Black Agenda Report
Black Agenda Report
News, commentary and analysis from the black left.

  • Home
  • Africa
  • African America
  • Education
  • Environment
  • International
  • Media and Culture
  • Political Economy
  • Radio
  • US Politics
  • War and Empire

Blacks, Las Vegas, and Gun Control
Ken Morgan
11 Oct 2017
🖨️ Print Article
Blacks, Las Vegas, and Gun Control
Blacks, Las Vegas, and Gun Control

“Black ex-soldiers and others defended their neighborhoods in America’s numerous race wars.”

The recent mass murder domestic terrorist attack in Las Vegas rekindled the U.S. bourgeoisie shaped the debate over gun control and Second Amendment Constitutional rights -- the right to bear arms. The 58 persons killed and 547 wounded made it the largest mass murder in American annals.

“Business Insider” quoted U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise, the conservative Louisiana politician wounded earlier this year in an attempted mass killing of Republican Congressman practicing for a baseball game. "Look at some of those bills," Scalise said. "Those bills wouldn't have done anything to stop this."

Ultra-rightists blamed everyone but their mama for the calamity. They blamed liberal media. They blamed the NFL football players taking a knee. They devised conspiracies that blamed the killer himself for being an ISIS member.

U.S. House of Representatives Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) both came out for stricter gun control legislation. Called a moral victory for the gun-control crowd, the NRA “endorsed restrictions on a device that makes rifles fire faster” – the same devices that Stephen Paddock used, according to the New York Times. Most big business media support gun control.

All these comments and actions stand as two sides of the same bourgeoisie coin. Only the destruction of capitalism will deter domestic terrorism, mass murders. Pro-gun outfits such as right-wing militias, white supremacist groups, stand your ground and vigilante justice groups work in the service of the ruling class.

“Robert F. Williams founded the Black Guard to protect blacks from KKK violence in Monroe, North Carolina.”

Why do we Blacks need the right to bear arms? Recall the battles of the black Deacons for Defense and Justice, founded in Jonesboro, Louisiana, in 1964 to protect the Congress of Racial Equality from the domestic terror of the Ku Klux Klan.

Remember Robert F. Williams, the black activist and author of Negroes with Guns? He founded the Black Guard to protect blacks from KKK violence in Monroe, North Carolina.

Malcolm X said in his “Ballot or the Bullet” speech, “... where the government has proven itself either unwilling or unable to defend the lives and the property of Negroes, it's time for Negroes to defend themselves.”

Black ex-soldiers and others defended their neighborhoods in America’s numerous race wars.

Gun control will not stop blacks from killing other blacks. The dog-eat-dog, inhumane capitalist system remains the primary cause.

Ought cops and others that protect capitalism be allowed to monopolize armaments that now include military weapons? No! The right to bear arms stood as one of ten amendments that protected a portion of the people from government intrusion. Slaves were not included.

We need not forgo our political rights for more cop protection in order to stem gun use.

  1. is bad for our safety, health, and welfare.

Dr. Ken Morgan is a black activist, internationalist scholar. He can be reached at kmorgan2408@comcast.net.

Black Armed Self-Defense

Do you need and appreciate Black Agenda Report articles? Please click on the DONATE icon, and help us out, if you can.


Related Stories

Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
The Power of Black Self-Defense in Lincoln Heights
12 February 2025
When Nazis appear in public they must be quickly dispatched.

More Stories


  • Iran
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Dr. Gerald Horne Analyzes the U.S. War of Aggression Against Iran
    01 May 2026
    Dr. Gerald Horne is a prolific author and historian who holds the John J. and Rebecca Moores Chair of History and African American Studies at the University of Houston. He joins Margaret Kimberley to…
  • BAR Radio Logo
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio May 1, 2026
    01 May 2026
    Listen and watch Black Agenda Radio as we begin hosting our program on the Black Agenda Report Youtube channel. In this week’s segment we hear from Dr. Butch Ware, the Green Party’s nominee in the…
  • Butch Ware
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist , Butch Ware
    Dr. Butch Ware's Green Party Campaign in the California's Governor's Race
    01 May 2026
    Black Agenda Report Executive Editor Margaret Kimberley speaks with Dr. Butch Ware, the Green Party's nominee in the California governor's race. Dr. Ware discusses why the Democratic Party is…
  • Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Truth, Lies and an Assassination Attempt
    29 Apr 2026
    The impetus to question official narratives is quite logical, given the U.S. history of promoting war propaganda and other lies.
  • Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    ESSAY: José Martí Today, Jesús Colón, 1961
    29 Apr 2026
    “Fidel Castro, the heir of José Martí is certainly throwing all colonial concepts and attitudes in history’s ash can.”
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us