Brothers in Arms

By Bill Maher

We’ve been reading all kinds of stories about right-to-bear-arms gun nuts going into Wal-Marts and Targets and family restaurants with semi-automatic weapons slung over their shoulders to affirm their Second Amendment rights… and to confirm to fellow patrons that they’re fear-based douche bags with small penises.

It just happened again at a Wal-Mart in Florida. Well, kinda. 62-year-old grandfather Clarence Daniels was entering the store wearing a holstered pistol that he was legally licensed to carry underneath his jacket.  But he’s black, so when a white shopper noticed the gun, he viciously tackled Clarence with a chokehold from behind and several other white men piled on top of him, pinning him to the floor and taking away his legal, holstered weapon. All while the greeter was saying, “Welcome to Wal-Mart.”

Aren’t there far too many people who say “good guy with a gun” when what they really mean is “good white guy with a gun”?  It would be wonderful if we really did live in a “post-racial America” where a man was judged by the content of his ammo clip rather than the color of his skin. It would also be wonderful if my car ran on dirty bong water rather than gasoline – but we’re not there yet either. 

How can we even begin to assert that we don’t still have deep-seated racial prejudices when so many of us automatically presume that white people only arm themselves for protection and black people only arm themselves when they’re up to no good? 

Also, wouldn’t this be a much better, safer country if everyone entering a public store or restaurant with a gun was tackled immediately?