Since the election of Donald Trump as the 45th President of the United States of America, Democrats and their allies on the liberal, progressive left have been sounding the false alarm that racism is on the rise, the KKK is back, and neo-Nazis have been emboldened.

Race-hustlers like Al Sharpton and Shaun King and others flood social media with stories of “racist” acts aimed at Black people. Any action that adversely impacts a Black person is spun into a race issue. A Black person gets robbed by a White person – racism. A Black shopper is questioned because the clerk believes the bill with which he is paying is counterfeit – racism. A Black person does not get hired – racism. I am not naïve enough to believe that racism does not exist, but all they do is hype any incident where they can claim racism, without any proof to back it up, to perpetuate a division of the races.

In addition to promoting that false narrative, these individuals simultaneously attack the police as being racist brutes who leave their homes every morning with the express intent of finding a Black person to terrorize. While SOME police stops are racially motivated, the clear majority are not. But why let the truth get in the way of a good narrative. Rarely a day goes by now without another false claim of racist behavior by the police. A woman in South Carolina claims racist treatment by an office. Bodycam video proved that was a lie. A member of a New Jersey School Board calls the Chief of Police a “skinhead” during a traffic stop, but the White officer is a racist. The entire interaction was captured on dashcam and bodycam video. In their warped universe there is no such thing as a good cop, all of them are racists.

While ringing the firebell that the lives of Black people are in immediate and mortal danger, they simultaneously argue that the means to extinguish the fire be denied. They vehemently attack the 2nd Amendment Rights of Americans. Al Sharpton has stated “The Second Amendment doesn't give you the right to bear AR-15s or assault weapons.” Shaun King wrote “The Second Amendment doesn’t give you the right to own a gun.” They argue that not only do Americans not need to own firearms, they don’t even have the right to own them.

These arguments cannot all be true simultaneously.

If their first argument is true, that racism and racist organizations are on the rise, then the Black community should not be disarmed; the Black community should be getting armed. Throughout the history of the United States, almost every major effort to restrict gun ownership by private citizens was the result of Black people arming themselves. Immediately after slavery Southern States enacted “Black Codes” which prevented the newly-freed slaves from being able to arm themselves.

Copyright 1993 Clayton E. Cramer All Rights Reserved. Electronic redistribution is permitted as long as no alterations are made to the text and this notice appears at the beginning. Print reproduction or for profit use is not authorized without permission from the author.

“Restrictions on slave possession of arms go back a very long way. While arms restrictions on free blacks predate it, these restrictions increased dramatically after Nat Turner's Rebellion in 1831, a revolt that caused the South to become increasingly irrational in its fears. Virginia's response to Turner's Rebellion prohibited free blacks "to keep or carry any firelock of any kind, any military weapon, or any powder or lead..." The existing laws under which free blacks were occasionally licensed to possess or carry arms was also repealed, making arms possession completely illegal for free blacks.”

Their last argument that private citizens do not need to own guns because the police will protect them, based upon their belief that cops are out to kill black people, is nonsensical. These individuals vilify the police as racist bullies, White supremacist sympathizers, if not actual members of the KKK. While making these assertions they simultaneously argue that gun ownership by private citizens should be severely restricted if not banned entirely because the police will protect us. IF the police are out to get us, who will protect us? We must protect ourselves. Attacking the 2nd Amendment gun rights of American citizens makes no sense.

It is important to also note that it is settled case law that the police do not have a Constitutional duty to protect individual citizens. Numerous cases have been litigated, up to the Supreme Court of the United States, where that decision has been affirmed.

The 2nd Amendment of the United States Constitution was written to ensure that American citizens’ God-given right to protect their life and liberty “shall not be infringed.” As someone whose ancestry partly includes chattel slavery, restricting private ownership of guns, given my understanding of history, makes no sense.

In Luke 22:36 Jesus said to his disciples “But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don't have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one.” And no, this verse is not metaphorical. Jesus was instructing his Disciples to arm themselves. As a Christian I too will heed that admonition. And as an American citizen I will exercise my 2nd Amendment rights.

Therefore, I will cling to my Bible and guns.