Sine_Fine_BelliThe queer people who are buying guns to prepare for Trump’s America
At some point it just becomes “try to only point your security blanket at yourself, I guess” levels of helplessness.
But to anyone considering buying a gun:
Owing a firearm makes you (as of 2020) 8-35x more likely to kill yourself with it med.stanford.edu/…/handgun-ownership-associated-w…. And considering this is a purchase during a… let’s just say “immensely stressful” period… yeah.
But also… what purpose does it serve? A single ice nazi comes knocking on your door, you spot them through the peephole, and have time to grab your gun, load it, and fire through the door? Then… you flee Everything in the hopes that the cops don’t decide to label you a “cop killer” on top of that?
This is why gun nuts make their entire lives built around “systems” to always carry a gun and be able to quick draw. Because the reality is… whoever shoots somewhat accurately first probably “wins”. Which leads to “Well… maybe that phone in their pocket they weren’t even reaching for is a gun. I am legally justified”
But that also basically works for only the first few people to try it. Everyone else gets a squad of ice nazis either kicking down the door and flashbanging them (and themselves) or just unloading on the house from the curb.
I realize the world is scary. I am scared shitless more often than not. But think through what buying a gun can even accomplish versus all the risks.
And maybe consider reaching out to your local community organizers to figure out what CAN be accomplished.
I don’t imagine one person protecting themselves from ICE with a gun, but I’d kinda like to see some local armed militias prevent ICE from terrorizing people.
Like I said: Even an organized and well trained militia are pretty much useless against a modern military. Police departments around the country have armored vehicles for these situations and any militia that gets too “uppity” is begging for a drone strike… or even just a mortar.
But yes. Individuals can’t do anything. We only have strength when we work together and look out for each other. An individual buying a gun to “protect themselves” isn’t gonna do shit and is mostly just going to escalate things rapidly. Whereas a community protecting themselves, with firearms or otherwise, can at least buy time.
But that requires coordination and a LOT of focus on “optics”. Again, The Black Panthers are historically one of the best examples of this. Yes, they have guns and do armed patrols. But mostly it is about community service and outreach so that killing one Black Panther means you are accepting the murder of that entire community. That isn’t going to stop things once things accelerate to a full blown civil war (just look at Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan for what the US military will gladly do to a village…) but it DOES buy time.
But Americans have this mindset that just buying a gun turns you into John McClane and you are going to single handedly solve all the worlds problems in three respawns or less.
We’ve seen already instances where ICE has backed down when there was some actual resistance
And we have seen instances where the ice nazis murder first and fabricate an excuse later.
If they think someone in an apartment has a gun, they aren’t going to run away. They are going to just shoot. What makes ice back off is when the community stands up and makes it clear that they are going to have to murder a LOT of people to get what they want… and that works for now.
Which is why fuckface is working so hard to get the us military to “support” ice. They are actually trained for this and will just chuck some grenades into that apartment.
You’re entire argument is they’re killing us already, we really don’t need to give them another reason…
You prepare now, when you can still buy arms, not after when you have had that right and other rights taken away.
That is my position. It would be cool if peaceful protest succeeds at reforming the nation, but I don’t think it would happen. In such a situation, having the resources and accepting the possibility of violence would go a long way towards saving the lives of innocents.
If it turns out peace works, I would gladly end my gun range subscription and abandon social media. I want to spend my time with anime girls, not the bullshit that Trump and his kind are flinging around.
But you’re suggesting that we… don’t arm ourselves, and that we should just stand by and let them kill us…make up your mind
No, I am saying that being armed and predisposed to peace go together. It gives people the option to fight if it becomes necessary. The Black Panthers are the way.
Exactly.
All the gun nuts leap at the idea that they can grab a rifle and fix the world. And they shit on the actual legacy of The Black Panthers by distilling them down to that.
The vast majority of what made/makes The Black Panthers effective is that they focus so much on community outreach. Far more time is spent getting to know the neighbors and families than sending bullets downrange. All because the goal is to NOT fire a shot. Because the shitbags understand… if you shoot Jamal then you are going to be attacked by multiple city blocks worth of people who can personally talk about how Jamal helped make sure their kids got home safe or literally just gave them a chance to talk through their pains and worries
Instead, all the gun nuts are leaping at the chance to justify buying a new optic or buying a third ar-15. And… there is definitely a lot of “Wow. Even the Libertarians think we should abolish ICE” going on.
Like maybe a year ago American’s taking pot shots at ICE might have spooked them back into their basements. But now ICE has galvanized a culture of general oppression. They’re just itching to Tiananmen an entire peaceful protest.
Eh. I think they would still shit themselves if they started wondering what those whizzing and popping noises were.
But it would basically work “once”. Then they would just assume any mass of protesters were black kids with toy trains and unload with their ar-15s. And every single “raid” would become a no knock where they just sneak up and kick down the door and flashbang and shoot at any kids they see while “getting their man”. Because now they are up against an army of terrorists.