The recent events of Jan. 6 in our nation’s capital have traumatized the American people and the world.

Storming the U.S. Capitol Building, shouting threats to hang Vice President Mike Pence and injure or kill Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is not the patriotism I grew up believing in.

If you want a reasonable dialogue about the significant backlog of numerous problems that plague our country (and how to solve them), it is best not to bring a gun to the conversation.

So you shouldn’t be surprised if our Congressional representatives left the room and took refuge. Under these circumstances, a gun does not make you a patriot. It just makes you a bully.

And as for these so-called patriots who raged through the U.S. Capitol Building, I did not see love of country on their faces, nor did I hear it in their chosen use of words. All I saw was hatred.

Anna Rose Ravenwoode is a lifelong educator who lives in Kelseyville, California.