For decades, the image of gun ownership in America was white, rural and Republican, but that’s been changing, according to gun clubs, trainers, Second Amendment advocates and academic researchers.

They say more liberals, people of color and LGBTQ folks have been buying guns for years and particularly since Trump’s reelection in 2024. This story was based on more than 30 interviews. David Phillips is on the training team of the Liberal Gun Club, which has chapters in more than 30 states and provides a haven for liberals to train and learn about guns. He says club membership has grown from 2,700 in November to 4,500 today. Requests for training, he says, have quintupled.

“The concern is about the supporters of the right-wing who feel that they have been given permission to run roughshod at least, if not commit outright violence against people they don’t like,” Phillips says.

  • Michael@slrpnk.netEnglish
    1·
    2 days ago

    And forgiveness for an eye destroys society as we know it.

    There are alternative systems to facilitate justice just waiting to be explored that don’t involve blame or forgiveness on a societal level.

    Blame and forgiveness are personal matters, but societally we can hold people who e.g. commit violent acts to account and allow them the chance to rehabilitate and participate in society when they are deemed capable of doing so.

    Punitive measures are not an effective deterrent to disincentivize crime.