At the executive level, he gets to decide how the federal policing departments interpret statute and execute their department objectives.
In the modern era, that means taking a reading of “gun possession” as “physical threat to police” and permitting the police to respond to anyone they think might be carrying with lethal force. That’s not a repeal of the 2nd amendment in a literal sense. But it does make open carrying extremely dangerous in practice.
Of course, this isn’t news to everyone.
Being a Black gun owner in the US comes with a unique set of challenges. The Second Amendment is often not applied to Black gun owners in the same way it is applied to white gun owners. Lawfully armed Black people are often viewed as a threat and met with police violence, in part because of implicit bias that law enforcement is not immune to.
Philando Castille was a registered gun owner in St. Paul, Minnesota, who was shot and killed by police in front of his girlfriend and her daughter, after disclosing that he was armed. Alton Sterling, who was killed by police officers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was legally armed at the time of his death. Black Americans are disproportionately murdered or injured by police and Black gun owners describe being stereotyped and misperceived by law enforcement.
What we have is a white population that’s catching up to the treatment enjoyed by minorities for decades.
At the executive level, he gets to decide how the federal policing departments interpret statute and execute their department objectives.
In the modern era, that means taking a reading of “gun possession” as “physical threat to police” and permitting the police to respond to anyone they think might be carrying with lethal force. That’s not a repeal of the 2nd amendment in a literal sense. But it does make open carrying extremely dangerous in practice.
Of course, this isn’t news to everyone.
What we have is a white population that’s catching up to the treatment enjoyed by minorities for decades.