Gun control advocates are pushing lawmakers to do more to stop a surge in gun violence. A recent study by Everytown for Gun Safety found gun violence took over 19,000 lives in the United States last year — a 25% increase from 2019. Gun sales are also soaring to record levels.
Despite this, Republican lawmakers are pushing measures to loosen gun control regulations. In Texas, Governor Greg Abbott is expected to soon sign a recently passed bill which would allow Texans to carry handguns openly in public without a permit. It also allows people without a felony criminal conviction to carry a handgun without a background check. Abbott has praised the bill as the, quote, “strongest Second Amendment legislation in Texas history.”
Well, today we’re going to take a deep look at the Second Amendment and its racist roots. We’re joined by Carol Anderson, author of the new book The Second: Race and Guns in a Fatally Unequal America. Professor Anderson details how the Second Amendment was written to empower local militia groups to put down slave revolts and protect plantation owners. She writes the Second Amendment is, quote, “rooted in fear of Black people, to deny them their rights, to keep them from tasting liberty.” Carol Anderson joins us from Atlanta,
— source democracynow.org | Jun 03, 2021