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October 11, 2004 Black Men With Guns I Heart the Internet It is the only place you can find a legit site called: "Black Man With A Gun". These are some of life's most simple pleasures. As someone who less than 5 years ago did a complete "180" on the issue gun control, I can attest that there are systematic ways of thinking about guns that are deeply rooted in the minds of many Americans. The more I learn about the motivation behind gun control, the angrier I get. Back in 1993, Clayton Cramer published an excellent article titled, "The Racist Roots of Gun Control". Perhaps the time we have spent as a country suing gun manufacturers and attempting to corner Kmart executives with our cameras, could be better served getting to the truth of the matter. The "Black Man With a Gun" site is very much a paradox in this age where the issues of black on black violence are rampant. That issue however, is a form of self-hatred that has less to do with weaponry and more with identity. It's really an entirely different issue. On the more anecdotal end, this past summer, while house-sitting for my parents, I came home one early evening to find my 16-year-old brother gallivanting around the neighborhood with his trusty BB gun in tote. He is one of those guys that would shoot a hole through a pair of $400 Jimmy Choo pumps if it meant good target practice. Irate, I demanded that he leave the gun in the house. It was one of those moments where I was irritated by our culture. The sensible part of me knew that what he was doing was harmless. It was only a BB gun, and it wasn't even loaded. But the wise part of me knew the image of a young black male toting any type of weaponry spelled capital "T" trouble. Such is the world we live in. Comments Posted by: Walter E. Wallis at October 11, 2004 7:38 PM Playing with a BB gun, unsupervised on public property, isn't harmless. BB guns are dangerous. If a policeman sees a person with one, and reacts, the BB gun toting person can be shot. I was given a BB gun to learn to be responsible before I was allowed to handle a real gun. Posted by: DarkStar at October 11, 2004 7:48 PM Um, Darkstar, that was the irony of my point. The very presence of a black teenager with even a toy gun could cause trouble. The BB gun wasn't loaded though, which I also mentioned in the post. Posted by: Ambra Nykol at October 11, 2004 8:54 PM Hmmm, that remimds me............I need to go get some hi-capacity - hopefully 17 or 18 round clips, for the ole Glock 9mm - now that that the stupid Clinton gun ban is gone & I can have as many bullets on hand as the bad guys. Hey man, I can shoot. I'm accurate. (None of that sideways shooting garbage from Menace to Society) But why have two measely ten rounders when I can have two 15, or even 17-18 rounders as my basic daily 'hood load?? Loaded with Hollow Tips and/or Black Talons, to boot. Don't look good. Cryin shame how we gotta be packin heat, then again as Mr. Willis alluded to.......You KNOOOW how we love jackin each other. No problem, dawg. Posted by: Beau at October 12, 2004 5:40 AM I don't know who originally said it, but: "If we make it a crime to own a gun, only the criminals will be armed." Posted by: Bun-Girl at October 12, 2004 10:12 AM Time was, it was difficult for a Black male in many regions of the U.S. to own and pack. I'm not for handgun sales or those of large arms, but a lot that needed to be said and written on the matter was done by Robert Williams (read his early 1960's book "Negroes with Guns")and heads like Bobby Seale. Fast forward 20 years, when open-air crack sales were rampant in some cities. When Black men were turning assault weapons on one another, it seemed a whole lot easier to be strapped (and not stopped) Posted by: Bijan at October 12, 2004 10:25 AM For those interested, Robert Williams was a Monroe, N.C. human rights activist who sought to help protect the Black populace there: By no means do I advocate gun violence, but Williams, The Deacons of Self Defense, and the Panthers lived in a different place & time. Posted by: Bijan at October 12, 2004 10:35 AM Gun control has the problem that your regulating objects instead of people. Shootings are just a symptom. If they didn't have guns, it would be knifings or baseball battings or board-with-a-nail-in-it-ings. You are treating the symptom and not the disease. Bad People are the problem, guns are just tools. Regulating the tools of criminals can help prevent crime. Unfortunately guns are also the tools that the honest need to defend themselves from the criminals. So by over-regulating them you are making honest folks into defenseless targets. I think people are starting to wise up about this. PS: Mmmm cheap hicap mags. Gotta get me some of that for my 9mm. Posted by: Jeff the Baptist at October 12, 2004 1:27 PM I tend to fall into the "the more people who are legally armed, the better" camp, although I'm sad to say probably it's best you made him leave it at home. 20 years ago, sure, but now... http://www.a-human-right.com/RKBA/s_hishome.jpg Posted by: Brian at October 12, 2004 1:35 PM |
 "...playful philosophizing" Dan Leroy, National Review Online
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You have to be careful when packing, and you need to avoid the temptations, but th old saw about better to be judged by 12 than carried by 6 still applies. Responsible gun ownership is where it is at.