But seriously. As a member of a minority group I understand that there are people who would have me killed. I understand as a worker living in the US that the government does not have my best interests in mind. I understand as a minority and a worker that the police are more likely to harm me than save me from a bad situation. So, with all that being known, how could I ever reasonably give up my weapon? It may stand between me and death some day.
Alongside this, the issue of gun violence in the US is not primarily an issue of people having guns, or mental illness. It is an issue of white supremacy and reactionary attitudes being normalized, and violent, toxic masculinity being entrenched in our society. The vast majority of shooters may have some kind of underlying mental illness, but notice the main things that are in common between them. Namely, they are generally white cishet men, and they almost always ascribe to some kind of hateful ideology.
“Under no pretext…”
But seriously. As a member of a minority group I understand that there are people who would have me killed. I understand as a worker living in the US that the government does not have my best interests in mind. I understand as a minority and a worker that the police are more likely to harm me than save me from a bad situation. So, with all that being known, how could I ever reasonably give up my weapon? It may stand between me and death some day.
Alongside this, the issue of gun violence in the US is not primarily an issue of people having guns, or mental illness. It is an issue of white supremacy and reactionary attitudes being normalized, and violent, toxic masculinity being entrenched in our society. The vast majority of shooters may have some kind of underlying mental illness, but notice the main things that are in common between them. Namely, they are generally white cishet men, and they almost always ascribe to some kind of hateful ideology.