cross-posted from: https://lemmygrad.ml/post/5628797
I might be joining my local gun club in the near future. It's something I've contemplated for a long time but now I'm taking concrete steps in that direction.
As long as you aren't joining a pro-US-imperialist group like the socialist rifle association, there's nothing wrong with arming up.
I'd never actually looked closely into the stances or activity of the SRA, but I'd only ever heard positive things about them, so it's surprising to hear that they are pro-US-imperialism. But I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that a moderately large organization right in the heart of Seppoland would be doing Seppo shit. Still, I would like to know more about why you classify them as pro-US-imperialism.
Yeah I've been involved with them in varying degrees for the last several years, and I've never seen anything questionable from the leadership or regular members. Save for the occasional troll that gets into the Slack just to start drama, and is promptly kicked out
See my comment below. Their members need to ask their higher ups those questions.
I've got minimal experience with SRA, but I would say that if that's your only local option, then join up. Whatever issues they may or may not have as a national org, you're going to be meeting friendly people in your area that you can learn from and/or teach about firearms.
Their members support rojava against the syrian government, and ukraine against russia. There was even an "anarcho-communist" group that tried to recruit for ukraine a few years ago, that many people got banned from their subreddit for criticizing. Also, they're very anti-china on "anti-authoritarian" grounds.
I'm not sure if these are official positions, but if all your group is doing is building opposition to all the US's main enemies, and convincing your members to adopt pro-US foreign policy positions, then you're nothing but a settler gang.
anti-imperialism and anti-US foreign policy should be item #1 on any US-based gun org. Otherwise, it's settlerism.
It's illogical and naive to believe that an anti-U.S. armed group in the U.S. would be allowed to roam freely, if they're not made for propaganda to its members then it's to write down a list of suspect the moment leftists start moving, in a real revolution in the U.S. the members of these groups will just end up either fighting for the U.S. or arrested in the same day.
Very much in two minds about this, because while I do understand left objections to gun control in principle, I also like living somewhere where I don't have to worry about my kids' school getting shot up.
Leftist objections to gun control in the US are entirely half-baked:
- The US obsession with gun ownership draws entirely from its history as a settler country and the need for people on the frontier to be armed so as to defend the land they are squatting on.
- No successful socialist revolution has ever gone into battle with the country's military; all have relied on mass defection from the military.
- 99% of US "leftists" spouting the "under no pretexts" line are coming out of settler society and are very dubiously working class.
You're ignoring the fact that any and all gun control in the US enacted will just give police more tools to go after the poor, minorities, and colonized people and have been demonstrated to prevent exactly zero mass shootings.
Username checks out though.
have been demonstrated to prevent exactly zero mass shootings
yeah all those mass shootings that happen in Australia (also a settler country), come on
Did you just ignore the part where I said "in the US".
I won't engage with someone this disingenuous and this is not my first runin with you being totally uninformed.
If you think they will do that sort of widespread gun ban/buyback program at a federal level in the US I got a bridge to sell you.
You can argue along two tracks here:
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It is not viable in the US to implement gun control
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Gun control is a bad thing or is not effective at reducing shootings
Clearly (1) is correct but we are on a communist website here, so I'm pretty used to dreaming of a world that is totally untenable in the US. 2 is quite a bit more doubtful. Like guns are the #1 killer of under-18s in this country. That's a huge fuckin price to pay for doing some kind of revolutionary cosplay.
-
What I've said before is that certainly yes any revolution requires guns and knowing how to use guns. And communists/minorities/women in the USA probably should own guns if it's safe for them for a variety of reasons.
But there's definitely a type of US based socialist, who loved guns before they developed their left wings politics, and instead of doing any analysis or self criticism, just substitute "Shall not be infringed" with "under no pretext" as a replacement position. And Marxist-Leninists should oppose dogmatism and just firing off cliched quotes. Instead looking at the material conditions on the ground. Both Marx's quote and this quote by Lenin is definitely good advice, but also very basic of course a revolution needs guns, but they're also not a binding edict that applies to all time before, during and after a revolution.
I tend to think Mao hits the nail on the head with "Political power grows from the barrel of a gun". The capacity to do violence is political power. In the USA the 2nd amendment gives this political power to millions of petit bourgeoises and reactionaries. It's only an accident when communists or minorities get a small slice of this power (which we see the state will time and again stamp out when it feels it needs to). That isn't to say US communists shouldn't utilize this accident, they definitely should, but as a transient and temporary thing. Use the 2nd amendment to arm and then when in power remove the 2nd amendment and it's protections for reactionaries.
Like I used to follow the various socialist rifle association sub-reddits, there was constantly complaints about how countries like Cuba, China etc were authoritarian because the average citizen couldn't have a personal AR15 in their home and it's like everything exists in it's historical and revolutionary context.
No? Would lead to a lot of shooting deaths that otherwise would not have happened, though. Guns are the #1 killer of under-18s in the US. Why would you invite that public health disaster into your functional country?
Fun fact they have something for that. It's called the militia. Their equivalent of the reserves.
Millions of Chinese who are in good standing with the government and party who get together every now and then to practice shooting assault rifles on weekends. They don't take them home.
When you combine paramilitary police, the PLA and the militia there's nearly a hundred million armed people they can call up already.
Cuba and Vietnam have similar things. Luna Ooi is always talking about how she was field stripping AKs and shooting at school for militia practice. That's better for a society than a kid shooting up a school.
The first paragraph of The Military Programme of the Proletarian Revolution: II. Full of bangers like
If the present war rouses among the reactionary Christian socialists, among the whimpering petty bourgeoisie, only horror and fright, only aversion to all use of arms, to bloodshed, death, etc., then we must say: Capitalist society is and has always been horror without end.
