Raise your hand if this screed by Tanzina Vega is surprising in the least
Minority Gun Owners Face Balancing Act, Weighing Isolation and Stigma of Violence
Standing in a small booth surrounded by displays for rifles, pistols, holsters and other firearm accouterments, the Rev. Kenn Blanchard signed copies of his book “Black Man With a Gun: Reloaded.†Amid the sea of thousands of white faces that descended on this city for the National Rifle Association convention in late April, Mr. Blanchard, an N.R.A. member since 1991, offered his reasoning for why he was one of the few black visitors.
“We still culturally have a fear that we’re going to be that lone guy out, and you don’t want to be the lone guy out,†he said, estimating that one in 100 people at the convention was black. “The exposed nail gets hammered.†(snip)
At a time when gun issues are volatile nationally and sales are increasing, minority gun owners — whether black, Asian or Latino — may feel that their weighing of the practical pros and cons of gun ownership comes up against the conservatism and unyielding stances of the N.R.A. and some other gun advocates. Mr. Blanchard said it could be a difficult balancing act.
Blacks are less likely than whites to own a gun. In surveys from 1973 to 2012, an average of 27 percent of African-Americans nationwide said they owned a gun, compared with 47 percent of whites, according to data from NORC, a research center at the University of Chicago. Even so, their attendance at the N.R.A. convention was minuscule compared with their rate of gun ownership, let alone their presence in the population at large.
Chuck Gueno Jr., 57, an African-American retired Marine at the convention who likes to shoot competitively, said the N.R.A. had “a stigma of being the good old boys, and people of color might be a little intimidated.â€
See? Legal gun owners are overwhelmingly Conservative and white, hence, racism!
Part of the stigma around guns among African-Americans can be traced to high rates of gun violence, particularly affecting young blacks and those who live in poor, urban communities. Blacks die from gun violence at more than twice the rate of whites, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Oh, Tanzina, honey, that was really racist to mention statistics.
The article does get better after that, but the basic point is there: gun ownership is racism. Of course, whites, conservatives, the NRA, none of them can force a Black, or other racial interest group, to purchase a gun. That’s up to them individually.
I was at the NRA convention, I saw a fair number (but not statistically significant) opf black people, Hispanic people, and a few eastern asians.
Did anyone at the convention seem to care what their ancestry was? Not that I saw. They were treated like anyone else. As (potential)customers and fellow gun owners. Just like anyone else attending.
Which is, really, equality.
Teach, you’re being a tad sensitive. Did you read the article?
No, the point of the article was not that “gun ownership is racism”.
The author was explaining (poorly and incompletely) the relationship of Black Americans with guns.
I think this is two parts: One is the question seems to be asking about legal gun ownership. Second, many of the liberal anti-gun cities have the higher non-white populations. Thus, non-whites are affected more by the anti-gun culture and laws. But yet, the elites demand that guns protect them.
and, I’m not seeing how owning a gun is in anyway tied to a gun organization. I don’t care about NRA or what it does, and I own several guns. NRA doesn’t dictate who buys a gun or what type of gun. NRA has no bearing at all on actual gun ownership.
NRA DOES have a bearing on making sure everyone has the chance, the choice, the right to buy a handgun if they want to. No matter their skin color. As do the various other pro-gun groups out there.
historically Blacks were denied the right to own guns
And even though gun sales are increasing the rate of ownership has been decreasing for decades
When the NRA begins handing out free guns to all urban youth I will feel a bit different
why dont you hand out free guns then?