Just five years ago, less than a third of African-American families viewed gun ownership as a positive. The Pew Research Center reports that now nearly 60 percent of black families view gun ownership not only as a net positive, but as "necessary."
What's more, African-American women lead the way as a demographic obtaining concealed carry licensing. Imagine that: a core demographic has left the Democrat gun control plantation.
The New York Times wants to know why!
It wasn’t always this way — as recently as 2012, Pew had found that less than a third of black families saw gun ownership as a positive.
Philip Smith, the founder of the National African American Gun Association, says that politics — and police shootings such as the recent slaying of Philando Castile — have caused the sudden upswing in gun ownership. And, in his opinion, owning a gun is perhaps the only way that African-American men and women can truly protect themselves.
For once, The Times doesn't inflict their anti-gun rights animus on a news story that reveals the truth about guns. Yes, but — Mr. Smith goes to Washington, casting aspersions on you-know-who.
“Regardless of what side you’re on, in the fabric of society right now, there’s an undertone, a tension that you see that groups you saw on the fringes 20 years ago are now in the open,” said Smith. “It seems to me it’s very cool to be a racist right now, it’s in fashion, it’s a trend.”
You might not be surprised that The Washington Post published a piece headlining that bit: ‘It seems cool to be racist now’: The rising profile of the black gun owner.
Anyway, whatever the reasons behind African-Americans' gun rights reclamation, whether real or imagined, all Americans are welcome into the firearms fold.
This constant use of racism as an excuse and justification is getting old. If the black population wants racism to stop then they as a group need to look inward and be honest with themselves. The truth is that the male black population is driving the majority of violent crime in this nation, that is 6"% of the population committing the majority of the crime in the USA. Think about that. Stop blaming others for what is your responsibility. You as a group need to make changes, the first step is to quit acting like victims and accepting responsibility for your actions. Stop the cycle of dependency, poverty, violence and lack of family structure. You want people and the police to stop thinking negatively about you then stop committing crimes, become productive members of society. We had a black president for two terms, things should have changed but it only got worse. There are so many successful black families out there and the common denominator amongst them is a solid family structure and the mind set of hard work creates success. There is no "you owe us" nonsense.