The Second Amendment as it Applies to Black People

Don’t Think For a Minute the Rules Aren’t Different

William Spivey
Momentum
Published in
4 min readNov 8, 2023

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By Fibonacci Blue from Minnesota, USA — Second Amendment Rally Against Gun Control, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=67963045

A Black man was shot and killed in Baltimore, MD, and the version of the story police provided doesn’t add up. Just after noon on November 7, 2023, Baltimore police officers identified a neighbor, Hunter Jessup, and confronted him. According to the police commissioner, they tried to stop him because they thought he was carrying a gun.

“They saw something that made them believe he was armed,” — Commissioner Richard Worley.

While it can be illegal for someone to possess a gun in the United States, after all, someone may be unauthorized or prohibited from possessing certain types of firearms. Nevertheless, the National Rifle Association has long shared the view that gun possession is a constitutional right and, therefore, not a criminal act. Curious about the story officers provided, I scoured multiple stories searching for some crime, a precedent, that justified the stop, but found none. Commissioner Worley went on to suggest that the neighborhood contributed to the rationale.

“I don’t want to call it a high-crime area, but there have been several shootings nearby, and the officers were doing proactive patrol.” — Commissioner Richard Wolley

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Momentum
Momentum

Published in Momentum

Momentum is a blog that captures and reflects the moment we find ourselves in, one where rampant anti-Black racism is leading to violence, trauma, protest, reflection, sorrow, and more. Momentum doesn’t look away when the news cycle shifts.

William Spivey
William Spivey

Written by William Spivey

I write about politics, history, education, and race. Follow me at williamfspivey.com and support me at https://ko-fi.com/williamfspivey0680

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