black women guns gun
(AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

Gun control debates conjure images of white, conservative men who collect arms for sport. Today, a new population makes up a disproportionate percentage of first-time gun owners: people of color, especially women. Like Hudson, they don’t use their guns for recreation. They own them for protection.

In a study conducted between January 2019 and May 2021, researchers found that 22% of Black gun owners and 16% of Hispanic buyers had purchased arms for the first time in the 28 months prior to the survey. The same was true for just 8% of whites surveyed. Additionally, nearly half of first-time gun owners in 2020 and 2019 were women.

During the same period, 7.5 million Americans bought guns for the first time. More recently, mass shootings in Raleigh, the University of Virginia, Colorado Springs, and Chesapeake, VA., have drawn more attention to the issue of gun ownership. 

Some expected the Biden administration to impose stricter gun control measures, which accounts for a portion of the surge in gun ownership, said Becky Ceartas, Executive Director of North Carolinians Against Gun Violence. However, that is only part of the story. …

MarSean Hall, 30, of Durham, grew up in Chicago. Based on what he has seen, he believes that criminals will purchase illegal guns or resort to other modes of violence.

“A lot of people that are advocating for fewer guns or no guns are the people that have been more so sheltered their whole lives,” said Hall, who is Black.

Both of Hall’s parents were in the military, owned guns, and taught him about firearm safety. Most of his friends’ parents had guns, he said, and he knew others who obtained them illegally.

Hall owns a security firm called Category 5 Protection and bought his first gun when he was 21. He has three children and owns several guns that he keeps locked in a safe. 

“I teach [my children] it’s a tool that can give you an upper hand in situations but not to play with them,” Hall said.

In Hall’s eyes, anyone who can legally own a gun should take advantage of that right, because not every instance of potential violence can be “de-escalated.” Still, gun owners must be responsible, Hall believes. He suspects that people who conduct background checks are not as thorough as they should be. 

— Charlotte Kramon in Up in arms: Fear of violence reshapes the face of gun ownership

78 COMMENTS

    • kl below…you don’t sound like the one to roll out the welcome mat for them “peoples of color.” In fact you sound exactly like the reason the democRat Party uses to keep Black Americans on the plantation. Ironic isn’t it?

      • how much of a threat are black women?…are they the ones shooting it out in the street?…obviously not…it’s sounds as though they have made a prudent decision to defend themselves against the criminal element in their midst…

  1. Ain’t them “peoples of color” that had to arm themselves the same ones that voted in the progressive procsecutors, and demanded the defunding of the police? Oh, the irony.

    • The cognitive dissonance in the D base is staggering.

      It’s why they Gaslight, Strawman, Topic Shift, even yell down empirical evidence and the Socratic method of analysis. Calling it all raccississ when all else fails, or the Ds IQ is significantly below room temp.

      Looking at you lil’d, Whiner, AH.

      • That’s part of the playbook. Unfortunately, it tends to work, especially when they control the culture and the flow of information.

        • The problem is it is getting harder to control all of the signal and more and more of their intended base owns legal firearms.

    • Not always. Minorities are the first to see the light when they are the ones being taxed and getting limited in their rights. The good people in the hood either do not vote, vote the way their preacher “suggests”, or are conservative. Latinos especially. BTW, I applaud anyone who doesn’t know the issues to not vote on those issues. We all need to do our homework and try to figure out what is best.
      I suspect that many give their votes away, until they realize what is happening. When people of color(that are old enough to have lived Jim Crow) vote, they want their vote to count, but are very suspicious of white politicians(and should be).
      Hopefully, these people will find enlightened politicians of color that they can believe. The best thing we whites can do is treat others correctly and just maybe, they will feel like we are all Americans.

  2. This redneck is all for responsible law abiding black and brown people owning guns. The more the better. Hunting, shooting, fishing are the most common activities that boys and their fathers and mentors do together. That’s what is needed to reduce gun violence. To quote Chris Rock, “ You don’t have to have a man to raise a baby. That doesn’t mean it’s a good fucking idea”

      • Let them associate gun control, higher taxes, and all kinds of medical tyranny with “whitey” and we will see how that plays out.

      • They have to, at least in part, blame the white supremacy threat. Otherwise, they’d have to make an honest assessment of Democrat policies that encourage more crime.

        • obviously they could use more mirrors in the black community…instead of endlessly externalizing who or what is a threat to them

      • I am whitey and I didn’t get that out of the article. I am constantly facing overt racism when I go to work in Memphis and Shelby county, so I am attuned to it. I also experience mutual respect from many black people.

    • This old hillbilly grew up with guns, hunting and such.

      I’m not sure that is the way most people in big cities grow up today and they are close to being the majority. They are constantly bombarded with anti gun and guns bad propaganda.

