Jump to content

Why Gun Sales are Spiking Among African-Americans


mauserme

Recommended Posts

https://www.aol.com/article/news/2020/08/03/why-gun-sales-are-spiking-among-african-americans/24580874/

 

Why gun sales are spiking among African-Americans


Yahoo News
MARQUISE FRANCIS
Aug 3rd 2020 7:41PM

...
“The highest overall firearm sales increase comes from Black men and women, who show a 58.2% increase in purchases during the first six months of 2020 versus the same period last year,” Jim Curcuruto, NSSF director of research and market development, wrote in his report. “Bottom line is that there has never been a sustained surge in firearm sales quite like what we are in the midst of.”
...
Michael Cargill, a Black man and owner of Central Texas Gun Works in Austin, Texas, says that amid all the anxiety over the pandemic and rallies, people are buying guns to take personal responsibility for their safety. “People were concerned with people breaking into their home or breaking into their vehicle or attacking them while they’re in their vehicles [after COVID-19],” he said in a video interview with Yahoo News. “So people wanted to take their own protection into their own hands.”

In the past few months, Cargill says he’s seen triple the amount of people coming into his store wanting to purchase firearms, and he’s noticed a surge in Black customers in particular. Cargill believes Black people are buying more guns because they are getting more educated on the history of gun control. “They're understanding that gun control first started in the 1800s … so people are realizing that every time there's a gun law that's targeting a certain group of people, it’s usually the African-American group,” he said. “So they're saying, with everything going on, we’ve got to make sure that we’re legal with this firearm. We’re going to make sure we know what the law is, we want to make sure we know where we can take it, where we can’t take it.”

History shows that gun control laws have always been unfavorable to Black Americans. Even before America was a country, Black people were banned from owning guns. “The first gun control law in the territory that is now the United States was passed in Virginia in 1640,” journalist Daniel Rivero noted in a 2016 Splinter article. “It explicitly banned black people from owning guns, even if they were not slaves.”

More than 200 years later, in 1857, the prospect of armed Black people became a crucial factor in the Dred Scott case. As Scott attempted to become an American citizen with all its inalienable rights that include owning a gun, the court ruled that "a negro, whose ancestors were imported into this country, and sold as slaves," were not "intended to be included in the general words used in [the Constitution]”.

Following the Civil War, when Black people attempted to arm themselves against white supremacists, Southern state governments passed “black codes” barring them from owning guns.

Throughout the 1960s, the Black Panthers chose to open carry in California as a sign to police that they would no longer endure racial attacks. In 1967, 30 Black Panthers protested on the steps of the California state house armed with shotguns and pistols. They announced that “the time has come for Black people to arm themselves.” The move frightened politicians, and it wasn’t long before then-Gov. Ronald Reagan signed a state ban on open carry into law, called the Mulford Act.

Whitney Davis of Houston admits that learning more about Black history is the reason why she recently purchased two guns for herself. “I realize in this country a long time ago, Black people weren't even allowed to own guns,” she said.

Davis’s dad grew up on a ranch in rural Texas, where over his lifetime he accrued a lot of guns, but it wasn’t until Davis learned more about her Black ancestors that she felt motivated to buy guns of her own. “So just like people promote that our ancestors died for us to vote, they also died for us to be able to carry guns as well,” she said. “So I wanted to fulfill what my ancestors weren’t able to do in the past.”
...
The move for African-Americans to own guns appears to be a break from the progressive movement in American politics, which people of color generally align with.
...
The Congressional Black Caucus has pushed for stricter gun control measures in the past, most recently following two mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio. “We have worked vigorously with House Democrats to pass universal background check legislation,” Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, said in the aftermath of those two tragedies. The lawmaker said the CBC has also backed a bill to ban a loophole in gun control law introduced by Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, D-S.C. Rep. Bass did not return Yahoo News’ request for comment.

But Republicans have been consistently resistant to increased gun control measures. In response to the CBC’s push, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Congress was “in a holding pattern” on gun control.
...

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"Karen Bass". Where have I read that name recently?

https://thehill.com/homenews/house/510399-karen-bass-im-not-a-socialist-im-not-a-communist

 

Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.), a contender to be presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden's running mate, denied being a “communist” or a “socialist” during an interview on Monday.

...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Her past words and actions say otherwise. Once explained to her that she needs to win FLA if Hidin' Biden's VP, she is suddenly anti-Communist. Kamalama Dingdong in the debates accused Biden of racism and cavorting with segregationist senators (all true, actually), now suddenly LOVES Biden because she can SMELL the power. These self-serving chameleons disgust me far more than actual, but HONEST socialists, such as Bernie Sanders. These women would sell their mothers into slavery to advance their political careers. heck, Kamalama slept with an elderly married guy just to get appointed to a few state boards (not that the media will ever bring this up).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...