Capitol’s metal detectors.

“We can’t just whittle away one little piece here, one little piece there,” Calen Studler told the Louisville Courier Journal, referring to gun rights. “Then the [Constitution] doesn’t mean what it says anymore.”

Some Twitter users wondered how America would react if the men were not white.

keep wondering how people would react to these pictures if these dudes were Muslim https://t.co/tbWtXgzNmN — Matt Pearce 🦅 (@mattdpearce) February 1, 2020

We're a perfectly normal country. — Michael Gutierrez (@MichaelG398) February 1, 2020

A police officer fatally shot Philando Castile 7 times for trying to show the officer his license to carry. https://t.co/kC5j4Ha7lO — David Dennis Jr. (@DavidDTSS) February 1, 2020

Remember when the Black Panthers (lawfully) did this in California and Gov. Reagan, St. Ronnie of the Conservatives, immediately got gun control laws on the books to disarm them? — Eggman (@iamzeeeggman) February 1, 2020

2nd amendment rights only apply to white men. — MIKE (@mrmgrady) February 1, 2020

I hate to imagine what would have happened if that was a group of African American males. This is such a sick and grotesque sight in our country. What the hell are these insecure guys so afraid of - gad. — Courtney (@Lee4ever2) February 1, 2020

and this ammosexuals had their faces covered. white privilege on display. along side of their own fear of the other. — michael charles (@michaelj121173) February 2, 2020

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article referred to the weapons as automatic. They are semi-automatic.