Firing Back at Jim Crow

Search Google for “white supremacy” and “gun rights” and you will see many articles claiming that the Second Amendment is a tool for white America. But a new paper from economists at Clemson University Michael Makowski and Patrick Waren finds that the opposite is the case. They say gun ownership has helped black Americans defend themselves when no one else would.

The main finding of Firearms and Lynching is clear: “Rates of black lynching decreased with greater access to firearms for blacks” in the Jim Crow South.