In the maelstrom of the financial meltdown, no company made out quite as well as Goldman Sachs . While competitors like Lehman Brothers went out of business, Goldman alums like Timothy Geithner are now running the government’s bailout programs and providing regulatory oversight of their former colleagues.

With the foxes guarding the henhouse, Goldman was able to make record bonus payouts earlier this year.

Of course this didn’t sit well with the general public, who saw their tax dollars go towards padding the pockets of the fat cats while they saw their jobs disappear and homes go into foreclosure.

Goldman Sachs bankers, aware of the negative public sentiment, are taking some positive steps. Not for you and me, but for their own safety. According to Bloomberg news, several high-ranking Goldman investment bankers are applying for handgun permits to defend themselves against potentially violent public reaction to what should be another blockbuster bonus season when year-end paychecks are handed out.

New York has particularly stringent gun laws, but as we’ve seen time and time again, billions of dollars and the political clout it buys makes the impossible possible. If slumlord apartment owners can pack pistols in the Big Apple, the odds are in favor of a few well-heeled and well-connected investment types getting the same privileges.

As a pistol-packing blogger I have no problem with law-abiding citizens (regardless of their questionable business ethics) exercising their Second Amendment rights. Goldman’s gunners are simply leveraging every advantage they have, as they always do.

And you’ve heard me say it before; when it comes to these scuzzy Wall Street types, if you can’t beat ‘em, learn from ‘em. When it comes to taking your financial future in your own hands and playing the system, there are worse examples to follow. Make your money and protect it, by any means necessary.