And in order to defend themselves against the violence of the State, the Panthers had to purchase and maintain an armory of their own.
Guns became central to the Panthers’ identity, as they taught their early recruits that “the gun is the only thing that will free us—gain us our liberation.” They bought some of their first guns with earnings from selling copies of Mao Zedong’s Little Red Book to students at the University of California at Berkeley. In time, the Panther arsenal included machine guns; an assortment of rifles, handguns, explosives, and grenade launchers; and “boxes and boxes of ammunition”
The Black Panthers
These guns were used as a counter-intimidation tactic against the police; one of the Panthers’ most famous tactics was to follow police cars around, ensuring that they were not violating or abusing the rights of Oakland citizens. And needless to say, this was a teeny bit irksome to the political ruling class of California.
Don Mulford, a conservative Republican state assemblyman from Alameda County, which includes Oakland, was determined to end the Panthers’ police patrols. To disarm the Panthers, he proposed a law that would prohibit the carrying of a loaded weapon in any California city.
Mulford’s party was quite accepting of this plan.
Republicans in California eagerly supported increased gun control. Governor Reagan told reporters that afternoon that he saw “no reason why on the street today a citizen should be carrying loaded weapons.” He called guns a “ridiculous way to solve problems that have to be solved among people of good will.”