      • guns are usually viewed as a bad thing in urban centers…having lived in both rural and urban settings…I can testify we’re talking about two different worlds…each with little understanding of the other…

      • Sadly, many people that are anti gun have good reasons(for them) to support their positions. They feel that modern guns are more dangerous. When I bring up that most shootings are by people that are restricted from having firearms, they are adamant that if the guns were not there, the shooting would stop.
        You can’t argue with that, even when we all know that the black market will keep the supply coming. They also believe that drugs will not be a problem if they all are destroyed. We know that won’t happen, but they believe it can.

  3. “June 14, 2022, 6:59 AM EDT
    By Curtis Bunn
    Two days after a white man shot and killed 10 Black people in Buffalo last month, Michael Moody reversed his thinking about possessing a firearm. He had watched the aftermath of the carnage on the news, the anguish of the victims’ families, and decided he “needed a gun. Needed, not wanted,” he said.

    The foundation said 40 percent of the overall gun sales in 2020 were to first-time gun purchasers. Black gun owners, old and new, say the rise is a byproduct primarily of a heightened fear they could be targeted like those in Buffalo or at Emanuel A.M.E. Church in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015, when nine Black church members were killed by a white supremacist.”

    Interesting, this article doesn’t mention crime as a motivating factor, but rather racist mass shootings by crazy white supremacist shooters:

    “To that point, anti-Black hate crimes rose nearly 40 percent in 2020, the latest year available, according to FBI statistics. There were 2,755 reported incidents targeting Black people in the U.S. that year, the most besieged racial group by a large margin.“

    https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna32150

    • The overwhelming amount of “gun violence” is perpetrated by blacks against other blacks.

      • True.
        And when the libertarians liberals and the left supported the wholesale release of criminals in 2020, it only made things much worse.

        Which is why so many honest law abiding blacks went out and bought guns for the first time in their lives..

    • @Miner49er

      “interesting, this article doesn’t mention crime as a motivating factor, but rather racist mass shootings by crazy white supremacist shooters:”

      interesting it also doesn’t mention that over 60% of the crime in the U.S. is committed by blacks, or that blacks commit murder at a rate three times that of whites, or that over 80% of violent crime against blacks is committed by blacks. Then he goes on to imply by omission after mentioning only ‘white supremacist’ that only white people committed anti-black hate crimes and targeted black people when that’s not true.

      Its even more interesting that the author of your article is paid by anti-gun sources to write articles to specifically highlight criminals acts by whites with guns.

      Of course crime is the motivating factor. You think a mass-shooting isn’t a crime? You think a hate crime isn’t a crime? You think the black community is not aware they are more preyed upon by black criminals? Of course crime is a motivating factor, you think black people are stupid? Just because some people in response to the questions from a biased media about a white supremacist conducting a mass shooting mention mass shootings as a factor in their decision, you think crime is not a motivating factor for them?

      Are you really this stupid?

      I’m also surprised that you didn’t work Trump or religion into your short sighted and ignorant missive.

      • “blacks commit murder at a rate three times that of whites“

        Let me help you make that statement a bit more precise…

        “Blacks are CONVICTED of murder at a rate three times that of whites“

        The fact is, all minorities are unjustly treated by a criminal justice system which has had an institutionalized bias in favor of white folk ever since day one of the American republic.

        “Black people are about 7½ times more likely to be wrongfully convicted of murder in the U.S. than are whites, and about 80% more likely to be innocent than others convicted of murder, according to a new report by the National Registry of Exonerations. The already disproportionate risk of wrongful conviction, the Registry found, was even worse if the murder victim in a case was white.
        The report, Race and Wrongful Convictions in the United States 2022, reviewed the cases of 3,200 innocent defendants exonerated in the United States since 1989. Black people, the researchers found, were 7 times more likely to be wrongfully convicted, were more likely to be the targets of police misconduct, and more likely to be imprisoned longer before being exonerated.“

        https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/news/report-black-people-7-5-times-more-likely-to-be-wrongfully-convicted-of-murder-than-whites-risk-even-greater-if-victim-was-white

        “Black people are 13.6% of the American population but 53% of the 3,200 exonerations listed in the National Registry of Exonerations. Judging from exonerations, innocent Black Americans are seven times more likely than white Americans to be falsely convicted of serious crimes.“

        https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Documents/Race%20Report%20Preview.pdf

        • “Blacks are CONVICTED of murder at a rate three times that of whites“

          Let me help you make that statement a bit more factual since we are not talking about convictions but rather violent crime its self so stop trying to move the goal post…

          blacks commit murder at a rate three times that of whites, over 80% of violent crime against blacks is committed by blacks.

          If you want to complain about those convictions, that’s another story but most blacks convicted of murder are convicted by a jury that’s at least half black.

