In the United States Supreme Court , Dred Scott v. Sandford decision (60 U.S. 393, 417): Chief Justice Roger B. Taney made remarks that implicitly referenced the right to bear arms as one of the fundamental rights that would have been extended to African Americans had they been recognized as citizens. While the case is primarily known for its rulings on citizenship and slavery, Taney's opinion lists several rights that would have followed from recognizing African-Americans as citizens. One of these rights included the right to "keep and carry arms wherever they went."
Here is the relevant passage from Chief Justice Taney's opinion:
“It would give to persons of the negro race, who were recognized as citizens in any one State of the Union, the right to enter every other State whenever they pleased, ... and it would give them the full liberty of speech in public and in private upon all subjects upon which its own citizens might speak; to hold public meetings upon political affairs, and to keep and carry arms wherever they went."
This part of Taney's opinion suggested that one consequence of recognizing African Americans as citizens would be granting them the constitutional rights associated with citizenship, including the Second Amendment right to bear arms. He used this as an argument against recognizing African Americans as citizens, as it would entitle them to the full protection of the Bill of Rights.
The language here reflects the mindset of the time, where extending these fundamental rights to African Americans was seen by Taney as undesirable and inconsistent with the legal and social norms of the era.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. famously applied for a permit to carry a concealed weapon in early 1956, shortly after his house was bombed during the Montgomery Bus Boycott in Alabama. At the time, Dr. King and his family were under significant threat due to his leadership in the civil rights movement.
The incident that prompted Dr. King to consider arming himself occurred on January 30, 1956, when a bomb exploded at his home in Montgomery, Alabama. Fortunately, no one was hurt, but this attack deeply alarmed Dr. King and his supporters. In response, Dr. King sought a permit to carry a firearm for self-defense. However, despite the heightened threats against him, his application for a concealed carry permit was denied by local authorities. Alabama, at the time, had a discriminatory system that made it difficult for African-Americans to legally carry firearms.
Mahatma Gandhi made a notable remark about the British policy of disarming the Indian population in his work, "An Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments with Truth"(1927-1929). Here is the exact quote: “Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the act of depriving a whole nation of arms as the blackest.” This statement reflects Gandhi's belief that disarming the Indian populace was a grave injustice.
Make no mistake: early American gun laws were rooted in permit systems specifically designed to prevent Black people from owning or carrying firearms. These gun control measures quickly spread up the East Coast like wildfire. When they reached New York, the issuance of permits depended largely on which ethnic group held the majority at the time. Throughout U.S. history, it became common practice for local sheriffs to sell gun permits for cash, turning the process into a tradition of corruption.
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