A Gun is Lighter than a Chip on the Shoulder

Ann Coulter has an interesting piece entitled Negroes with Guns. In the wake of the Trayvon Martin shooting, she asks the obvious question:

I don't know the facts yet, but let's assume the conclusion MSNBC is leaping to is accurate: George Zimmerman stalked a small black child and murdered him in cold blood, just because he was black. If that were true, every black person in America should get a gun and join the National Rifle Association, America's oldest and most august civil rights organization.

Apparently this has occurred to no one because our excellent public education system ensures that no American under the age of 60 has the slightest notion of this country's history.

Coulter then talks about how the KKK was the militant arm of the Democrat party in the South, allowing the political wing to appear to have "clean hands." But the two wings of the Party worked together to discriminate against blacks. Let's be honest here, "may issue" laws were originally designed to keep certain people, whether those people were the blacks in the South, or the Italians in New York, from getting guns. In preventing people from defending themselves effectively, the people who put in place these laws, and the people who maintain them today, have the blood of every victim of gun violence on their hands.

No less a body than the Supreme Court has ruled that an individual has no right to police protection. For instance, in the 2005 case of Castle Rock vs Gonzalez, the Court found that Ms. Gonzalez had no right to police protection even with a restraining order. The Free Republic also discusses this case, but the useful thing here is the foot notes. I would point you to Warren vs District of Columbia. It is a very sad case.

There are now 38 States with "shall issue" concealed carry laws on the books, and all but the State of Illinois has some sort of carry provisions making it either easier or harder to get a permit. So, why don't the race hustlers and race baiters suggest that citizens get a gun, get trained, and carry wherever it is legal to do so? More on that in a minute.

Ms. Coulter goes on to cite a book by civil rights organizer Robert F. Williams, in which Williams cites a little self help in the war raging with the KKK at the time:

The NRA opposed these discretionary gun permit laws and proceeded to grant NRA charters to blacks who sought to defend themselves from Klan violence -- including the great civil rights hero Robert F. Williams.

A World War II Marine veteran, Williams returned home to Monroe, N.C., to find the Klan riding high -- beating, lynching and murdering blacks at will. No one would join the NAACP for fear of Klan reprisals. Williams became president of the local chapter and increased membership from six to more than 200.

But it was not until he got a charter from the NRA in 1957 and founded the Black Armed Guard that the Klan got their comeuppance in Monroe.

Williams' repeated thwarting of violent Klan attacks is described in his stirring book, "Negroes With Guns." In one crucial battle, the Klan sieged the home of a black physician and his wife, but Williams and his Black Armed Guard stood sentry and repelled the larger, cowardly force. And that was the end of it.

I have not read the book yet, but I will be getting a copy soon. It sounds like a good read. Incidentally, this story perfectly illustrates the proper use of a militia. No one will want to call it a militia, but that is exactly what it was.

So, why don't the race hustlers advocate for lawful concealed carry in defense of themselves and their families? I suspect that it is all about power. If the average person discovers that he can do for himself, he won't need them. He can start carrying a gun, and stop carrying a chip around on his shoulder. A gun is certainly lighter.