Politics in America is going to some strange places. The conservative movement is fracturing between classical liberals and authoritarians, and the Left is fracturing between Sanders supporters who want to gulag you now and Warren supporters who want to wait 6-8 years.

And then there’s this rare moment of recognition by an Antifa faction that maybe it wants to retain the right to bear arms.

Antifa Seven Hills, based in Richmond, are opposing the slew of gun bills introduced by the newly Democratic Legislature since November, because they say those types of laws are used primarily to criminalize poor people, minorities, and leftists — and to bolster law enforcement’s power.

“I think it’s been pretty important for us to focus on the fact that gun control in America has a legacy of racist enforcement,” said Antifa Seven Hills spokesperson James (who asked that his name be withheld to avoid getting doxxed online). “Like taking guns away from black people, because black people were perceived as a threat to property and the sanctity of the state.”

That’s a classical 2A argument and a reminder that one reason why the gun control movement has failed is because support for gun rights is not a purely conservative talking point, but a single issue for a lot of people, some of whom hardly ever vote Republican.

When gun lovers rally in front of the Virginia Capitol in Richmond next week, the local chapter of antifa will be there too… Instead, local antifa will join thousands of conservatives who are expected to descend on Richmond that day in protesting pending gun-control legislation introduced by Democratic lawmakers.

Under the Trump administration and in response to the emergence of an emboldened far-right movement, leftist gun groups have surged. For example, the Socialist Rifle Association was formed in 2018 and today has over 50 chapters across the country. Similarly, Redneck Revolt, a leftist gun group that formed in 2016, claims at least 45 chapters nationwide.

And the Gay Communist Gun Club is seeing a resurgence.

. “I think what’s particular about the South is that we have to be a bit more creative and sensitive to the people around us — instead of fulfilling some sort of meme of what antifa is,” said James. “That’s really what we’re trying to work against right now, especially by talking to conservatives and showing we aren’t just a black-clad group of rabble-rousers who are out for attention and have jobs funded by George Soros.”

Not just. We’re so much more than that.

Translation, we’re a distinct minority and the majority culture doesn’t like us, the way that it does in Seattle or Portland.

Article posted with permission from Daniel Greenfield

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