Armed and Black

Since it's Black History Month, I'd like to recognize some of the many contributions Black Americans have made to securing our civil right to keep and bear arms.

When Shelly Parker bought her home in the District of Columbia, she first checked out the neighborhood by visiting at night and during the weekends. Everything appeared peaceful and she went forward with the purchase. Everything stayed peaceful until the weather warmed up – and then the drug dealers began loitering on her street. She called the police, but nothing changed (she believes the police didn't act aggressively because it was a Black neighborhood). She came to a logical resolution, she wanted to buy a gun. The problem was, that in the District of Columbia in 2003, people were not allowed to keep handguns in their home. Ms. Parker was in a horrible position, the police would not protect her and the government prohibited her from protecting herself. She, and several other people, filed suit against the District of Columbia. The case went all the way to the United States Supreme Court where the Court held that D.C.'s laws were unconstitutional because the Second Amendment protects individuals' civil right to keep arms, including handguns, in homes. Adrian Fenty, D.C.'s mayor, decried the ruling on the ground that it would lead to “more handgun violence.”

Despite the Court's clear language in Ms. Parker's case, the City of Chicago refused to change its similar laws prohibiting people from keeping handguns in their homes. Chicago claimed that the Second Amendment applied only to the Federal Government and thus Chicago could regulate guns however it wanted. Otis McDonald lived in a crime infested Chicago neighborhood where multiple shootings had taken place. He, like Shelly Parker, couldn't keep a handgun in his house because it was against the law. He filed a lawsuit with other law-abiding plaintiffs and alleged that Chicago had disarmed him, just like southern states had disarmed Blacks following the Civil War. This case too went to the Supreme Court, which held that the the Fourteenth Amendment made the Second Amendment applicable to the states. The application of the Fourteenth Amendment to Mr. McDonald's suit was particularly appropriate because the Fourteenth Amendment was ratified following the Civil War to guarantee that Blacks received all of the privileges and rights as Whites. Richard Daley, Chicago's mayor, proclaimed that the Court's decision created the risk of increased violence.

These two cases secured the right to keep firearms at home for all Americans. Thank you Ms. Parker and Mr. McDonald.

P.S. – The rate of violence in both the District of Columbia and Chicago went down following the Court's rulings.

Image by Oleg Volk.