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I'm telling you that no where, no where will this decision have a more disastrous impact than in the black and brown urban neighborhoods that will be flooded with even more guns.
Sadly, I expect to see more violent, angry and hopeless black and brown people kill more hopeless black and brown people.
D.C. Police Stops
D.C. police stop a vehicle at a checkpoint in the Trinidad neighborhood Saturday, June 7, 2008 in Washington. Recent violence in the neighborhood prompted police to create a Neighborhood Safety Zone to make sure people have legitimate reasons to be there.
AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana
Washington D.C. City Mayor Adrian M. Fenty speaks during a news conference about the checkpoint in the Trinidad neighborhood Saturday, June 7, 2008 in Washington. Recent violence in the neighborhood prompted police to create a Neighborhood Safety Zone to make sure people have legitimate reasons to be there.
AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana
Washington D.C. Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier speaks during a news conference about the police checkpoint in the Trinidad neighborhood as DC City Mayor Adrian M. Fenty looks on Saturday, June 7, 2008 in Washington.
AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana
Residents watch a police checkpoint in the Trinidad neighborhood of Washington on Saturday, June 7, 2008. Recent violence in the neighborhood prompted police to create a Neighborhood Safety Zone to make sure people have legitimate reasons to be there.
AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana
D.C. police stop a vehicle at a checkpoint in the Trinidad neighborhood Saturday, June 7, 2008 in Washington.
AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana
Residents Daniel and Ludwin Rubio play soccer on the sidewalk as D.C. police stop a vehicle at a checkpoint in the Trinidad neighborhood Saturday, June 7, 2008 in Washington.
AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana
Residents walk past a police checkpoint in the Trinidad neighborhood of Washington on Saturday, June 7, 2008.
AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana
The McAnnar family watches D.C. police stop a vehicle at a checkpoint in front of their home in the Trinidad neighborhood Saturday, June 7, 2008 in Washington.
AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana
D.C. police stop a vehicle at a checkpoint in the Trinidad neighborhood Saturday, June 7, 2008 in Washington.
AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana
D.C. police stop a vehicle at a checkpoint in the Trinidad neighborhood Saturday, June 7, 2008 in Washington.
AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana
The court had not comprehensively interpreted the Second Amendment since its ratification in 1791. The amendment reads: "A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed."
Justice Scalia said the Constitution does not permit "the absolute prohibition of handguns held and used for self-defense in the home." The court also struck down D.C. requirements that firearms be equipped with trigger locks or kept disassembled, but left intact the licensing of guns. The district allows shotguns and rifles to be kept in homes if they are registered, kept unloaded and taken apart or equipped with trigger locks.
I don't see gangs as militias. And the problem with citizens armed for "self-defense" is that the outcomes don't bear out in their favor. There is simply no way that most God-fearing people, practicing at the shooting range twice a year, can match the trigger happy ruthlessness of a perp determined to do bodily harm. In that moment of hesitation, it's all over.
My fellow Afrospear blogger, African American Political Pundit sums it up this way:
When 32 people were killed at Virginia Tech and five at Northern Illinois University, the public was outraged. Yet every four days we have the equivalent of a Virginia Tech tragedy that passes unnoticed. Our gun violence epidemic robs parents of their children, wastes our human potential, and drains resources from our health care system.
What is it going to take for us to stop this senseless loss of young lives? We need to ensure that those we elect to public office enact legislation that will really protect children by limiting the number of guns in our communities, controlling who can obtain firearms and the conditions of their use. Individuals and communities must act to end the culture of violence that desensitizes us, young and old, to the value of life.
Comments: (18)
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By: Tired of poor me attitude on 6/27/2008 1:19PM
It is stupid to assume more law abiding gun owners will cause more violence on "hopeless black and brown people" I have many guns and none of them have been aimed at another human. Vermont has one of the highest rates of gun ownership and has one of the lowest violent crime rates. You won't break into someones house if you think they have a weapon inside. My kids all know how to handle guns and none of them have blasted up their school. Get guns away from criminals with severe punishment for guns used in crimes.
