[ED: You know it has to gall the Associated Press to publicize the fact that ever-increasing numbers of women an other “non-traditional” demographics are buying and learning to use firearms. It’s terribly inconvenient because it counters so many of their preferred narratives. It also forces them to acknowledge that defunding police departments, revolving door justice systems, zero bail laws, and prosecutors who won’t prosecute have resulted in skyrocketing urban crime and convinced millions of people to buy, train and carry firearms for the first time.]
By Corey Williams, AP
Valerie Rupert raised her right arm, slightly shaking and unsure as she aimed at the paper target representing a burglar, a robber or even a rapist. The 67-year-old Detroit grandmother squeezed the trigger, the echo of her shot blending into the chorus of other blasts by other women off the small gun range walls.
“I was a little nervous, but after I shot a couple of times, I enjoyed it,” said Rupert, among 1,000 or so mostly black women taking part in free weekend gun safety and shooting lessons at two Detroit-area ranges.
Black women like Rupert increasingly are considering gun ownership for personal protection, according to industry experts and gun rights advocates.
Fear of crime, especially as shootings and murders have risen in cities big and small, is one driver of the trend. But a new motivator is the display of public anger in the last 15 months beginning with confrontations in the wake of George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis under the knee of police officer Derek Chauvin.
Worries about the anger over COVID-19-related restrictions and the outrage over the outcome of the presidential 2020 election, driven by lies, are contributors, too. In Michigan, that anger led to a plot to kidnap the governor, as well as instances where armed protesters descended on the state Capitol.
In April 2020, hundreds of conservative activists, including some who were openly carrying assault rifles, flocked to the Michigan Capitol in Lansing to denounce Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s stay-home order. Some demonstrators — mostly white and supporters of President Donald Trump — entered the building carrying guns, which is legal in the statehouse.
The sight of white men wearing body armor and holding guns at the Capitol still sticks with Rupert.
“They went up to the Capitol with all those guns. You need to be ready,” she said.
About 8.5 million people in the U.S. bought their first gun in 2020, the National Shooting Sports Foundation says. The trade association for the firearms industry adds that gun purchases by black men and black women increased by more than 58% over the first six months of last year.
Gun ownership tends to increase when people lose faith in government and the police, said Daniel Webster, professor of American Health in Violence Prevention at the Bloomberg School of Public Health and director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Prevention and Policy.
“We’ve seen such an increase in white nationalist violence,” Webster said. “Some combination of the lack in faith in police protecting you and hate groups has motivated a lot of black people to arm up.”
Black firearm owners still represent a relatively small portion of the gun-owning population, with 9.3% of gun owners being black men and 5.4% black women. Nearly 56% of U.S. gun owners are white men. Over 16% are white women, the Newtown, Connecticut-based National Shooting Sports Foundation says.
Still, 2020 saw “a tectonic shift in gun ownership in America” where there was “a huge increase of African Americans taking ownership of their Second Amendment rights,” said Mark Oliva, its director of public affairs.
Beth Alcazar, who is white, got involved with shooting about two decades ago and says it was rare to see a black woman taking target practice.
“Honestly, not more than one image pops up of seeing a black woman at the range,” said Alcazar, now a certified shooting instructor in the Birmingham, Alabama, area and U.S. Concealed Carry Association associate editor.
“With more involvement in the last five years, I see black women on almost every occasion I go to the range,” she said, adding that it’s exciting for women learning how to shoot to see other women, especially women of color.
For many black women, it’s about taking care of themselves, said Lavette Adams, a licensed firearm instructor who participated in the free Detroit-area training sponsored by gun advocacy group Legally Armed In Detroit.
“Crime against women is nothing new. Women protecting themselves, that’s new,” said Adams, who is black.
That’s the premise behind the training that launched 10 years ago with 50 women attending. Last year, more than 1,900 participated, according to Rick Ector, Legally Armed in Detroit’s founder, who says he started it “to bring awareness and training to women who are the favorite preferred targets of bad guys, rapists and killers.”
Ameena Jumail, who joined dozens of other women outside Recoil Firearms in Taylor for the training, said she is working to overcome her fear of guns. Jumail, a 30-year-old kindergarten teacher from Detroit, said crime is one reason she came, but she admits that the desire to learn how to use a firearm includes concern over the rise in white nationalism and their open display of firearms in public places.
“During the 2016 election I was worried, also during the 2020 election,” Jumail said.
Hopkins’ Webster said whatever the reason, it is an open question whether the women who are buying the firearms now are safer.
“Having a loaded firearm with you is going to change your response in a number of situations,” he said. “It’s going to alter your behavior and perspective.”
Small correction: it should read “led undercover FBI agents to incite a few knuckleheads into a kidnapping scheme so they could use it for propaganda and disinformation campaigns.”
At this point I think that event had more participants than the “white nationalists” that are such a threat.
The Great Fauxcrustyoldprogbroadnappin of 2020 had more Feds inciters than incitees.
So like every militia movement honeypot ever?
