Thugs Run America
By: Skylar Washington
Tags: Violence, NRA, Law, Mass Shootings, Guns

White Supremacy and Heteropatriarchy is the NRA’s middle name

Micheal Murphy’s Anti-Gun Artwork

Formed in 1871 by the Union veterans Col. William C. Church and Gen. George Wingate, the National Rifle Association was created to “promote and encourage rifle shooting on a scientific basis” under the protection of the notorious Second Amendment. One of the 10 amendments in the US Constitution created by our Founding Fathers for the people, but by ‘people’ did they mean everyone?

With financial assistance (a charter grant) from the state of New York, the ‘people’ were able to officially establish the NRA as an organization which was “a well regulated militia”. Over the years, the idea of “rifle shooting on a scientific basis” transformed into advancing rifle “marksmanship” for mostly white men and strangely, white boys through youth programs, i.e. the Boy Scouts. The NRA has been an advocate for firearm-related bills since 1934 and has lobbied for and against legislation since 1975. It was not until 2008 that the U.S. Supreme Court guaranteed the right of an individual to own a gun (District of Columbia v. Heller).

Today, the NRA is the “oldest continuously operating civil rights organization” in the United States. It thrives off the foundation of being a non profit that receives money through “donations, membership fees (at a cost of $1,500), and contributions”. So who are these people and where are these contributions coming from? Corporations such as TrueCar, Hertz, and even FedEx (to name only a few) are big supporters of the NRA; often giving their members up to a 30% off discount of merchandise and services. In 2013, the organization received nearly $350 million that was put towards “initiatives” like member newsletters, sporting events, gun safety education and training programs. But did the money only go into these initiatives? In the 2016 election, the NRA spent $11,438,118 to support candidate Donald Trump (a lifetime member of the NRA and clearly a big advocate of the second amendment) and contrastly almost doubled their support of $19,756,346 to oppose candidate Hillary Clinton ( who advocates for stricter gun safety laws).

By infiltrating money into every aspect of corporate America and the government it is safe to argue that the NRA plays a major role in big business and legislation. Welcoming and promoting membership to anyone who wants to exercise their right to bear arms, bribing politicians to support their campaigns while the politicians support their aims of keeping guns in mainstream America, wheeling and dealing with corporations, and doing everything to sell and distribute guns and assault weapons of wartime proportions, it is clear that this militia has turned into a mafia. Also, it is safe to argue that that the NRA continues to be a physical and growing example of white supremacy, and by for the people our founding fathers really meant “the people who look like us”,white men. When it comes to instances like the NRA and the Second Amendment, it is safe to answer Joy Peach’s question that the laws and violence (such as gun violence) surrounding it is male dominated and therefore, gendered male.

This militia has turned into a mafia.

While Andrea Smith’s essay summarizes the functionality of America based on three specific foundations (or Three Pillars) that make up white supremacy and heteropatriarchy; it is a thought provoking look into the transformation of white, male dominance in the United States. She considers “heteropatriarchy [as] the building block of [the] U.S. empire. In fact, it is the building block of the nation-state form of governance”. Smith goes even further by explaining that this nation operates on the basis of a “model of governance in which the elites govern the rest through violence and domination, as well as exclude those who are not members of ‘the nation.’” With that being said, the government and laws in the U.S. do not only function off of the basis of white supremacy, but it is also male dominated.

“Heteropatriarchy is the building block of U.S. empire. In fact, it is the building block of the nation-state form of governance”.

In the article, Is Violence Male? The Law, Gender, and Violence, Joy Peach explains that since the “law has been designed and written” by white men, it is also written “for [white] men” with “little regard” for other genders or races. Subsequently, in this regard, the second amendment is male and supported by an heteropatriarchal construction such as the NRA. Joy Peach goes even further to explain that since “the law does not merely regulate violence that exists ‘out there,’… the law is itself a source of violence”. With this, we can say that since the law is male and a source of violence, that the “law also operates on the basis of an understanding that violence” itself “is male”. With that being said, the second amendment and gun violence (the two components that promote and protect the NRA) is gendered male.

