“In the 1960s Black Panthers, inspired by the sermons of Malcolm X, who called on African Americans to defend themselves against racial violence “by any means necessary”, started patrolling black neighbourhoods with guns, claiming it as their constitutional right. This may not have been quite “what the Founding Fathers had in mind when they described ‘a well-regulated militia’ taking up arms against the tyranny of the state, but that is exactly what [the Black Panthers] represented”. Their aim was to protect their communities against police harassment. Funnily enough, that’s not how conservative lawmakers saw it. In 1967, California governor Ronald Reagan reacted by passing a law that banned the carrying of loaded firearms in public places. The National Rifle Association – which now lobbies for unfettered access to deadly weapons – helped craft similar gun-control legislation in states across the US. The only thing scarier than state oppression, it seems, is the concept of the black gun owner. (Edward Wycoff Williams in The Root).

Epicurus would have been delighted to have this example of double-speak and hypocrisy exposed. The next thing that could possibly happen is that those who oppose mass gun ownership gang together to defend themselves against the angry white men and the National Rifle Association. Additionally, they might consider adopting the strategy used by so many illiberal communities who have imprisoned huge numbers of young, black men for trifling reasons, such as possession of small amounts of marijuana. Trumped up prison sentences for good ‘ole white boys, anyone?

What a world we live in! Life was nasty, brutish and short in the days of Epicurus, but our times seem to be equally distasteful.