Think about it. Getting a concealed carry permit is expensive, and time-consuming. This makes it harder for those in the lower income levels to get one, and harder to justify for their limited budgets. Sure, there are black folks with the financial resources to purchase legal firearms, and to be able to afford permits, but statistically speaking, there are fewer of them. That’s how modern racism works, like voter suppression schemes and legislative redistricting; not by outright denial of rights, but by exploiting social conditions to statistically achieve a similar result. Besides, black folks with money are just like us anyway. We don’t care if they’re armed!

In states where the gun must be registered in order to get a permit, this pretty much disenfranchises and disarms all those folks who can’t afford to go to a licensed dealer and buy a legal piece. It used to be black folks were always allowed to own guns, but they rarely could afford to buy one, which kept most of them unarmed.

By restricting firearms ownership to non-felons, it further denies the right to bear arms to the black community, which has a disproportionally higher percentage of members with convictions and jail time. Maybe we could get Rand Paul to work on this, as he is doing for the right to vote. After all, after you pay your debt to society, the slate should be wiped clean and the ex-con should have the ability to start fresh. This approach has the added benefit of letting a lot of white ex-cons re-arm themselves, too.

Since legal guns and permits are expensive, one way we can get around to arming the poorer classes is to institute gun-subsidy programs. Provide government funding to those who can’t afford firearms so they too can exercise their second amendment rights. We have food stamps, government housing, welfare, legal aid, Medicaid, why not guns too? If we have a right to arm ourselves, then we have an obligation to arm those of us who who can’t. There are commercial groups which advocate universal firearms ownership, and some localities have even tried requiring every household to have one, Surely, this is not fair unless those who can’t afford a gun are given aid to help them acquire one.

Give me some time to think up a few more of these. I’m just getting started.

Or is it because Conservatives are happy with the present situation?

And maybe offer a suggestion about what the Founding Fathers meant by “well regulated militia”.

PS A more reasonable interpretation would be to apply the Second Amendment strictly to the types of guns to which the Founding Fathers were referring. It was not assault rifles, but muzzle loaders, etc. That is also a solution to gun violence.

Just my FYI.

In my state there’s a push to require private gun sales to go through a federally license dealer (gun store). I don’t know how much good it would do but I think it’s a good idea.

Something needs to be done about proxy buying too.

There’s nothing wrong with locking up guns at home to keep them out of kids hands. Most home invasions happen at night. If you have children you can always unlock your gun when you retire for the evening.

They have changed. Gun shows used to be really neat places, you could pick up supplies your local gun shop didn’t carry, and see all sorts of cool hobbyist and collector stuff, over and above firearm-related merchandise. And, of course, it was a place to look for bargains–in ammo, firearms, and accessories.

But this was different. As soon as I walked in the door I was struck by the long arms–military-type combat weapons, what are referred to in the current vernacular as “assault rifles”. They were everywhere,
hundreds of them, high capacity magazine-fed, automatic (or easily convertible), military caliber, ugly killing machines. No polished walnut or blued steel here, no tooled leather slings; these were no-nonsense, uncompromising killing machines; matte black or camouflage metal and plastic, angular and machine like. It looked like the armory of the Imperial Storm Troopers. There were enough assault weapons there to arm a battalion of infantry, not to mention the accessories, the paramilitary uniforms, the multiple clip ammo pouches, the “tactical” knives, body armor and all the other costume details needed to convert some fat-assed middle aged Rambo into a Defender of Freedom. Anybody that stupid is sooner or later going to get himself into trouble, and he’ll probably take some of the rest of us with him.

You can buy this sort of weapon at any gun store, but at the gun show it appeared that displays for assault rifles dominated the vendor space. Oh sure, you could always pick up a Kalashnikov or an M-16 at a show, but now they have become a major item (by unit) and probably THE major item by dollar sales. The purely commercial aspect becomes obvious. There is a big business selling assault weapons to civilians, in a sport, hobby, and self-defense market saturated with guns, here is a whole new set of customers, fresh consumers, limitless demand. This is all about money, and fear.

I saw a lot of white guys buying military weaponry, mostly Bubbas and Bunkers. And you know who they’re arming themselves against, this isn’t an aroused citizenry arming themselves to defend their constitutional rights. These are scared people who sense chaos is just another Ferguson away. The funny thing is that the other side was at the gun show too, a lot of black folks with disposable cash were wandering up and down those aisles, talking knowledgeably with the vendors, and handling the merchandise with evident skill and expertise. They probably got their training in the Middle East, in real combat conditions.

The weapons merchants love an arms race. And they haven’t changed their business model one bit. They’re still selling repeating rifles to the Sioux.