        • What % of the murders (or crime) are committed by them? Dang sure a is heck of a lot more than 13.6%. MUCH higher than 13.6%. Perhaps, most committed against their “own”.

        • 40oz, thanks for your reply!

          “most blacks convicted of murder are convicted by a jury that’s at least half black“

          You know, I let most of your claims go unchallenged but I’d really like to see the citation to support your assertion.

          “If you want to complain about those convictions, that’s another story“

          So your position is that no black folks are ever wrongfully convicted?

          And only white folk are ever wrongfully conditioned convicted?
          Your position is interesting, but not surprising.

        • @Miner49er

          “So your position is that no black folks are ever wrongfully convicted?

          And only white folk are ever wrongfully conditioned convicted?
          Your position is interesting, but not surprising.”

          Liar. I never said any such thing or gave any such position about wrongful convictions that actually happened or did not happen. I only pointed out that most blacks convicted of murder are convicted by a jury that’s at least half black, and that blacks commit murder at a rate three times that of whites and over 80% of violent crime against blacks is committed by blacks.

    • “Interesting, this article doesn’t mention crime as a motivating factor, but rather racist mass shootings by crazy white supremacist shooters”

      That’s because propaganda exists. I’ve mentioned this many times since 2020. I’ve seen countless articles like this. Thank you for providing more evidence. For nearly three years, the media has been trying to explain why black people are arming up. Instead of mentioning the increase in crime, they blame it on a threat from white supremacy. It’s obvious why they do this. They’re covering for Democrat policies which have brought about the increase in crime. They distract from Democrat failings by screaming racist and pointing at “white supremacists” AKA people (including black people) who don’t vote for Democrats.

      I’m sure there is at least some truth to the fact that some black people perceive a threat from “white supremacy.” But, once again, we see how propaganda works. When the media is pushing 24/7 white supremacy fear porn on black people, of course there will a reaction. Statistics be damned.

      • “They’re covering for Democrat policies which have brought about the increase in crime“

        Help me to understand, you’re saying these events did not actually occur or that the perpetrator was not a white supremacist?

        Or are you saying that Democrat policies prompted the white men to engage in a mass shooting of innocent black folk?

        “Emanuel A.M.E. Church in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015, when nine Black church members were killed by a white supremacist.”

        “a white man shot and killed 10 Black people in Buffalo”

        • Miner,
          I never once stated that incidents of white supremacy violence didn’t exist. Nice try at a straw man argument. Reread my comment, and try to comprehend it. Pay particular attention to the last sentence. Here’s a hint: by mentioning statistics, I meant one thing is more likely to occur than another thing. Why don’t you look those statistics up before wasting more of my time?

        • MINOR Miner49er. So according to YOU, every crime committed by a White person against a Black person is AUTOMATICALLY a a “Hatde Crime”?

        • That “white supremacist” is a BS fable that was a political tool reintroduced by BillyBob Clinton in the 90s. Since expanded by the demtard progs and the MSM. Gullible fool.

          See also “militia”, etc.

        • Both were very young and known to law enforcement. Both were doing the government’s work. It’s all about control, justifying gun control, justifying killing whitey. Let’s not forget the DC sniper, or the California serial killer, the murderer in Wakesau, or even Jesse Dotson, killed his family in the Lester Street massacre.

        • “Pay particular attention to the last sentence.”

          OK, your last sentence is:

          “Statistics be damned.“

          I’m sorry, but we’re going to see a much more focused claim and relevant evidence before allowing that your point has any merit.

        • Miner,
          Who’s we? Do you have a mouse in your pocket? It’s real simple. I’ll literally spell it out for you since you’re too slow to comprehend a simple conversation. Are black people more likely to be murdered by other black people or by white people? Go look it up yourself. I know it’s the Democrat way to expect everyone to cater to you, but someday you’re going to have to figure out how to do things for yourself. It’s called tough love. You’ll thank me someday.

    • minor49iq…By all accounts I do believe you are a member or diehard supporter of the democRat Party…That puts you in camp with the party that owns the legacy of slavery, segregation, Jim Crow, lynching, the kkk, Eugenics, Gun Control and other race based atrocities.

      By all historical accounts you don’t have a leg to stand on. To prove to this forum if your outrage over the murders of 10 Black people is genuine how about holding your Rat Party responsible for Reparations to be taken direct from the coffers of the democRat Party?
      Don’t read this and put your head back in your butt, man up and pay up.

    • MINOR Miner49er, Ah, common sense tells you that the motivation was crime. When a person commits a crime motivated by racism it is still a crime? But then that is common sense and with you, common sense is not common.
      As to your “crime stats” compiled by the FBI, I have to question how they come to determine that a crime was motivated by race? As the FBI has become a WOKE organ of the Left there is some doubt as to the validity of their stats and their and your conclusions.