Peach explains that “violence in our society can be characterized as male gendered when one focuses on the fact that approximately 89 percent of violent crimes are committed by males”. For instance, in 2018 we have seen 18 mass shootings since January 1st. The majority of suspects have been male and/or white. The February 14th Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida, left 17 people dead and 14 injured. Army Junior Reserve trainee, Nikolas Cruz, “left a string of red flags” that the FBI, local law enforcement, school officials, and mental health experts were notified about prior to the attack last Wednesday. However, these warning signs were ignored and pushed to the side due to his white male privilege. Former classmate, Emma Gonzalez, explained knowing Cruz, his attack was “no surprise” because he had shown signs of erratic behavior since middle school. This white male, who possibly furthered his training through an NRA-supported program, Army Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps, remains unharmed and in jail awaiting trial. Conversely Black men like Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Philando Castile were either put into headlocks, choked to death, and/or shot to death by police for just being at the wrong place at the wrong time. With that being said, Cruz’s white, male privilege may have played a role in his entitlement to life and a fair trial. Though unsubstantiated, news reports claim a plea has been offered: a guilty plea for a life sentence without parole to avoid the death penalty; the same death he inflicted on 17 people.

Because of Florida’s firearm laws, residents reserve the right to sell, bear, and keep firearms as long as they are “concealed and carried”, and non-residents with a license from any other state that “recognizes Florida’s license” can exercise the same right. The NRA supports, funds and the legislation that drives the politicians to pass and maintain these laws. In response to the Florida school shooting, Wayne LaPierre (head of the NRA) calls for “more guns” and “more safety” in our schools to “protect our children”. Clearly his motives to protect our children by putting more arsenal into the hands of individuals is only to promote his cause: advanced rifle shooting and marksmanship. Protecting children with more guns, should not be thought of in parallel with simply going to school, the park or even the mall with armed teachers, parents and caregivers like the militia in a warzone.

This is where the question on stricter gun safety laws comes into play. Should we regulate the number of guns in our country? Or the process in which to obtain one? These questions are what embodies the idea of gun safety that the NRA completely opposes. To the NRA, gun safety operates on the foundation of there being more “good guys” with guns stopping “bad guys” with guns. In a sense, more guns. However, gun safety should be the idea of less guns and stricter rules on possessing or selling them.

Firearm laws support “good guys” (like George Zimmerman who intentionally shot an unarmed black youth simply because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time) to possess a weapon and end the life of another person simply to ‘stand his ground’ as if Trayvon Martin’s mere existence intimidated and threatened him. This right has empowered the owners of assault weapons to take away someone’s life in an instant. Giving someone that power as a means of protection, changes their perception and morals when it comes to violence. Is it really violent if the person even perceives without confirmation that his/her life is being threatened? “Is it okay to kill if I feel that my life is in danger?”. Where does the formation of civil militias end? Is this our new normal?

“The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun”.

In 1967, the Mulford Act was passed as a California bill that reduced the carrying of open and loaded firearms publicly. “Named after Republican Don Mulford, the bill was crafted in response to the Black Panther Party” members who were openly carrying guns in their “Oakland neighborhoods” to protect themselves from law enforcement (or as Don likes to call it “copwatching”). This bill “repealed” the possession of guns publicly and allowed the law to punish anyone who disobeyed it. Basically, this was a ploy by white men to deter use of guns by black men to protect their community because they were in fear of losing their supremacy. Taking the guns was only the beginning, soon the white supremacist methodology was employed by incarcerating black men, another form of slavery. However, the Black Panther Party wasn’t the problem, mass shootings by white males continue at an alarming rate. Clearly, blaming the Black Panther Party for what is an ongoing problem was a miscalculation in Don’s analysis. So with that being said, the problem is not how to get rid of guns, but how to redirect the power that owning a gun entails.

A multi-modal approach to gun safety must be achieved to change laws. We must embrace the students from school shootings and rally for their support. Students, like Emma Gonzalez, and others who are fighting for a safer America by marching, spreading the word on social media, educating communities on countries that have better gun safety laws, and voting to gain control of male domination and, hopefully, end white supremacy. While the NRA and the Second Amendment were conceived by and for white men, the time has come for change. The NRA is evolving but its mission remains unchanged; if we want to abolish white supremacy and heteropatriarchy, ‘We the people’ must evolve.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxD3o-9H1lY