Roughly two weeks ago, on August 31st, 2019, another mass shooting took place in the cities of Midland and Odessa Texas. It was the second incident in Texas for the month of August 2019, and at the time of this writing, the week of September 8th, 2019, there have been 289 mass shootings in the United States thus far. For those who wonder what defines a mass shooting… the Gun Violence Archive defines a mass shooting as “a single incident in which four or more people, not including the shooter, are “shot and/or killed” at “the same general time and location.”
289… think about that. We as a nation have experienced MORE mass shootings (289) in the calendar year of 2019 so far than actual days (September 8th is the 251st day of the calendar year).
After each shooting; there are a couple of days of “gun control” “banning assault weapons” “mental health issues” blah blah… then a few days later back to whatever we were talking about before. Right now, the Texas shootings are long gone from the headlines, and now it’s back to Antonio Brown’s NFL saga, Hurricane Dorian (the Hurricane Trump thought it was heading for Alabama), and fantasy football… which is fitting… because it’s a fantasy for anyone who truly cares about gun violence in this nation to think anything will actually change.
So, what could cause a reaction from policymakers so dreadful they would immediately apply true prudent measures to gun ownership?
To paraphrase comedian Dave Chappelle on his on Netflix special Sticks & Stones… there’s only one way to change gun laws and it’s for Black and Brown people to sign up in mass for gun licenses and ownership.
Let me explain via US history with two incidents in the 1960s…
August 1965 – Los Angeles
“Watts Riot” – Took place from August 11th to 16th, due to a police brutality incident against a pregnant woman. Immediately afterwards, the Los Angeles Police Department created “SWAT” or “Special Weapons and Tactics” designed to handle urban unrest, rioting, or widespread violence. In other words, a military level response to unruly and armed Black people.
1967 – California
The Mulford Act was enacted to repeal a California law that allowed the public carrying of loaded firearms. The bill was introduced by Republican Don Mulford, from Oakland, who wrote the bill as a response to seeing armed Black Panther members conducting patrols in Oakland.
The aforementioned acts in California would be duplicated on many municipal, state, and federal levels. The common trend… a response to armed and angry Black people.
So, what does that mean?
It means that if the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook, in which dozens of White kids were killed, didn’t cause anyone to blink an eye about our gun violence issues… then nothing else would… except the usual US history protection of White fear against a perceived Black threat. Yes, it was a joke made by Dave Chappelle, but the thought of legally armed Black people, immigrants or Muslims, or all three… OH MY!!! It would be the ultimate reason and motivation, again, to draft laws to vet gun ownership and curb gun production and sales.
Similar Read: MLK: Bankrupt Justice
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