zlacker

>>jbegle+(OP)
Post US Civil war, we encoded a set of rules that on their face did not discriminate on race. But their effect was basically to prevent black people from voting and enjoying their civil liberties.

Now we are encoding these biases into models built with mass surveillance. Many of us upper middle class white folks turn a blind eye. Subconsciously we know that’s not really targeting us. “We have nothing to hide” is the battle cry of the apathetic middle class person... when you trace the origin not just to law and order but the “war on terrorism” the relationship to race is even more depressing.

Maybe when we examine deeper we see those using the tools of mass surveillance look like us (heck are from this industry!). This same people working in the surveillance industry only imagine getting the “bad guys” not people that look like them!

On their face this has nothing to do with race. Examine deeper and you see, it’s far easier to take away civil liberties when it’s the “other” it’s being taken away from. Where the in group can blissfully rationalize what’s happening to get on with their day

>>softwa+Au
Do you feel the same is true about surveillance used on January 20, 2020 in Richmond, VA (2nd amendment protestors)? The one that a state of emergency was declared for it in advance of the event.

>>nevera+nl1
Were the same or similar tools used in Richmond? I can't find any coverage of that specifically.

I mean, I'm sure someone had a CCTV turned on the guys, but surely you'd agree that the Richmond protest was less surveilled and less attended by law enforcement. Broadly, I think the fact that 2A protests tend to be met with gentle indifference by law enforcement instead of the mass surveillance and control techniques used against civil rights folks rather reinforces the upthread point, no?

>>newacc+5q1
2A attendees who are carrying firearms are usually licensed, which means they aren't felons and have clean background records. In most states training and licensing is required to carry short firearms (pistols, revolvers). Licensed firearms owners are an unusually safe and cautious group of people.

>>giardi+g32
I wouldn't say that many in VA are licensed, because in VA (and many other states), you don't need a license to purchase or carry firearms. Most states don't require any sort of training to buy a firearm. And every single state requires a background check for any firearm sold by a dealer, (thus the infamous "gun show loophole"), this is a federal law.

Concealed carry does require a license (and sometimes a "training" class, which is laughable at best. (Seriously, I have never known anyone fail this class in my state. A driving license test probably has a 100 times higher failure rate.). And of course, as we are talking about a pro gun rally, carrying concealed defeats the purpose.

I'm a 2nd amendment proponent, but I've been in too many public gun ranges, too many gun shows, and been around too many idiot gun owners to think that the firearms training the vast majority of states (maybe every state?) has or provides is nearly enough. Owning a firearm in this country solely amounts too: have you yet been convicted of a felony or smoked weed?