Yes, women should be armed. Gay people should be armed. Trans people should be armed. Religious minorities should be armed. People that are on the political left never should have ceded the right to keep and bear arms to the political right.
I’m planning on getting certified as a firearms instructor through the NRA (because no matter how shitty the NRA-ILA is, the training programs are solid) this coming year so that I can start working with The Pink Pistols and Operation Blazing Spear.
Nope, time and again we see law enforcement doesn’t work that way for minorities. The same gun laws that protect the majority are used against those in minorities.
Also gives cops an excuse to kill us. Which they often use.
A very american perspective, tbh. From soneone in a country where you’re not allowed to carry a gun around as a random idiot, it’s so wild to read.
Then again, I also understand that this external perspective has little meaning. You can’t magically wish the laws + all those guns away, and like in any arms race you can’t be entirely unarmed until you can enact a more permanent de-armament solution later.
It’s actually a lot less common for regular citizens to open carry in the US than some might think from US News. It’s unusual in a protest, and almost always a far right thing. It has been used effectively by the left, but not at scale in the last 50 years.
The most effective protest movements usually have two approaches going on at the same time, one that threatens violence, and one that is strictly non violent. Non violent movements tend to be ignored until negotiations with them are seen as more favorable than dealing with an armed movement.
Well yes, and they fear for their lives so goddamn much of the time because they’re poorly trained cowards who are used to being the high school bully and the wife beater and never having their authority threatened.
Fucking FINALLY.
Yes, women should be armed. Gay people should be armed. Trans people should be armed. Religious minorities should be armed. People that are on the political left never should have ceded the right to keep and bear arms to the political right.
I’m planning on getting certified as a firearms instructor through the NRA (because no matter how shitty the NRA-ILA is, the training programs are solid) this coming year so that I can start working with The Pink Pistols and Operation Blazing Spear.
I would strongly suggest that people try reading This Nonviolence Stuff’ll Get You Killed: How Guns Made the Civil Rights Movement Possible.
If you’re one of the people that is considering getting a gun, please listen to the “It Could Happen Here” podcast episode titled, Safe Gun Ownership.
I need a plugin like DownThemAll to just add every book on that page (including "Customers also bought…) to my Goodreads want to read.
Narrative nonfiction has become my jam. New favorite category, especially history.
This would be a genuinely enriching good read for me. Thanks for the good stuff.
Bad ideas are always bad.
It’s only a bad idea when the people who want to hurt you aren’t armed. Sadly, in America, that’s not the case.
Nope, time and again we see law enforcement doesn’t work that way for minorities. The same gun laws that protect the majority are used against those in minorities.
Also gives cops an excuse to kill us. Which they often use.
Those cops will kill you, armed or not. Less likely, if armed.
For example, see: DFW John Brown Gun Club shutting down cops who were looking to de-home a house less camp, by being armed and present.
The kind of cop you are talking about is a coward. They are far less likely to harass protesters when they are open carrying.
A very american perspective, tbh. From soneone in a country where you’re not allowed to carry a gun around as a random idiot, it’s so wild to read.
Then again, I also understand that this external perspective has little meaning. You can’t magically wish the laws + all those guns away, and like in any arms race you can’t be entirely unarmed until you can enact a more permanent de-armament solution later.
It’s actually a lot less common for regular citizens to open carry in the US than some might think from US News. It’s unusual in a protest, and almost always a far right thing. It has been used effectively by the left, but not at scale in the last 50 years.
The most effective protest movements usually have two approaches going on at the same time, one that threatens violence, and one that is strictly non violent. Non violent movements tend to be ignored until negotiations with them are seen as more favorable than dealing with an armed movement.
Cops fearing for their lives is the #1 reason they pull a gun and shoot
Well yes, and they fear for their lives so goddamn much of the time because they’re poorly trained cowards who are used to being the high school bully and the wife beater and never having their authority threatened.
It’s one thing for them to be afraid you might be armed, and quite another to know you are armed and surrounded by allies who are also armed.
Works for gangs all the time yeah?
Yes actually. It’s not immunity from cops, but it protects from general harassment. If the cops want you bad enough then they will get you regardless.