Maj Toure
More black Americans are embracing the Second Amendment and arming themselves. Perhaps as a result of increased violence in the streets, or as a response to state and local law enforcement not being permitted to do their jobs, an unprecedented surge in gun club memberships signifies a new era of firearm ownership.
As interesting as this new paradigm shift is by itself, it’s also a sign that African Americans are not in lockstep with the Democratic Party.
More Black Americans Are Arming Themselves
Since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak, there has been a sharp increase in the number of black Americans purchasing firearms and joining black gun owner organizations.
While this trend started with the pandemic, it accelerated amid the deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd, as well as the violent protests that followed. It’s worth noting that there has been a rise in gun ownership among Americans across the board, but the increase among African Americans seems to be unprecedented.
Philip Smith, who heads the National African American Gun Owner’s Association, told Politico that 2,000 new members are joining the organization every day, which is more than it typically would see annually. The group’s membership has skyrocketed to 30,000 members so far this year. He explained that fears of a failing economy and the flawed federal response to the pandemic prompted more black Americans to purchase firearms. “If you have a half a brain in your head even saying, ‘Oh, this might get serious, let me plan accordingly,’” Smith said.
He also indicated that the George Floyd protests were a “line in the sand” for many of the most recent members. According to Politico, “leaders of other Black gun ownership organizations echo this response, saying the spike owes to a range of concerns many Black Americans have.”
Derrick Morgan, a leader of the Black Gun Owners Association, told the outlet, “Whether it was fear of a food shortage, lack of a grocery store, the short response times for law enforcement or whether people were just fearful they were going to be attacked, I don’t know.” He stated that membership in his organization grew so quickly that the online traffic crashed the group’s website. “A lot of people are reaching out to us, mainly new gun owners and people who wouldn’t have considered owning a gun or firearm for their protection, have been lining up to purchase firearms and access information from our website,” he explained.
What Does This Surge Mean?
The recent boost in black gun ownership is yet another example of how the pandemic, combined with nationwide unrest, has impacted the psyche of the black community as well as other Americans. These two factors have also contributed to a growing mistrust in the government among a population that is already leery of the state.
Liberty Nation spoke with Maj Toure, a gun rights activist and co-founder of Black Guns Matter, about the issue. He said:
“Government, in attempting to force America into mass compliance based on faulty data, has shown itself to be what many of us have known for some time now. Very useless. Because of that, more and more Black Americans are no longer buying into the falsehood that government will protect you, so we are buying arms and training to protect ourselves. As it should be.”
This new reality also demonstrates another area where African Americans break from the Democratic Party, which would rather see the number of gun owners decrease. While progressive leaders have tried continuously to convince blacks that gun ownership is not necessary, they have failed to develop state solutions to the issues prevalent in predominantly minority cities.
Maj Toure
In essence, the COVID-19 outbreak exposed a truth that many conservatives already knew: The government is not going to save you. Indeed, the state is also impotent when it comes to racial tensions and addressing police brutality. It seems that the entreaties of left-leaning politicians to the black community are falling on deaf ears, and black America is essentially responding, “No thanks. We got this.”
However, it’s worth noting that since it is the Democratic Party that governs the cities in which black Americans live, it seems probable that paternalistic progressive politicians might continue their not-so-noble crusade to make it more difficult for blacks to own weapons. The fact that these leaders have no competition from the Republican Party ensures that African Americans will have a harder time exercising their Second Amendment rights. It is for this reason that Toure is known by his famous slogan: “All gun control is racist.”
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