    • Shelby county is majority black. It’s blacks killing blacks, example Young Dolph. So far as we can tell, just because of jealousy. Another young man shot a few days before he was to graduate University of Memphis. Dude that did it doesn’t look like me, imagine that.

    • I wonder if Jussie and Bubba are still listed in that stat of “reported incidents?”

      “Reported incidents” is a useless stat in any field.

  4. Define thorough.
    NICS relies on data fed I to the system by other government agencies. Government agencies staffed by humans. Failure abounds.

    Does Mr. Hall expect men in black to come knocking on the doors of everyone you’ve ever known for a deposition? Maybe spend a month shadowing you? Cost, time, manpower, corruption and of course failure will all factor in.

    He’s right that those calling for bans are mostly sheltered Martha Stewart’s looking to keep guns from the “other” but any fantasy of these more thorough checks is really the same thing. Not wanting the “other” to enjoy the same rights and liberties as you. Like saying I know I can be trusted and my friends can be trusted but I don’t know about my neighbor and his friends therefore they can’t be trusted.

    So define thorough. How far up my ass should government go before deeming me worthy of my rights?

  5. “A lot of people that are advocating for fewer guns or no guns are the people that have been more so sheltered their whole lives,” said Hall, who is Black.

    A lot of truth in that statement.

    • The majority of those advocating for gun control fit that category and have quite likely never even been in a fist fight. There is likely a small minority that seek gun control for purposes of power over a helpless population and it is important to show that is always a danger to everyone.

  6. The one thing I know for sure is the author’s writing style is what Strunk and White have defined as “That of The Twat.”

    • Ho hum. Buy a gat and vote Dim. Blame whitey for “gun violence”. The She-ca-go way. My gorgeous black wife is a registered Republican who is pretty good with a gat. You can bet she ain’t in Springfield demanding action!

    • ChoseDeath:
      I have a copy of Strunk & White on my desk even as I write this. But I have never read it from cover to cover, since I use it only as a reference. Having just now looked up the definition of the word “twat,” I am having a hard time believing that such a quotation is present in Strunk & White. However, I suppose anything is possible. Therefore, would you be so kind as to direct me to the page in Strunk & White upon which said phrase doth appear.
      Thank you.

    • He eats shoots and leaves. Only a rabid vegan would write such a ridiculous screed.

  7. Good to see more and more people exercising their 2ndA rights and getting armed.
    Does not matter the color of their skin, or their sex, though I do like to see more women armed.
    Now, just to get everyone trained.

  8. I know I’ll probably get flamed here in the comments but I read the articles and comments to learn more about firearms, ammo and how to stay alive in bad situations. I get tired of all the political BS form both sides. I doo think that people like miner and dician (?) just post to rile people up and get a rise out of them. The best way to respond to them is not say anything at all about what they post. They’ll stop when they can’t get you mad.

    • Random,
      That’s a valid point. I used to treat them like real people capable of having a real discussion. I mostly ignore them now unless they respond to me or make a comment that should be addressed. It isn’t them I’m addressing. They’re lost causes.

      You aren’t the only person who shows up here interested in reading about firearms, but notices a political discussion. Sometimes a reader’s lack of knowledge extends beyond firearms. If someone’s here, that’s a good start, but we shouldn’t assume they’ve been “redpilled.” Propaganda works. It’s up to us to spread the truth.

      • they infiltrate conservative websites…it’s a designed strategy…but returning the favor is pretty difficult because they are quick to cut you off……

  9. Kristin Goss, a political scientist at Duke University who studies gun violence. “So if nobody was armed, people probably wouldn’t feel like they needed to be armed. Once other people start arming themselves, then you have this kind of counter effect of, you know, ‘The place seems more dangerous, so I need to protect myself.’”

    This is Pollyanna thinking; Her fav song is probably Imagine by John Lennon; an inane song for the progressives in our society.

    • well,…there was a time when few of us when about armed, unlocked doors, etc…but it seems like ancient history now….society has taken an ugly turn….

  10. If a whole bunch of minority gunm owners buy gunms does that make them majority gunm owners?
    They better be careful, they wont be allowed to vote Democrat next time.

  11. The white s0ci@list pr0gressive says,

    “If we can just make drugs legal, there will be no need for black drug dealers to have guns. Because all the crime will go away.”

    “If we can just raise the level of a misdemeanor charge up to $950, there will be fewer black people being arrested and put in jail.”

    “If we can just defund the police there will be fewer black people arrested, and life will be so much better where black people live.”

    “And since we’ve defunded the police there will be no reason for the black people to have guns.”

    • And that’s how you can tell they’re racist. They treat black people differently because they’re black. Progressives will never make progress until they can learn to treat people equally.

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