There are people I’m less than comfortable with having guns. Obviously, I’d prefer criminals didn’t have guns, but there are people who are so diametrically opposed to all that I hold dear who I’d rather see disarmed, as a general rule.

However, I also recognize that in order for me to maintain my rights, I have to protect the rights of people I don’t particularly care for.

You know, kind of like these guys.

According to Redneck Revolt’s mission statement, organising people also requires organising a defence of their communities. Hence, the gun range. The Suffolk County branch group meets up for weekly sessions at the range, the name of which they asked to be kept secret. They often bring along other leftists groups, like the PSL, the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), or the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). Mike says those are some of his favourite days on the range. “I think it’s very cool that we can bring groups together that normally wouldn’t have anything else in common,” he told me. “And seeing a whole bunch of leftists with guns is cool.” Not everyone thinks the guns are cool, of course. Redneck Revolt has gotten pushback from liberal groups who think the weapons sully their image. But the members maintain that the firearms are necessary to protect themselves, and the communities of colour they want to help serve.

Much as I may disagree with these guys on just about everything they stand for, the beauty of the Second Amendment is that it protects their right to keep and bear arms as well.

What’s more, they seem to grasp that guns are essential to personal protection, hence their decision to have them regardless of what their fellow leftists think.

And, honestly, if that’s where it stays, more power to them.

The question is, will it?

“We are willing to take on personal risk to defend those in our community who live under the risk of reactionary violence because of their skin colour, gender identity, sexuality, religion, or birth country,” the group’s mission statement reads. “For us, that means that we meet our neighbours face-to-face, and stand alongside them to face threats whenever possible.”

The problem here is that it sounds like they’re looking for a fight. More to the point, I can’t help but look at their statement and see them looking for a fight against law enforcement who are constantly charged with violence against minorities, gays and lesbians, and transgendered people among other things. The rhetoric matches up all too well for me to not think such a thing.

However, the beauty of the Second Amendment is that so long as they don’t start anything, they’re more than welcome to own guns and shoot them. In fact, I’ll defend their right to own firearms to my last breath, despite the fact that I’d rather they didn’t.

The reason is that the Second Amendment isn’t just for one group of people. It’s for all Americans. It’s uniquely American, existing nowhere else on this Earth.

While I have little doubt that if Redneck Revolt got their Utopia, we’d all be disarmed in short order, they don’t have it and the fact that they have the right to be armed proves just how little tyranny they’re really experiencing.

After all, the Second Amendment is for everyone.