The Black Panther Party for Self Defense, as a small community organization based in Oakland, CA, believed that black Americans should exercise their constitutional right to defend themselves against an oppressive U.S. government. The Black Panthers’ agenda involved taking up arms and patrolling their communities to protect against rampant racism in policing. What they did in the first few months of the party’s existence, was carry guns openly in compliance with California law, drive around their neighborhoods, observing arrests and other law enforcement activities — essentially policing the police. The patrols weren’t meant to encourage violence. Don Mulford, a GOP assemblyman who represented Oakland, responded to the Black Panther police patrols in 1967 with a bill to strip Californians of the right to openly carry firearms. Mulford’s legislation, which became known as the “Panthers Bill,” passed with the support of the National Rifle Association, which apparently believed that the whole “good guy with a gun” thing didn’t apply to black people. California Gov. Ronald Reagan (R), who would later campaign for president as a steadfast defender of the Second Amendment, signed the bill into law. from https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/black-panthers-california-1967_us_568accfce4b014efe0db2f40 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- #theblackpantherpartyforselfdefense #theblackpantherparty #theblackpantherpartyforselfdefense #selfdefense #oakland #california #ronaldreagan #secondamendment #panthersbill #donmulford #legislation #nra #bpp #guncontrol #nationalrifleassociation #guncontrollaws #bobbyseale #hueypnewton #californiaassembly #thecapitalbuilding #constitutionalrights #pepperspraymedia #206bpp #pepperspray #media
