Armed racists faced off against armed black militants in Louisville, Kentucky, on Saturday, July 25, 2020. Shots were fired and three people were wounded. Read story here.
Well, the Second Amendment does contemplate “well regulated militias,” although I’m not sure how well-regulated these private armies are. But one thing seems inarguable: If one group can do it, so can the other. These “Second Amendment rights,” such as they are, and whatever they are, apply the same to everybody.
But I don’t see how opposing private armies fighting out their differences in the streets of our cities, towns, and villages represents a qualitative improvement on state-sponsored armies doing the same thing on nation-sized battlefields.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t want my community to degenerate into this.
We have had the Crips and Bloods, the Hells Angels and Jokers for decades. Defund the police these and other groups will fill a vacuum. Generally it is the collateral damage.
Then there are the armies of corporate America which are generally trained and armed even at the happiest place on Earth. Do corporations enjoy 2nd amendment rights? Same or different as corporations manufacture most guns and sell a lot of guns.
I think you have to be careful when interpreting what people mean by “defund the police.” The phrase means different things to different people. For a few, it may imply eliminating police, creating the “vacuum” you allude to. But in most cases, people arguing for “defunding” envision retaining some police for crime response, while diverting a portion of police budgets to social programs they believe will reduce crime by addressing its root causes. This is an old idea that’s been around for decades, and the protests are giving it new impetus. The term seems not to encompass police reform, i.e. different policing methods and better training, supervision, discipline, etc.