The Pacific Standard recently published a very interesting story about Americans who associate themselves with the extreme left politically, and why they are against gun control.
The story says, a bit reductively, that people who associate more on the right politically believe Americans have the right to bear arms, guaranteed by the Constitution, in order to protect themselves, their families, and their property.
And, as the magazine reports, some folks on the far left believe not only that gun control laws aren’t a solution, but also that they usually are “harmful to people of color” as well as the middle class and poor.
“Members of the far left who are intereted in arms are wary that new regulations would further discriminate against people of color and the working class.”
The magazine spoke with three people who could be considered left of the left, each affiliated with groups that advocate for responsible gun use.
Duke Aaron is a member of the Puget Sound chapter of the Redneck Revolt Network, “an organization of armed members of the working class that aims to fight white supremacy and promote community defense.”
“Community defense, including armed community defense, isn’t about violence,” he said in a story. “It’s about creating a space for people to breathe and get stuff done without being terrorized. Teaching the left and vulnerable communities how to responsibly handle their own safety is important. What are we going to do if something happens? Call the cops and wait [hours] for them to show up and shrug their shoulders or even sometimes shoot us?”
Those are a couple of talking points you don’t often hear mixed together: the idea of safe spaces and self defense.
Jake Allen is a member of Trigger Warning Queer & Trans Gun Club, which we reported on recently. The group seeks to “educate and organize queer and trans people for self-defense.”
“If we’re going to call for gun control, we should start with the heavily armed police state,” Allen said in the story. “The weapons that ordinary people have access to are small potatoes compared to the firepower that most police departments possess and deploy regularly against society’s most marginalized communities.”
For the full story and interviews, check out the Pacific Standard‘s story here.