Why a liberal bought a gun

There is an old joke, either created by Frank Rizzo or at least constantly repeated by him: A conservative is a liberal who got mugged.

The joke came to mind as I read a recent column by Solomon Jones, who contributes columns to the Philadelphia Inquirer, which means he is not on staff, while his for-pay job is hosting a morning radio show on WURD/900AM. 

He’s got movie-star looks, a piercing journalistic style, as a talk show host he is smooth and articulate (am I allowed to compliment a Black man without being called racist?). He’s a community activist, a recovering addict who opposes so-called “safe” injection sites, he’s a family man, a novelist, but is totally obsessed with race. Why shouldn’t he be? It pays the bills.

I am not suggesting he is not sincere — he is, but he sees everything through a lens of his race, a lens that sometimes distorts.

His opinions are so extreme I sometimes can’t stomach the column. He probably feels the same about mine. (We know each other slightly, as he was first published in my paper, the Daily News.) 

Example: “We discuss the rise of white supremacy in the wake of the deadly shootings that killed 50 people in two New Zealand mosques. But the rise of black sellouts like Candace Owens is largely ignored.”

Very glad to hear “white supremacy” is not a wholly-owned subsidiary of Team USA, and any Black disagreeing with Liberation orthodoxy is automatically a “sellout.” Or is it simply sexism?

Example: “Some say a new video depicting a confrontation between a Native American elder and schoolboys wearing ‘Make America Great Again’ hats excuses the boys’ disrespectful behavior toward that elder, Nathan Phillips….

“However, I’m not buying it, because when those boys left their Kentucky Catholic School and came to Washington D.C., they came looking for trouble. Why else would they wear bright red hats and hoodies emblazoned with the words, ‘Make America Great Again’”?

For the same reason people wore Hope T-shirts. And we know the elder harassed the boys, not vice versa.

And: “I am the only Black male news columnist at The Inquirer, and I am not on staff. I am technically a freelancer…

“It is a byproduct of the blinding whiteness that characterizes the culture of The Inquirer in particular, and major media outlets in general.”

Actually, he is the ONLY male news columnist, while two of the three staff news columnists — all female — are African-American, and Latina. Is it sexism again that blinds him to everything but race?

So much for background. His latest column explains why he bought a handgun. In a sentence, he doesn’t feel safe.

“I still believe I’m fairly safe among Black people,” he erroneously writes through his damaged lens. He must know statistics show Blacks are 10 times more likely to be murdered by Blacks than by whites. Likewise, whites are more likely to be murdered by whites.

Jones continues, “In a time of economic and medical strife, with a president who regularly engages in racial rhetoric that paints Black and brown people as the other, I’m concerned about what the future may hold. To be blunt, President Donald Trump has emboldened America’s racists, and I’ve come to the conclusion that it would be irresponsible to leave my family defenseless.”

In past columns, Jones has condemned gun violence, the easy access to guns and other liberal shibboleths. But when he feels threatened, all that goes down the memory hole. We’re all gunslingers now.

I sent Jones a friendly email welcoming him to the fraternity of the armed, urged him to get firearms, safety, and legal training, and closed with an observation.

The reason you bought a gun is exactly the same reason everyone buys a gun. For protection. Do you get it now?

For Solomon, it is protection against the raging racist monsters released by Trump, while for other people it is for protection against the hordes that commandeer our streets, set fires and loot at will as Democratic mayors and governors call it a summer of love or a street festival. Do you get it now?

Jones did not respond to my email.