Gun Control: Race, Gender, Class, and Liberty

Following the tragic event at Umpqua Community College, where a 26-year-old gunman opened fire in a classroom leaving 10 people killed and another 7 injured, it is understandable that U.S. gun culture and state gun control are fresh on people’s minds.

When moving forward after events like this, I believe it’s important to avoid reactive measures that could potentially have even greater consequences than the tragedies themselves (e.g. War on Drugs, PATRIOT Act, etc.). What follows is a selection of articles over the years from across the political spectrum that touch on the usually ignored topic of gun control and discrimination in its many forms.*

The Secret History of Guns by Adam Winker

Gun Rights Benefited Black Americans During the Civil Rights Movement and Still Do by Sheldon Richman

A Socialist Take on Gun Violence, State Violence, and Workers’ Right to Self-Defense by Monica Hill

Yes, Please by Charles W. Johnson

Gun Control, Surveillance and Trans Resistance by Dean Spade

Seen and Unseen by Rodrick Long

Gun Control: A Left Libertarian Critique by Nathan Goodman

Is There a Right to Own a Gun? by Michael Huemer

The Panthers Were Right and Reagan Was Wrong on Gun Control by Anthony Gregory

An Anarchist Case Against Gun Control by Chris Cararra

Shaneen Allen, Race and Gun Control by Radley Balko

Gun Control, Mental Illness, and Black Trans and Lesbian Survival by Gabriel Arkles

Arm the Mentally Ill by Kelly Vee

The Rifle on the Wall: A Left Argument for Gun Rights by The Polemicist

How Gun Control Hurts Minorities by Nathan Goodman & Meg Arnold

The Social Justice Case for Preserving the Second Amendment by Liz Wolfe

A (Brief) People’s History of Gun Control by Kevin Carson

In The Wake of Orlando, Gays Should Arm Themselves: Otherwise…We’re Sitting Ducks by Tom Palmer

Gun Control’s Racist Reality: The Liberal Argument Against Giving Police More Power by Alex Gourevitch

The History of LGBT Gun-Rights Litigation by David Kopel

Gun Control’s Racist Past and Present by Creede Newton

Why Some Members of the Far Left Advocate Against Gun Control by Elizabeth King

The L.G.B.T. Case for Guns by Nicki Stallard

Why Black People Own Guns by Julia Craven

Gun Control and Class Struggle by Socialist Appeal

The Trans Women Turning to Firearms for Survival by S.E. Smith

Obama’s Gun Control Ableism by T. J. Scholl

The (Really, Really) Racist History of Gun Control in America by Jane Coaston

This Queer Gun Club Is Standing Up to Violence Against the LGBTQ Community by Zachary Zane

Who Goes to Prison Due to Gun Control? by Anthony Gregory

Why the Left-wing Needs a Gun Culture by Lorenzo Raymond

This Nonviolent Stuff’ll Get You Killed: How Guns Made the Civil Rights Movement Possible by Charles E. Cobb Jr.

Gun Control, Structural Racism, and the Prison State by Nathan Goodman

Liberatory Community Armed Self-Defense: Approaches Toward a Theory by scott crow

In Response to Far Right, LGBTQ Gun Group Hits Firing Line by Michael Hill

Black Gun Owners Speak Out About Facing a Racist Double Standard by Tessa Stuart

The Liberal Desire for Gun Control is Going to Get Us Killed by Dr. Bones

Feel free to comment with additional material I may have missed relating to these topics.

*Note: This is NOT meant to be a case for or against certain measures of gun control. This is meant to shed light on specific factors that are usually absent from this discussion.