The freedom to live as you choose in this country is only insured by our willingness to defend it. Despite the advances this country has made in technology, politics and diplomacy freedom is at constant risk from elements of humanity and natural disasters. Depending upon the availability of police and emergency equipment, you must maintain your part of civilization until the authorities can restore order. Thus arming you for self-protection before a crime, civil upheaval or natural disaster becomes a civil right.
Dialogue on guns rarely erases racial barriers, but is should. Gun control is not a Black or White thing; it’s a people thing. As a nation fights with itself over the gun lobby, militias and more gun control laws, those knowledgeable about firearms are further separated from the misinformed. This separation divides the country and creates a new minority. If you are a gun enthusiast or are educated in the basics of firearms your views about firearms will make you part of this new minority. As a minority you will be scrutinized for your different beliefs and culture. Use this understanding to bridge the culture gap. We are more alike than most people think. The deep mistrust of the affluent by African and Hispanic Americans, especially with respect to guns, is very similar to the new feelings about the government found today across the country. These similar feelings cause separation in some groups and the formation of militia groups among others.
Americans who have formed 'militias' out of fear of an all too powerful government are only echoing what other less cohesive groups of Americans have felt all along. A great example of similarities between blacks and whites exists today in the heavy-handed and reckless dealings of the government with religious groups that do not conform to the norm. The destruction of the Branch Davidian cult, in Waco, TX, parallels what happened a decade ago in Philadelphia when a Black 'cult' call MOVE was fire bombed by the police. An entire neighborhood was dominated by law enforcement.
The difference here, among other things, is cultural. Rural Americans that once felt part of the system are rebelling and forming militias. The branch Davidian’s were just like the people of the MOVE movement 10 years ago. Aside from ethnic differences and beliefs, both were, anti-Internal Revenue Service, anti-government and armed. Polarization tries to make it seem like militias today are urban terrorist. Words are used in the media to suggest they are unpatriotic bigots 'loaded for bear.' Contrary to published reports, the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) had know about militias in this country, and knows that the groups profiled lately are not the same ones that are purely criminal and are White Supremacist. Those in charge of the message have put their elitist spin on it.
Firearms ownership in this country has been legal only for the elite for many centuries. The gun control issue is not new. Civilian arms control had been systematic for mankind since one person first though himself better than the other. When ordinary people want the same privileges as the “chosen” group there have been always been conflict. Japan banned firearms and may black powder devices for centuries following their development to sustain the power of their samurai guards. Peasants were reduced to improvising weapons from farming tools and were forced to develop unarmed martial arts. This legacy of sin very upon many of the world’s so called minorities has produced a mindset among them that is conditioned to dislike firearms. Generation of negative reinforcement and exposure to firearms has created mistrust in minority communities against the people ho have them.
Similar to Japan’s ruling class, today’s American elite, including the wealthy, educated clergy, politicians, and business people publicity denounce the need for self-defense and the Constitution’s meaning in the Second Amendment.
The gun debate should not be made into a black and white issue. The right to keep and bear arms is not just for hunters, the National Rifle Association (NRA) or the elite. Unfortunately, many people of color have selectively forgotten the struggles of there ancestors. The legacy of my grandparents still lives. The firearms I saw daily in their modest backwater Virginia home were never misused and did not become the tool of suicide. Grandma’s shotgun sat unlocked and loaded in the kitchen 24-hours a day with 30 plus grandchildren sometimes around. My grandparent’s firearms brought home food, protected them from robbers and the Ku Klux Klan.
Growing up in that environment, it is easy for me to disbelieve the hype that is promoted today. Proper firearms training and responsible ownership will still protect you from an advanced society stuck in reverse. Forget lobbying groups and politics for a minute. There are children and teens out there on our streets that are growing up into or are sociopath. There are increasing numbers of people who cannot handle today’s stress and opt to hurt others and themselves. There are areas that where a combination of poverty, unemployment and substance abuse has made criminals out of the disenfranchised. Unfortunately, many people have to live near and in all these areas. The average citizen, regardless of color, does not have the luxury of the elite with armed sentries in their communities, bodyguards or special police patrols. In any of these circumstances you will have to protect yourself and your family until order is restored, black, white, pro-gun or anti-gun. As long as the fear of guns is used to separate and divide the country, the rights of all Americans are at risk.
Kenneth V. F. Blanchard
Black Man With A Gun.
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