Testing The Rights?

Yesterday, I did two things I never thought I would. I applied for an IT Support opportunity at a marijuana dispensary, and I began the process of getting my medical marijuana card. The evidence of the benefits of marijuana and conversations with long-time supporters of legalization has caused my positions to shift.

Much the same is happening with my position on guns. My opinions of an impending Supreme Court case involving New York's Concealed Carry Law, especially with the current composition of the court, has me thinking that the case at the very least will make Concealed Carry Reciprocity, thus making the weakest laws the law of the land, likely, and could make a federal standard difficult. At the worst, it could pave the way for other reforms to be rolled back and any future legislation impossible. This could further expand the "open season" on persons of color.

I see two responses. One is to see states try to frame future restrictions as efforts to regulate the militia. We would have battles between the "well-regulated" clause and the "shall not be infringed" clause. These future decisions may get activists within the Democratic Party to realize that all elections are judicial elections.

The second response is to have people of color arm themselves in defense of themselves and their community. The efforts of the Black Panthers and others to arm themselves and the race riots of the 1960s may have been forces in the NRAs shift from a hunting and sportsman's group to a gun manufacturers lobby and the political arm of the rural reactionary. Groups like the Socialist Rifle Association could launch efforts to train people of color and create community defense corps. I can only imagine the look on a Proud Boy's face when a group of people of color, with or without bloc support, showed up armed.

The legislative response would be interesting too. I could see states, especially states like Alabama, Texas, or Florida, passing laws designed to make it harder for people of color to arm themselves. Making low-level drug crimes grounds for denial of a firearms license could be part of a new Mulford Act.