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By: Paul Adkins on 6/27/2008 12:36PM
Can will do nothing but help D.C. LEts look at the facts. D.C. ain't black anymore for one. For two, people will think twice about robbing, shooting, or any violent acts towards someone for fear that they can get it as well. At the same time, this would NOT have been overturned 15yrs ago when D.C. was prodominately black
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By: Lovly2008 on 6/27/2008 1:03PM
Why are Blacks and Browns going to be killing Blacks and Browns? Who says they will be killing? Is that why whites want guns, to kill? Isnt it a sporting thing? And who said Blacks will be killing Browns? Hmmmm?
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By: Jeannette W. on 6/27/2008 1:27PM
The Supreme Court said that people should be allowed to keep defensive weapons in their homes in a condition that they can be used for self-defense. These legal, registered guns are not going to be on the streets - they are going to be in the homes of people who want to protect themselves from the illegal guns that are already on the streets. Someone who doesn't respect the laws against murder or armed robbery isn't going to respect laws against possession of a handgun, either. This is a great day for the people of DC, who will now have the means to stand up for them selves against the criminals who have made them live in fear for years. Blacks and Browns might be doing more shooting, but if it is law-abiding Blacks and Browns who shoot Black or Brown or White criminals who are breaking into their homes, I don't really see the problem with that, and I don't see what the color of anyone's skin has to do with their right to be safe in their home.
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By: Mark E. Ross on 6/27/2008 1:58PM
I am amazed at the ignorance of those who think that gun control laws will have an adverse impact on the black community and/or that gun control laws are an effective method to reduce gun violence overall.
Criminals always have had access to firearms and don't obey the current gun control laws.
A law abiding citizen has the right to possess a firearm for self-defense. Law enforcement has no duty to protect individuals.
I have been a criminal defense attorney in Detroit, Michigan for 10 years and I have never represented anyone accussed of a firearm related crime that
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By: Rob on 6/27/2008 2:04PM
Sorry, Carmen. The time for your fear-mongering and racial devisiveness is over. Black, Brown, White, Yellow, Red... we're all Americans. We all have a God-given right to protect ourselves and our families against aggression. The SCOTUS just recognized it, that's all. Put your Socialist agenda in a coffee can and bury it in the yard. Better yet, get a gun, learn how to shoot, and stop being afraid... afraid of guns and of the people around you.
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By: Mark E. Ross on 6/27/2008 2:04PM
Once again many people in the black community have fallen victim to the media's misrepresentation of the purpose of gun control laws. Criminals never have and never will obey gun control laws. A person has the right to own a firearm for self defense. In my 10 years of defending clients in Detroit, I have yet to represent anyone charged with a firearm related crime who legally possessed the firearm!
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By: Chris Morton on 6/27/2008 3:48PM
How can ANYONE ever be helped by being forced to be a helpless, unarmed victim of violent crime?
The history of gun control in this country is the history of White supremacism. Most gun control in this country wasn't enacted because of a fear of guns. It was enacted because of a fear of BLACK people with guns. When Black people had guns, the outcome of a night ride or lynching was never certain. Chicago was the only city with rough parity in casualties between the races during race riots. Why? Black doughboys in 1919 armed themselves with weapons from the National Guard armories and fought back. My grandmother told me about it. She was there.
You can complain that the Chicago Police Department is corrupt, racist and brutal, OR you can demand that it be given an absolute monopoly on the means of armed force. You can't do BOTH without looking like a fool.
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By: Patrick on 6/27/2008 3:14PM
Heller had nothing to do with blacks or whites. People of all races have the right to defend themselves from violence, whether that violence comes from within their own race, or from some other.
In the cities, criminals had access to guns whether they were banned or not. All the bans accomplished were to disarm law-abiding citizens and create 'target rich environments' for rapists, killers, and thugs. The Supreme Court decision affirmed that people do have the right to self -defense.
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By: Southern boy on 6/27/2008 3:47PM
So you all need a special place on the web to put your own Spin on the news?
Is that to make sure you achive your racial agenda or to adjust what the news needs to be to achieve your own bias?
And how soon do you think a web site would be burned at the stake by taking a name called
WHITE SPIN - WHITE VOICES' SPIN ON THE HEADLINES.
To bad you all call for racial equality and then promote a site like this. Someday I hope there will be no race issues but untill then I guess it will be status quo (look it up) us VS: you mentality.
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