The Gun-Rights Movement Helped Fuel Capitol Insurrection

The last few years have seen a considerable rise in far-right extremism. From a Michigan militia’s plot to kidnap Governor Whitmer to this month’s violent take-over of the Capitol, extremism has proven to be a credible threat against American democracy. Guns have played a substantial role in the proliferation of these groups. Rhetoric and ideology espoused by gun rights advocates reflect the dogma of far-right extremist movements. The brandishing of large guns at far-right events is commonplace and signals a strategy of violence and intimidation. 

Listen: The role of guns in American politics 

Guest:

Firmin DeBrabander is a professor of philosophy at the Maryland Institute College of Art and is the author of “Do Guns Make Us Free?” and “Life After Privacy.” He also recently wrote a piece in The Atlantic titled “The Gun-Rights Movement Fed America’s Insurrectionist Fever Dreams.” DeBrabander says the violence at the Capitol was sadly inevitable. “We’ve been building to this moment for a long time. I was very chagrined with the events on January 6th… this is something I kind of predicted,” says DeBrabander of the insurrection on Capitol Hill. He adds that racism has allowed for this crowd to cling to its insurrectionist fantasies and that other non-white populations wouldn’t be allowed to incite violence or brandish weapons in the same way. “You see that the gun owner demographic overlaps with the Trump voter, this being middle class to lower middle class, white males,” says DeBrabander. He adds that gun ownership is often fueled by fear and unsupported threats of tyranny promoted by the NRA.

According to DeBrabander, guns are a recognition of social precarity. “I’ve often written that guns speak. When you carry a gun on your person, you’re transmitting something, you’re saying something. The symbol is utter outrage about your lot, about your situation,” says DeBrabander about how how resentment has fueled far-right extremists. Openly carrying assault rifles is also an intimidation tactic, something DeBrabander says quashes free speech. “In the interest of protecting speech, we need to dial back the presence of guns in the public realm,” says DeBrabander.

Beyond the political implications, DeBrabander says guns simply are a public safety crisis. “There’s not a single county in the industrial world that comes even close to our rate of gun fatalities… that’s why it’s clear to the public health crowd that guns are a menace to our safety,” says DeBrabander. 

Web story written by Clare Brennan.