Black Gun Owners: Rock and a Hard Place

You ever wonder why there are so few African Americans at your pro-gun event?  For many shooters in the black community gun ownership makes them a pariah.  They deal with gun bigotry, cultural alienation and a lack of support.  Let me illustrate one case with a guy named Phil and his family.

After Phil was married and became a father, protection of the house meant more to him that safeguarding property.  He bought a shotgun.  The shotgun was secured and forgotten until there was a home invasion down the street.  Phil went back to the gun shop and bought his first handgun.  He took all the steps required to legally own a handgun, which was more than he realized when he first had the thought.  He did the paperwork, passed the national instant check, waited to be “Not Disapproved” by the Maryland State Police a week later, and picked up his pistol ten days later.  He took a class on concealed carry and learned that there was much he didn’t know about the Second Amendment, the political games tied to the right to keep and bear arms, and now how his family and friends thought of him.

Buying a gun that he intended to carry concealed, when and if he was approved to do so, alarmed his extended family.  When he shared some of the things he learned about gun control with his brother-in-law and it started a big family fight.  He was called a sell-out, an Uncle Tom, and blamed for the deaths of the drug dealers across town.  They asked if he had joined the racist NRA.  Phil was in shock at the responses.  The more he talked about what he had learned the more alienated he became.  He did have one ally at the Sunday dinner.  His cousin John the family dissident and racist, who blames everyone for his failures in life, was the only one that agreed he should have a firearm.  His input didn’t help Phil.  Phil is like many Americans of African descent in the gun community, alone and dejected.

[readon2 url=”http://kennblanchard.com/the-urban-shooter-podcast-292″]Read the rest at Ken’s site (Scroll down a bit)[/readon2]