The Leftist Case Against Gun Control
As a pro-gun leftist, the most common topic of debate is that of gun control and the desire for American society to rid itself of gun violence. The Liberal position is one of firearm confiscation and increased regulation, but society has not progressed beyond the need for defensive capabilities just yet. I am here to argue that gun control is and has always been, the fascist position. Gun control has a long and storied past within this country that you see the beginnings of before it was even founded. Colonies passed laws preventing any slave or African from owning firearms, eventually moving on to encompass other minority groups as well. After the formal end of the Civil War, guns became the weapon of choice for violently enforcing white supremacy during America’s vulnerable reconstruction era, both through terrorist groups like the Klu Klux Klan and state organizations like police. The origins of contemporary gun control stem from “bipartisan” efforts to disenfranchise Afro-American gun owners in California during the Civil Rights Era. It is a common misconception that the Civil Rights movement was one of only peaceful marches; throughout the United States, armed groups of Black organizers sprouted up to defend themselves and their communities from the Klan and police (who were in many cases the same people). They were only able to protect themselves from the pervasive lynch-mob through armed actions such as seen with the forming of the Black Panthers in 1966 who recognized armed membership was central to their organizational operation. The fear of armed Black men and women in government buildings, public spaces, and at political events led then Republican Governor Ronald Reagan to endorse stricter gun control laws which were also backed by the NRA.
Today, white supremacist organizations are showing up to queer and Trans affirming events, armed and calling for violence. The presence of armed counter-protestors has been effective at diffusing or deterring the active threats of those white supremacists calling for genocide of Black, queer, and Trans people.
GUN CONTROL IS NOT VIOLENCE CONTROL
Firearms are a tool and if tools are being used for violence, first look at why the violence is deemed a necessity. Poverty and desperation bred by the miseries of decaying capitalism are what drive people to use violence. When people are trapped in a system that locks them into forced consumerism of the necessities for life with no discernable way out, they will naturally push against the constraints of the system to survive. Our culture has prioritized profits over people, leaving those at the bottom to fend for themselves or suffer in the streets. Additionally, the for-profit healthcare system in this country is prioritizing treatment over cures, ignoring mental health altogether. Today we witness more epidemics of violence, the repression of poor people, and the debt enslavement of entire communities. Focusing on the correction of poverty, of food scarcity, of unaffordable housing will do mountains more in preventing gun violence than any gun regulation ever would. Mass shootings are rightfully a main concern for many anti-gun reactionaries, with the horrific actions being propagandized by all sides of our political system. It is not a product of the access to arms but rather the result of a flawed understanding of how guns should be used and a broader cultural degradation that includes social isolation and a failing mental health apparatus.
Restricting arms is merely treating a symptom over the cause. We should be looking to prevent people from getting to a state where they consider harming others an option due to society failing them. Most mass shooters are alienated, white, conservative, men that have fallen into the patriarchal belief systems of online reactionaries. They believe they are owed the bodies of women and social power which the “woke” society is denying them. These men feel betrayed by liberal reforms and the only solution is to burn it all down through counterrevolutionary fascist terrorism. The solution is to fully break white supremacist patriarchy’s structural power, raise young men who value women as equals instead of seeing them as property, affirm children’s rights instead of parents treating them as property, abolish structures in the law & workplaces that privilege men over women, and get as many men on board with these reforms as we can. But these reforms will continue to be ignored by politicians because it allows them to cast blame on political opponents and propagandize that the way to solve mass violence is through bureaucratic adjustments to gun law, rather than admitting the failures of the capitalist system as a whole.
GUN CONTROL DISARMS THOSE WHO NEED PROTECTION THE MOST
When any form of gun control is enacted, who is the first to lose their rights? Who is going to be enforcing these laws and through what means? The state will go after easy targets using the very tools liberals seek to ban. The police, military, and wealthy (white) of this country will keep their weapons as militarized police continue to murder minorities in the streets and terrorize the working class with a state of racist laws and a racist judicial system. With Red Flag Laws, the judicial system decides who has their firearms taken away with no prerequisite evidence. Police are the ones who then confiscate weapons through violent means. Do you think these laws would be enforced equitably in our society?
UNIVERSAL BACKGROUND CHECKS ARE SUBJECT TO GENOCIDAL IDEOLOGIES
The push for universal background checks has been made an excuse to provide mental health records to the government. What happens when an ultra-conservative politician gets into office who deems homosexuality and transgenderism a mental health issue worthy of forcibly removing one’s firearms? Do we want these people to have access to broad lists of citizens who they may deem “undesirable”?
CESSATION OF GUN SALES CREATE MORE VIOLENCE
Other gun control policies floated have been the immediate cessation of all gun sales. There are hundreds of millions of firearms already in this country, we are well past the point of a gun free society. Stripping all sales or increasing taxes would simply skyrocket prices, leaving self-defense to be a luxury of the rich. Even now, fully automatic weapons are not illegal, you just need to pay the right amount of fees. Moreso with gun confiscation, will police stroll into a millionaire’s mansion to collect weapons first, or will they target impoverished neighbors under the guise of “cleaning up crime”? There is no central registry of firearms, the only means of confiscation will be to go door to door and search homes, which will simply lead to more violence.
RESTORATIVE JUSTICE REDUCES VIOLENCE AND NEED FOR GUNS
We need to aim to work using restorative justice in our communities and hold bad actors accountable so that they do not continue to be dangerous. The aim of gun control has always been to make the working class not rely amongst themselves but on the state for protection, giving them sole power over the people.
COMMUNITY DEFENSE RESULTS IN RESPONSIBLE GUN OWNERSHIP
We will never diminish the claims of those affected by gun violence or those concerned for the safety of themselves and others, but tackling gun violence is far more complex than banning any firearm. The gun culture in America has been co-opted to one of fascism, machismo, and patriarchy that is focused on one of individual ownership, instead we need well organized and trained mass systems of community defense. The struggles of the working class, of the black power movement, of the queer liberation movement, of the feminist movement feel distant to many but are still very much recent history. Rosa Parks died in 2005. There are civil rights leaders still alive today. The struggle is very much alive and real with fascism still organizing around the corner. Do not settle for the feel-good, do-nothing policies of gun control. Take up arms against fascism and train with your community.
All Power to The People
We Keep Us Safe