At Talking Points Memo, Josh Marshall has a long post up about being part of the “non-gun tribe.” I’d call myself a member as well – I’m all for hunting, and if you feel safer with a well-secured handgun in your house that’s your choice, but I personally don’t feel safer in the presence of guns and see absolutely no reason for assault weapons or high-capacity magazines.
I didn’t fully understand the pro-gun tribe (and I’m talking about the NRA, not about hunters) until I saw the movie Death Wish. It’s a time capsule into the era when whites abandoned cities as urban economies declined and crime rose. Death Wish is white revenge porn: White crime victims, young brown criminals, police won’t help, older white vigilante with borderline-superpowers dishes out instant capital punishment to would-be muggers (never hitting any innocents, of course) and makes entire city safe again.
Today, it looks like the Birth of a Nation of its era, part of the start of a conservative movement that worships white men with guns and demonizes minorities, cities & the young – even to this day. If you’re under 30 and don’t remember the Death Wish era, at least watch the trailer.
Sign up for the Blue Virginia weekly newsletter
