In May of 1967, twelve armed black men entered the California State Capital building in Sacramento. They pushed themselves past security and made their way to the back of the assembly chamber. They were finally disarmed and escorted out of the building by security. What was the reason for this sudden show of force by these individuals? Two words: Mulford Act.
The 1960s was what some would call a cultural change in our country. If you were under 25, you probably dabbled into the occasional premarital activity or played rock and roll loud enough for your neighbors down the street to hear. If those things were not your style, you probably were practicing America’s favorite pastime (Drugs).
And if you were not protesting an immoral war or watching your favorite cultural icons get assassinated, you probably dabbled in America’s other pastime. Racism.
(Yeah) To put it lightly, the sixties were a little rough around the edges when it came to racial issues. After years of economic instability and war efforts in the ’30s and ’40s, America came out pretty well. The 1950s were a time of rebuilding for the world. With a steadier economy and home life, America decided to tackle racial issues. The NAACP, Rosa Parks, W.E.B. Du Bois, Thurgood Marshall, Ruby Bridges; all icons of the 1950’s civil rights movement. Of all the extraordinary individuals of that era, two men with different ideologies of handling the civil rights situation came to the forefront; the soft-spoken Dr. Martin Luther King, who preached nonviolence, and the more colorful Malcolm X, who was a “by any means necessary” kind of guy. We both know what happened to these gentlemen. Dr. King was assassinated on April 4th, 1968. At the relatively young age of 39, King became an American icon. He was instrumental in getting the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 signed.
His speeches are taught in schools around the country, and his name is on a street sign in every major city. He has a holiday, statues and is sometimes overused and misquoted by individuals who would have opposed him if they were alive in the ’60s.
Malcolm X did not get a statue in D.C. His speeches are not made common knowledge to the average student, and he does not get a federal holiday. While conspiracy theories whirl about the F.B.I. assassinating King, many people believe Malcolm’s murder was conspired by the Nation of Islam (That is a story perhaps for another day). But while King was being praised by Robert Kennedy and the establishment, Malcolm’s earlier persona and message were ringing truer to a new generation of civil rights leaders.
After the 1964 Civil Rights Act, things did not just become smooth sailing for American race relations. Turns out, it’s borderline impossible to outlaw racism. If a white guy did not like black people in the spring of ’63, I doubt he would in the Summer of ’64.
The prejudice seemingly outlawed in the lawbooks were prevalent in every facet of society still. There were just new ways to do it. Let’s go to Oakland, where the prejudice reigned supreme in the police department.
The Black Panther Party of Oakland, tired of the police brutality, began cop watching. This, along with many other allegations towards the group and police, led Don Mulford to put forth a bill banning the open carry of loaded weapons in California.
The bill was supported by the Nation Rifle Association (N.R.A.), had bipartisan support, and was signed into law by Mr. Conservative Values himself. Ronald. Wilson. Reagan. The idea of black men patrolling their own neighborhoods with weapons scared the hell out of conservative America so much that they committed the cardinal sin, gun control.
Fast forward to April 20th, 1999. The nation was rocked by the story of two high school students gunning down their classmates. Columbine. The story of one of, if not the most, infamous mass shooting was plastered on every news station. The question of why these men would commit such a crime was the mystery of the spring. The blame was put on everything from home life to video games to Marilyn Manson.
If you were ignorant of America’s problems, you would think this appalling crime would be the worst school shooting. December 14th, 2012. A skinny punk walks into Sandy Hook elementary school and opens fire. At the end of the carnage, 28 deaths were recorded. I remember watching that story in class. My teacher was using the projector to show us a YouTube video. Before she could go to the website, the shooting headline was in bold letter on Yahoo.com’s website.
June 17th, 2015. A day after I arrived at boot camp, another mass shooting happened. A young man walked into a black church and shot and killed nine members during their bible study.
Almost a year later, the Pulse nightclub shooting happened. 50 died. In October the following year, 60 died in the Las Vegas mass shooting. A few months later, the Parkland shooting occurred.
With every shooting came more pressure from Democrats to ban “assault rifles” and implement sweeping gun control. The media used victims to push the narrative in some cases. Others blamed “scary white men” and their anxiety about a new America.
Yeah, that is right. Fifty years since the Mulford Act and politicians have once again used the scary man trope to get their voters in a frenzy about gun control. Only this time, the “scary” man is white instead of black. The politicians orchestrating this are the Democrats instead of Republicans.
Ever since Trump became the face of the G.O.P., anxiety about “white anxiety” has increased. Anything or anyone who touches the administration is deemed racist or vile. Trump is a Republican and Republicans are primarily against gun control. If the rules I stated apply, everything Trump is for is terrible; then, being for gun control makes you benevolent.
The liberal left draws a hard line sometimes. If you are against the #MeToo movement, you support sexual predators. Suppose you are against Black Lives Matter, the organization. In that case, you are racist, and if you are against gun control, then you are okay with children being shot.
Not that the liberal left really cares about children being gunned down; they are concerned with their children being gunned down. Children being shot in the inner cities have been an unfortunate staple of black communities for decades. Yet, you do not see mass protests for them. It’s remarkably similar to America’s change of heart with the war on drugs. When the crack epidemic was just affecting the ghetto, people could have cared less. Now that it affects more affluent neighborhoods, America wants to change its rhetoric on the situation.
The reason they care now is that it affects them. Affluent individuals can avoid inner-city shootings if they avoid the ghetto. They cannot (or at least they advocate so they cannot) avoid sending their kid to school. And the thought of a highly improbable situation is too much to bear for them.
They march and lobby for gun control to be passed. Liberals use pictures of counter-protesters as vile individuals who care more about being G.I. Joe than saving children. They will use every actual evil person to push the narrative that young white men with guns are the most significant domestic threat.
The left, despite being known for saying a small group of individuals does not reflect the entire group, will be more than happy to label all gun owners and AR-15 owners as mentally inept and potentially dangerous. The unfortunate truth is they will win unless we stop them.
If white Americans in the ’60s had stood by the black panthers despite their differences and battled for the right to open carry, the Mulford Act would not have come to fruition. We cannot make the same mistake they did.
There are peaceful gun owners in this country of all creeds. We must ban together to stop this attack on our rights. The left is continuing to praise images of black liberation. It’s time to show them the millions of law-abiding Black American gun owners affected by this unconstitutional move. Show them the Muslim gun owners, the gay gun owners, the trans gun owner, and so on and so forth. You might find yourself at odds with some of these individuals, but our American rights must be protected at the end of the day. If we fail at this, then we not only will have to worry about gun confiscation but a potential hostile takeover of the constitution.
Douglass Times 