Fantasy Firearms… Could a Black Panthers Movement Save the Nation?

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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 

Blood on the GOP’s Hands

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The massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland this past Valentine’s Day has brought forth a debate, the same one that comes up after every mass shooting in recent memory. The issue of gun control is a hot-button; it ignites so much passion on both sides of the aisle that it’s hard to get past the rhetoric and the finger-pointing and the conspiracy theories to see what’s really going on.

The National Rifle Association has been blamed for the rising number of people killed by firearms, including assault weapons – rifles designed for the sole purpose of killing many people in the shortest amount of time with minimal effort. Supporters fight back, citing the Second Amendment, unwilling to give even one inch of ground, for fear of creating a slippery slope of bans, regulations, and limitations.

I’m not against gun ownership. I come from a family of law enforcement officers, and have owned firearms myself. Most NRA members are in favor of responsible and sensible gun laws. I am; however, against owning guns designed for offensive and systematic mass murder. 

The Constitution is vague by design, and can be interpreted in a number of different ways. It’s this vagueness that has made the NRA extremely influential in US politics, and the reason assault rifles and other non-civilian firearms are sold in such vast numbers. While a handful of Democrats have taken money from the NRA, the vast majority of recipients are Republicans.

But this is the tip of the iceberg. Just under $6 million was directly donated to candidates’ campaigns during the 2016 election cycle. The bulk of the NRA’s influence is due to outside, or independent spending –  terms that encompass expenditures for everything other than lining a politician’s pockets. A case in point, an October 2017 Politifact article reveals that the NRA spent more than $200 million on political activities since 1998. Other spending includes promotional efforts, totaling about $250 million per year. 

The NRA didn’t start out as the perceived supporter of murder and mayhem, as some gun control advocates might believe. The humble beginnings consisted of a group of apolitical hobbyists who supported gun safety and responsible gun laws. Some events appear to have changed the focus of the NRA to a lobby for the GOP – the 1966 University of Texas shooting that killed 17 people caused a furor of calls to ban guns, with an equally passionate defense of gun ownership. The assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Bobby Kennedy, among other violent events, resulted in the 1968 Gun Control Act, which started a tug or war between the NRA and gun control advocates, and served to start the ideological path of the association to the hard right. The Cincinnati revolt of 1977 also widened the chasm between sensible gun ownership and rabid Second Amendment defense. 

Membership numbers swelled, which put the NRA on the path as a lobby with money to promote its ideology. Currently membership is around four million members, but donations by members, corporations (including gun manufacturers) and other political entities are significant. Total annual donations by individuals totaled $22 million in 2014.

It’s easy to see how the NRA morphed from advocate for firearms education and safety to radical right-wing lobby, willing to halt any and all legislation to regulate firearms. Let’s call a spade a spade – the NRA doesn’t care about the multitudes of adults and children that are killed by bullets. They relish it – gun control proposals make membership surge, and causes a spike in gun sales. It seems that after every massacre, the NRA gains more power.

However, the mass shooting in Parkland, Florida seems to have given rise to a movement that has the potential to give the NRA a taste of humble pie. These kids are sick of active-shooter drills, and hearing the NRA offer “thoughts and prayers.” They will be the ones in office in just a few years’ time, and are likely to change the face of gun ownership for decades to come.