I’m a pacifist but I support gun rights. For a variety of reasons.

If you read history, you will find that whenever the “elite” have access to weapons — whether swords in medieval Japan or armored knights in medieval Europe — the peasants were oppressed. In modern times — before Kristalnacht, the Nazis disarmed the Jews. The Khmer Rouge disarmed civilians before they started their massacres.

The right to bear arms gives a line of defense against an evil government or government condoned oppression. During the labor movement, gun rights were important because rich industrialist bought government support.

As a black person, you might be interested to know that immediately after the Civil War, Southern states enacted “Black Codes”. These were designed to keep blacks submissive. They included bans on gun ownership for blacks.

The KKK, in addition to being America’s home grown domestic terrorist organization was also the first gun control group. The KKK fought against gun rights for blacks.

Congress fought back with the Freedman’s Bureau Act which said “the constitutional right to bear arms, shall be secured to and enjoyed by all citizens”. This guaranteed that blacks could not be disarmed. Congress followed up with the Civil Rights Act and the Fourteenth Amendment.

Do I have a gun? NO. But! I might re-think my pacifism if I knew that I needed to in order to save innocent lives.

Your children are innocents who look to you to protect them. I applaud you for wanting to do that. More power to you.

BTW, I just published a story on the history of blacks and gun rights in America. If you are interested: https://medium.com/@shefaliohara/racism-and-gun-control-c220358b8f65