The Black Panthers and the NRA are two groups I don't usually think of as going together! Reminds me of a statement by one of the leaders of Tulsa's African American commuity in the 1910s that every time he heard of a lynching he wanted to get more ammunition.
I hope that Adam Winkler's imminently forthcoming book Gun Fight (excerpt "The Secret History of Guns" available now via The Atlantic) helps bring some sanity to our discussion of guns. If anything can, it will; but I'm really skeptical of whether that's possible.
Al, About 16 years ago when I visited at Hastings, a student wrote a terrific paper for me about the Panthers' 2nd Amendment jurisprudence. I'm guessing that's covered in this book, and so I will look for it. Great stuff! Tom Russell