Shively, KY — A Kentucky-based militia group has managed to do something Congress hasn’t been able to do: get meaningful gun control legislation on the table. The Shively, Kentucky paramilitary, the Panther Fighters, formed in 2020 following the Ferguson, Missouri unrest to “protect their community, churches, and property from hostile American forces.”
The Panther Fighters are almost exclusively African-American, with one white member from Emeryville, CA, who goes by the name of “Brad.”
Outside the Frankfort capital building, Fighters founder and leader Huey Seale of nearby Louisville told the reporters that his group would “do whatever it takes” to protect the well-being and prosperity of its people from an unjust and tyrannical and ineffective government.”
“Revolution is about the need to re-evolve political, economic, and social justice and power back into the hands of the people,” said Mr. Seale through a handheld megaphone on the capital steps. “Preferably through legislation and policies that make human sense. That’s what revolution is about. Revolution is not about shootouts. Not even for Brad.”
The GOP Suddenly Interested in Gun Legislation
Upon hearing news of the Panther Fighters’ appearance in his home state, Senator Mitch McConnell called for Congress to swiftly enact gun control measures to “reduce the chances that someone might get hurt.” McConnell said he asked Senators Graham, Wicker, and Alexander to develop legislation “that can pass the Senate, pass the House, and earn the president’s signature.”
“Partisan theatrics and campaign-trail rhetoric will only take us farther away from the progress all Americans deserve,” McConnell said, despite his refusal to work with Democrats on gun control legislation in the past. “We can’t have these people running around our government and businesses armed to the teeth looking for a fight. We have to be reasonable here.”
When Mr. Seale heard the GOP leader’s comments later in the day, he chuckled.
“On the one hand, the guns were there to help capture the people’s imagination. But more important, since we knew that you couldn’t observe the police without guns, we took our guns with us to let the police know that we have an equalizer. And that would include Moscow Mitch now.”
In 1967, in what many consider an antecedent group to the Panther fighters, the Oakland, CA-based Black Panthers used their 2nd Amendment rights to gather the attention of then-Governor Ronald Reagan and the National Rifle Association. Both Reagan and the NRA responded to the Panther’s action by sponsoring new strict gun control measures in California.
According to Mr. Seale, the Bradley Fighters have no intention of giving up their 2nd Amendment rights.
