Pro-Gun Activists Walk With Rifles Through Ferguson, Telling Residents To Arm Themselves

by Greg Campbell | November 17, 2015 12:45 pm

The right to bear arms is a right that transcends racial lines. Black, white, Hispanic and any other race of Americans can and should enjoy the rights afforded to them in the Constitution, so long as they are citizens. To illustrate this point, one group marched through Ferguson, Missouri, carrying rifles and, predictably, the move caused a firestorm of controversy.[1]

ZGuns[2]

Pro-gun activists marched through the streets of Ferguson, Missouri, carrying assault rifles and other firearms.

The event was organized by Sam Andrews, a former spokesperson of the Oath Keepers group that made headlines after showing up heavily armed to previous unrest in the St Louis suburb.

The right-wing group came to Ferguson during protests surrounding the Mike Brown’s police shooting death in 2014, but met with a cool reception from both Black Lives Matter demonstrators and police both then and during protests around the one year anniversary.

Officials such as St Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar said in 2015 that the Oath Keepers’ presence was ‘both unnecessary and inflammatory’.

Protesters questioned what would happen to minority residents of neighborhoods such as Ferguson if they carried weapons as the group suggested to change their encounters with police.

Andrews, who has since split from the Oath Keepers, had previously floated the idea of the open carry march while still with the group in August.

He sold the latest event around the idea of supporting Second Amendment rights, as well as showing that gun rights apply to people of all races.

‘The police have so intimidated the black people that they don’t even believe they have rights,’ Andrews told theĀ St Louis Post-Dispatch[3].

Several Oath Keepers were presentĀ during Monday’s rainy demonstration, where members of the media reportedly outnumbered the dozen or so activists.

Promotional material for the event calling it ‘historic’ had hoped that large numbers of African-American Ferguson residents would come out for the protest.

Almost all of Monday’s activists were white, though at least two black men also attended.

The protesters marched three blocks with their guns from a pavilion to the Ferguson Police Department, the site of previous Black Lives Matter demonstrations.

Open carry has been legal state-wide in Missouri since 2014, when a state vote passed a law that superseded any local restrictions.

Many businesses in metropolitan areas such as St Louis put up signs or have policies saying that openly carried firearms are not allowed in their stores.

While many might disagree with the premise that the black citizens of Ferguson have been denied this right, the truth is that any and all citizens of Ferguson should feel comfortable carrying their weapons- so long as they do not try to attack cops while doing so. That may lead to disaster.

Endnotes:
  1. caused a firestorm of controversy.: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3321281/Pro-gun-activists-walk-assault-rifles-streets-Ferguson-Missouri-telling-residents-arm-themselves.html
  2. [Image]: https://rightwingnews1.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/ZGuns.jpg
  3. St Louis Post-Dispatch: http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/about-a-dozen-open-carry-gun-rights-activists-gather-in/article_eaa0e41b-042f-58ff-a1ef-476898bf5de5.html

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