African-Americans and the Second Amendment

The Christian Science Monitor ran an informative article on July 11 that explored the issue of gun ownership for self-defense within the black community. The article featured Phillip Smith, a man who at one time didn’t appreciate the importance of gun ownership but is now a leader in his community on the issue. Smith, who is in his 50s, grew up in California but moved to the South in 2002. In his time in California, he recalled gun ownership being frowned upon in the black community, but that was not the case when he moved to Atlanta. Smith said that many black families had firearms for sport and, to some extent, self-defense. Smith eventually became a strong advocate for gun rights and even founded the National African-American Gun Association, which currently has around 20,000 members.

Smith told the Christian Science Monitor that “in the last 18 months the racial tone of the country has tilted in a direction that is alarming, at a minimum.” (The article did veer into the typical misinformation peddled by the mainstream media that pushes a false narrative that the election of President Trump is somehow causing a rise in “hate crimes” and that minorities are arming themselves in order to defend against this alleged threat.)

The Christian Science Monitor did accurately state that legal gun ownership is much higher among whites than blacks. Only 19 percent of black households report guns in the home, which is less than half the 41 percent of white households that report having a gun in the home. Polling also shows that roughly 60 percent of blacks favor stricter gun control, while it is practically the complete opposite for whites, with 61 percent of whites expressing support for expanding gun rights.

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