The Bourgeois Right to Bear Arms

Chris Burford cburford at gn.apc.org
Tue Apr 20 22:59:09 PDT 1999


The right of all citizens to bear arms, "enshrined" in the American Constitution is one of its most characteristic revolutionary bourgeois features.

For 500 years prior to 1776 this was one of the touchstones of freedom against feudalism and hierocracy, particularly in those towns that could have early features of bourgeois democratic freedom.

In the revolutionary American War of Independence it was crucial to the overthrow of British colonialism.

But two centuries later the class analysis, if concrete, is different from the static idealist version of history. In Colorado, on an individual and family level there is psychological trauma. In class terms there is a sharp contradiction between gun-producing capital and on the other hand the privileged educated working class ("middle class") and the professional intelligentsia.

Clinton as always has positioned himself to manage the polical consensus, but is well on record as wanting to restrict the rights of gun capital. He may be expected to move again on this if civil society is clear enough in its expectations.

Restricting the rights of gun capital is of course also restricting the bourgeois democratic right to bear arms. That right has become reactionary. Restriction of that bourgeois right has become progressive.

This is an opportunity for an attack on gun capital, just as Clinton has fought a sustained battle against tobacco capital.

Or would this just be another liberal wank, Doug?

Chris Burford

London



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