Which group are you saying is racist? The lefties or GOP? It is unclear in the above sentence.
In that sentence, I was referring to the left.
But more broadly, whoever happens to think additional layers of gun control are a good idea at any given moment. Unfortunately, since the Civil War there have been no shortage of racists and elitists, in any corner or on any side of the political spectrum, who fit the bill.
In the midst of the Civil Rights movement, when the Black Panthers were peacefully marching in Sacramento while carrying rifles, it was Republican Hero and governor Ronald Reagan who was happy to outlaw open carry in California ... because Scary Uppity Black Men were making good decent white folk anxious.
In the last few decades, it's mostly been Democrats pushing for gun control, of course. Much of their earnest do-goodery is tainted with implicit or unintentional bias, rather than cartoonish KKK-hood wearing racism. A sprinkling of paternalistic "we know what's best for the little people" elitism.
Democrats aren't trying to be deliberately racist or to discriminate against poor people when they throw out ideas like adding a 1000% tax to firearms, or acting like the Chris Rock bullet tax is a good idea, or raising the NFA tax stamp to $3000, or requiring exorbitant fees for carry permit applications, or moving title 1 firearms to the NFA, or fighting to prevent gun stores from opening indoor ranges in urban areas, or opposing shall-issue CCW in cities plagued by crime. But that's the effect they're having.
They have a very hard time connecting the dots between their complaints about (for example) the GOP making it "hard" for poor people and people of color to vote ... and their own efforts to make it hard for poor people and people of color to exercise their 2A rights.
If we're honest, whether we're talking about voting rights or gun rights, throwing up gratuitous obstacles to make it harder for a group of people to exercise any right can only be described as racist and/or classist.