9th Circuit judge writes of gun control’s racist origins

R&I ~ MJM

A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals threw out California’s ban on high-capacity ammunition magazines, Friday, Aug. 14, saying the law violates the U.S. Constitution’s protection of the right to bear firearms…

The court found that magazines are protected and “commonly owned.” The ban “substantially burdened” the right of self-defense and the state’s ban was not the “least restrictive means” to achieve its interests.

What I also found interesting was Judge Kenneth Lee’s write-up and inclusion of some of our country’s racist origins of gun control on page 34-38 of his response. “Perhaps the most poignant and persuasive reminder of the fundamental right to self-defense rests in the denial of that right to Black Americans during tragic chapters of our country’s history,” Lee said, “After the founding, Southern states often severely limited, or outright prohibited, firearm possession by slaves, freedmen and others…

Stories of other civil rights activists exercising their right to self-defense are legion. While the NAACP espoused nonviolence, many of its members carried firearms for self- protection and for good reason. Aaron Henry, a branch president of the NAACP, would openly display his firearm after his house was firebombed in 1963. When NAACP activist Hartman Turnbow tried to register to vote, nightriders lit his house on fire with Molotov cocktails. Turnbow recounted that he grabbed his rifle, escaped the burning building and exchanged gunfire with two white men waiting outside. The men fled once Turnbow started shooting back….

Our country’s history has shown that communities of color have a particularly compelling interest in exercising their Second Amendment rights. The Second Amendment provides one last line of defense for people of color when the state cannot – or will not – step in to protect them. It remains true today across all communities of color.”

John Adams

Article URL : https://www.villagenews.com/story/2020/08/20/opinion/9th-circuit-judge-writes-of-gun-controls-racist-origins/63011.html