The annual gathering of conservatives known as CPAC isn’t exclusively devoted to the Second Amendment by any means, and some years the right to keep and bear arms can feel more like an afterthought than a major component of the conference. Not this year, however.

Maj Toure of Black Guns Matter brought the house down during his speech at CPAC, and joined me shortly afterwards for a wide-ranging discussion on gun rights, big city violence, and how “solutionaries” like Maj are helping to educate and invigorate people on the issue throughout the country.

It struck me as Maj and I were talking that gun control activists really don’t want to see guys like us talking together, getting along and fighting for each other, not with each other. I’m a white dude in his 40s who lives in rural America. Maj is a black dude from north Philly. According to the conventional wisdom, we’re supposed to be distrustful of each other at best, and many on the Left would love for us to be at each others’ throats.

Instead, the Second Amendment movement is full of people like Maj and me; people who may not have a common background or many shared life experiences, but who are bound together because of our desire to see every American have the opportunity to embrace and exercise their right to keep and bear arms.

The gun rights movement is, in my opinion, the biggest tent in American politics. It doesn’t matter where you’re from, what you look like, or who you are as long as you’re willing to stand and fight for our Second Amendment freedoms.

One of the things that Maj and I discussed is the fact that many Democrats are bashing Michael Bloomberg for his stop-and-frisk policies, but are still embracing the gun control laws that were enforced with that tactic.

“You can’t separate and isolate that from the guys that had a gun because they live in a rough neighborhood,” said Maj. “Those guys that are willing to pretend that these things aren’t part and parcel of the same issue have to take a serious look at themselves and their own contradictions, because that’s what it is.”

I brought up the fact that in Philadelphia, where Maj is from, politicians are getting ready to open up a supervised injection site where drug addicts can shoot up under medical supervision. I find it bizarre that the same politicians who want a safe place for people to shoot up are the same ones who are making it as hard as possible for gun owners to have a safe place to go shooting.

Toure says there are number of contradictions inherent in that stance as well, and notes that when the crack epidemic was decimating black communities in the 1990s nobody was talking about a “safe smoking site.” Only when the opioid epidemic hit, which by and large is impacting white populations more than minorities, did politicians embrace the idea that we can’t arrest our way out of the problem. Toure says that same racial mindset is evident in the gun control movement, and reiterated his belief that gun control laws are racist.

By exposing their contradictions, Maj Toure is hoping to help the Left confront them. It was a great conversation, and I encourage you to check out the entire interview above.