The Silent Part Out Loud: A Timeline of Racist History of Gun Control

With Colorado on the precipice of passing the most sweeping gun ban this nation has ever seen, SB25-003, an important piece of history must be understood by all Coloradans and minority groups- but especially Black Coloradans. The majority of Democrat politicians often co-opt Black American sentiment to prop up votes. While a small minority of Democratic legislators stays true to their promise to minorities after election, they are often pressured by their own party to adopt pro-black words, but anti-black action.

This is not a new practice; the racist history of gun control predates the country’s founding, and that heritage is evident in the language of this bill and its predecessors. The fastest growing segment of gun owners in the US and Colorado is Black Women- and FBI crime data supports this need.  The historical timeline below gives insight as to why it should come as no surprise that on January 28th, 2025 around 11 pm, after hearing an overwhelming “No” from the people, a group of five men who do not represent the most affected group will decide whether or not the populace needs a right.

Early Colonial Era (1600s-1700s):

• Early 1600s: In the Virginia colony, laws were passed that specifically targeted “Negroes, both enslaved and free,” by taking away their right to own weapons, even clubs.  Similar laws that disarmed Native Americans were enacted in other colonies, like Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. Demonstrating an early pattern of using gun control to maintain social control over marginalized groups.
• 1712: Virginia passed a law that didn’t allow African slaves to own firearms, specifically to prevent slave rebellions. South Carolina also implemented an “act for the better ordering and governing of negroes and slaves,” which effectively took away their legal right to bear arms.
• 1756: The colony of Virginia ordered that all Catholics be disarmed. This shows that gun control wasn’t only used against Black people in colonial times but as an effective means of control of “undesirable” populations.

Early American Republic (1776-1860):

• Post-American Founding: Even after the U.S. Constitution was adopted in 1788 and the Second Amendment in 1791, states continued to pass racist gun control measures. Since the Bill of Rights only applied to the federal government, and not to the states, states could continue to restrict gun ownership for Black people, even with the Second Amendment.
• 1806 & 1811: Louisiana completely banned gun ownership and self-defense for slaves, making it illegal to sell firearms to them.
• 1819: South Carolina made it illegal for slaves to possess firearms without written permission from their masters.
• 1825: Florida allowed white citizen patrols to search “negro houses” and seize any weapons. Slaves were only allowed to possess weapons with a weekly renewable license while in the presence of a white person.
• 1831:
  • Following the Nat Turner slave rebellion, Virginia passed laws stripping free Blacks of trials by jury and making those convicted of a crime subject to being sold into slavery. Free Blacks were also banned from carrying any kind of weapon.
  • Florida repealed the ability for free Blacks to possess weapons with court approval and made it entirely illegal for them to possess any weapons.
  • Delaware required free Blacks to petition and get court approval to carry a weapon.
  • Maryland prohibited free Blacks from carrying any weapons.
• 1833:
  • Florida expanded its laws to allow white citizen patrols to search both slave and free Black homes for weapons and punish owners of any weapons found.
  • Georgia made it unlawful for any free person of color to own, use, or carry firearms.
• 1840: Texas and Florida enacted complete gun bans for slaves.
• 1845: North Carolina passed complete gun bans for slaves.
• 1852: Mississippi passed complete gun bans for slaves.
• 1857: The Supreme Court’s Dred Scott decision ruled that freed slaves could not become citizens, partly because it would give them the right to keep and carry arms. This shows how denying citizenship to Black people was used to justify stripping them of their rights, including the right to bear arms.

Post-Civil War Era and Reconstruction (1865-1900s):

• Black Codes: Following the Civil War and emancipation, Southern states passed “Black Codes” aimed at preventing formerly enslaved people from owning firearms. These codes included requirements for law enforcement or employer permission to own guns, and in some cases, a total ban on Black people possessing or carrying weapons.
  • 1865: Mississippi required Blacks to have law enforcement permission to own guns.
  • 1865: Louisiana required Blacks to have police and employer approval to own guns.
  • 1866: Alabama’s Black Codes prohibited Blacks from owning or carrying firearms and prohibited anyone from selling firearms or ammunition to them. North Carolina also changed the rights of African Americans through their Black Codes as an attack on the Second Amendment.
• 1866 Civil Rights Act: This act was passed to counteract these Black Codes.
• 1870 Enforcement Act: The Enforcement Act was passed to attack violent groups, like the KKK, that were attacking the rights of African Americans, which included the right to bear arms, but those convictions were reversed by the Supreme Court in United States v. Cruikshank. The court decided that the 14th amendment did not incorporate the First and Second Amendment and therefore states did not have to abide by those amendments. This decision undermined federal efforts to protect Black people’s rights.
• Late 1800s-Early 1900s: Gun control laws began to target other minority groups, including Italians and other Southern and Eastern Europeans.
• 1941: A Florida judge admitted that gun laws were passed to disarm Black laborers coming into the state.

20th and 21st Centuries:

• Mid-20th Century: Despite legal progress in the Civil Rights Era, discriminatory practices continued in more subtle ways, with stricter gun control policies in urban, often minority communities.
• 2010: A black man in Chicago sued the city to overturn its 28-year-old handgun ban. The Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision extended Second Amendment rights to all 50 states.

The debate continues about whether gun control policies are systemically targeting certain groups, with some arguing that these communities are used as a “test market” for policies that are later applied to others. Violence has remained an issue in the state, but lawmakers seem uneasy with the prospect of looking deeply into the issue. What is clear is that this time, Coloradans should not be asking, but demanding: the right to self-defense- free from prescription by those who do not truly represent the interests of those most impacted.

On January 28, 2025 I testified in opposition to Colorado SB25-003 in front of the Senate State, Veterans & Military Affairs committee. Watch my testimony below.