Why Revisiting The Black Panther Revolution Resonates Today

"The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun." - Wayne LaPierre

The Black Panthers were ahead of their time. They armed themselves against the bad guys. (The police and the FBI.) They also scared the shit out of many white people.

The problem with the thinking of people like Wayne LaPierre is one of definition. Who are the good guys, and who are the bad guys? Who gets to decide? The Black Panthers made that decision when LaPierre was about seventeen years old.

I don't claim to understand the Black Panthers, but their claim of self-defense as a reason to arm themselves seems like a strong one.

Personally, I support non-violent civil disobedience.

I wonder if Wayne LaPierre was inspired by the Panthers? Somehow I doubt it.

Wayne LaPierre Is A Terrorist

A father and son are killed in a shootout with another father and son in a gun store in Mississippi. Everybody feel safe yet?:

Courtesy of the Sun Herald:  

A father and son were killed in a shootout with another man and his son at a gun store Saturday in Pearl River County's Henleyfield community. 

Pearl River County deputies responding to the shooting on Mississippi 43 about 3:15 p.m. found the store owner and his son dead in the store, Chief Deputy Shane Tucker said. 

The owner's wife was working at the store when two customers, a man and his son, entered to pick up a firearm that had been repaired. 

"There was some contention about a $25 fee," Tucker said.

Wayne LaPierre and the NRA fill me with terror.

Terrorism:

In its broadest sense, terrorism is any act designed to cause terror. In a narrower sense, terrorism can be understood to feature a political objective. The word terrorism is politically loaded and emotionally charged.