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.

  • tal@lemmy.todayEnglish
    22·
    4 days ago

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink_Pistols

    The Pink Pistols is an LGBTQ gun rights organization in the United States and Canada. Their motto is “Pick on someone your own caliber”.[1]

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonewall_Shooting_Sports_of_Utah

    Stonewall Shooting Sports of Utah is a group of gun rights advocates in Utah. It supports the Pink Pistols’ idea that was described nationally in 2000 by writer Jonathan Rauch for the legal, responsible and safe use of weapons for their self defense, recreation and shooting sports.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialist_Rifle_Association

    The Socialist Rifle Association (SRA) is a socialist gun rights advocacy group based in the United States, which is dedicated to “providing working class people the information they need to be effectively armed for self and community defense.”[5][6][self-published source] The group advocates for Second Amendment gun rights from a left-wing perspective.[7]

    https://blog.socialistra.org/official-statement-on-recent-doj-discussions/

    Official Statement on Recent DOJ Discussions

    The Socialist Rifle Association opposes in the strongest terms the stripping away of gun rights for our trans comrades. Trump’s DOJ is far beyond the pale having floated the idea.

    It’s also worth noting that the major gun rights groups, which tend to be on the right side of the spectrum, also condemned the Trump administration for suggesting that trans people should be disarmed:

    https://www.newsweek.com/gun-rights-group-condemn-trump-transgender-firearm-proposal-2125307

    The National Rifle Association insists the Second Amendment “isn’t up for debate” as senior Justice Department officials have reportedly held internal deliberations about issuing regulations restricting transgender individuals from possessing guns in the wake of a shooting at a Catholic school in Minnesota that left two children dead and 17 others injured on August 27.

    The Second Amendment Foundation, a Washington state-based gun rights advocacy nonprofit group, also blasted the Department of Justice’s reported consideration of new firearm restrictions, saying it “stands resoundingly in opposition” of any such policies.

    Gun Owners of America, a Virginia-based nonprofit with more than two million members and supporters, also denounced the Trump’s administration reported plans.

    “Gun Owners of America does not compromise with our support for the right of all the People to keep and bear arms,” GOA senior vice president Erich Pratt told Newsweek in a statement. “That means we oppose any and all gun bans — whether proposed by Republicans or Democrats. Anti-gunners would happily label every gun owner ‘crazy’ in order to confiscate our firearms and infringe on our rights. We’re not going to give up an inch.”

    The National Association for Gun Rights, meanwhile, noted that only a Title III court can adjudicate someone as “mentally defective” for purposes of firearm restriction.

    “It is a judicial branch function, not an executive branch function,” NAGR president Dudley Brown told Newsweek in a statement. “This process — and only this process — is available today as it may apply to transgenders or to any American suffering from mental health issues, but taking rights away from any American without due process is an affront to the Constitution. All ex parte gun bans are unconstitutional.”