After months of taking heat for their role in the economic meltdown, Goldman Sachs employees are reportedly purchasing handguns for protection against an angry public. The New York Police Department confirms that several Goldman employees have applied for handgun permits. Are pistol-packing bankers really in danger from a violent backlash against Wall Street bailouts and bonuses? (Watch a report about Goldman Sachs bankers protecting themselves with pistols)

What angry mob?: "Where is this torch-toting mob" the bankers dread? asks John Del Signore at Gothamist. The only protesters we've seen so far have been raging at "communist Obama." Maybe the bankers are just "sick" of being blamed for the recession, and are preparing to "unload on the ungrateful rabble."

"Goldman Sachs bankers ready to open fire on mob"

There is a mob — but it's not violent: Actually, there have been protests against Goldman Sachs, says John Vandeventer on the Service Employees International Union website. But the people involved aren't violent — they're just taxpayers who want Wall Street to "stop using our money on lobbying and bonuses." So when the SEIU demonstrates outside Goldman's New York office on Dec. 14, "we won't need our bulletproof vests."

"God, guns, and Goldman"

Goldman execs have reason to be afraid: The SEIU seems to be "relishing in the idea" of the "bourgeoisie arming itself," say LaborUnionReport bloggers at RedState, and, given the SEIU's "thug-like" tactics, "Goldman Sachs execs are probably right to have a concern for their own safety." The good news is that the bankers "will be able to use taxpayer bailout money" to load up their arsenal.

"Wow! Goldman Sachs execs arming themselves against... the SEIU?!?"

Scary? Maybe. Funny? Absolutely: The real question, asks Matt Taibbi on True/Slant, is how funny is this "on a scale of 1 to 10"? It's never good when people feel the need to arm themselves — even "rich weenies with persecution complexes" — but the idea that "these dorks" think they stand a chance against an uprising by "keeping guns in their Hamptons beach houses" is downright hilarious.

"Goldman Sachs Arms Itself"