Lack of Gun Control Places Disparities in the Black Community
posted by DorMiya Vance | April 11, 2022 | In Opinion“Known as ‘permitless carry’ or ‘constitutional carry’ legislation, the bills have been roundly criticized by police and gun control advocates, who argue that removing permits poses a safety risk to citizens and officers,” according to ABC News.
The lack of gun control in America opens the door for an increase of numerous issues, including mass shootings and racist retaliation.
According to The Trace, a nonprofit journalism outlet that covers gun violence, there were 691 mass shootings in 2021. Eighty more shootings than the amount in 2020.
The lack of gun control in the United States is a growing concern for those that live in the country. Now that 20 states have passed a permitless carry law, according to Everytown, a nonprofit advocating gun control, activists worry about these laws effect on the general public.
“The U.S. government is prioritizing gun ownership over basic human rights,” according to Margaret Huang, Executive Director of Amnesty International USA.
This law enables more incidents like the Kenosha shooting with Kyle Rittenhouse, who was acquitted of charges of killing two people during a protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Without regulation, gun violence heavily impacts the Black community.
Black individuals make up 68% of homicide victims in the US large cities, according to Everytown’s research.
Gun control would decrease the lack of racial equity in gun violence for the Black community. Black people are three times as likely to be shot and killed by law enforcement due to the lack of strict policies on gun violence.
In a nation where the judicial system is unjust, permitless carry encourages hate crime, privilege, and disrespect of fundamental human rights.
More cases like the murder of Ahmaud Arbery or the killing of Daunte Wright will be broadcast across news and radio networks only to further a vicious cycle of oppression and white authority that is all too familiar to the Black community.
It is seen already in the case of Amir Locke, who was killed by Minneapolis law enforcement after acting on a no-knock warrant that did not have Locke’s name listed anywhere on the document.
Locke died by hands of law enforcement when waking up in his home amid the search with his legally-obtained firearm in his hand.
These gun violence incidents even are seen close to home with the death of Jason Walker, a thirty-seven-year-old Black man from Fayetteville, NC.
Walker was shot four times by Cumberland County deputy Jeffery Hash, who was off-duty at the time, after he “ran out of the yard, jumped on the off-duty officers’ truck, ripped off one of its windshield wipers and used it to hit the truck’s windshield,” according to WTVD.
Having gun control laws in place would have potentially limited the number of times Hash shot Walker, resulting in Walker potentially still being alive today.
The American people need to understand the danger that has been enabled by decreasing the need for permits and gun control laws. Violence and hate will only increase among all communities until there are regulations to combat this national issue.
Photo courtesy of lifesizepotato
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.