Can’t let the truth get in the way of a good narrative…
Meh…my “nontraditional” gorgeous black wife carries a gat. Her mother did too as well as her grandma. They didn’t give a dam about “legal” living in the south. Shall not be infringed!
“We’ve seen such an increase in white nationalist violence,” Where? I believe these black women face a far bigger threat from black men than white supremacists.
White nationalist does not mean white supremacist. People accept this craziness just like they accept the lie that the AR15 is an assault rifle.
This article looks more like black nationalism. Where else can large groups of civilian black women get official training in small arms?
I agree that black women face a greater threat from black men.
The more people legally armed the better. Especially in Detroit.
“The sight of white men wearing body armor and holding guns at the Capitol still sticks with Rupert.
“They went up to the Capitol with all those guns. You need to be ready,” she said.
Stopped reading right there.
Someone seems threatened by white men wearing body armor in public, but probably has no issue with Panthers wandering around polling places annoying the sh*t out of white people, or gangbangers shooting the hell out of local neighborhoods day in, day out.
The stupid hurts and toting a gun while ignorant doesn’t help.
Wearing body armor in public is one thing. Do it in such a way that purposely gets attention like a soldier in the Middle East is quite another. There is no reason ANYONE needs to even know your wearing body armor. If you wear it outside your clothes then your making a statement. If your concern is your personal safety then wear it under your clothes.
There is a bit of a learning curve with body armor concealed or not but yes it is entirely possible to wear level 4 plates with a tee shirt and jeans with very little indication of anything amiss. With that said look at the prices involved in concealed vests (that work as intended) vs “tactical” vests and you will see part of the reason you see a lot of the latter.
do please tell us why you believe white nationalism is not racist white supremacy
Nationalism is about a belief in ones’ own country. In ones’ own nation. Where ever they are in the world. It’s more akin to patriotism. This is not a bad thing. It is something that flys in face of anyone seeking one world government.
Supremacy is about a belief in strength against something else. This is better than that as it reigns supreme. Like a supreme ruler or leader. A supreme pizza is better as it offers more toppings. A supreme winner is better as they beat everyone else at the game. A supreme race is better than all other races. White supremacy is all based on an underlying belief that the Caucasian race is inherently and genetically better than all other races. Not only is this completely idiotic, it ignores realities and truths that the whole of the human race sees and experiences. Through science, not superstition.
Personally, I’m not sure why people can’t see this. It’s pretty common sense reasonable to me. These words mean things. The Democrat left has screwed this up just like they do everything else. It’s kinda like the group that calls themselves BLM. Of course Black Lives Matter. They matter greatly. But the BLM movement is NOT about empowering the black race.
If you think that they are the same thing then you are too stupid to understand the explanation.
Most of the mainstream articles I’ve read in the past 18 months that discuss black people arming themselves pretend that it’s because they’re under threat from racist whites. It’s obviously propaganda. The Party of Science writers never provide actual data for the supposed threats. What are they supposed to do, admit that Democrat run areas have become more violent as a direct result of the Democrat-promoted protests and riots?
They interview people until they find the one idiot that says what they want to hear, and then use it to put a dishonest frame on the whole thing. It’s the same way they approach literally everything that they brand as “truth.”
“women protecting themselves, that’s new”. I have a great grandma’s sister who could’ve argued against that. Her husband tried beating her. The second time it happened he got to play catch with the wrong end of a double barrel. And she never caught any flak from the sheriff over it. On another note, is anyone else concerned about how the article seems to be pushing a white vs black narrative?
Its easy to white vs. black simply because of the idea of “white nationalist violence” being part of this article. This whole thing is what the left has labeled the normal Americans. I call them ‘normal’ only because its people that consider America to not only be a cherished home worth fighting for but also see this country as a solution in the world rather than a problem. It just so happens that most gun owners are white men. Something directly pointed out in the article. White nationalist violence is nothing more than Americans fighting for America. But we have so many karens and weak spined know-nothings that flip out at the mere sight of a gun (to include pop tarts in the shape of one). Our media and the democrats will do anything they can to stoke fear in the American heart as it makes them more controllable. We NEED more nationalism…from ALL Americans.
why do you believe we need white nationalism in America?
Without nationalism, the cohesive aspects of what holds a nation together break down.
I would like to add the I did not say we need ‘white nationalism’. That is something YOU said.
I said we need more nationalism from ALL Americans.
Good for them!
They need to quit training those weman to hold targets in front of them.
.
Ah darn, now every prospective female victim may be armed. Always something else to worry about.
Good Job!!!
This sort of training should be a Tax Credit sort of thing. Take the cost of it off the State and Federal taxes due.
If the sight of law-abiding white people openly carry carrying guns, is what forces law-abiding black people to become motivated enough to get formal firearms training and shooting, then I am very satisfied with that result.
There has been a very long history of instilling fear about firearms in a certain demographic in the United States. This type of firearms training and education is helping to remove that fear.
And it seems having five hundred or a thousand people who were previously trained wasn’t good enough to attract the attention of the mainstream white liberal media.
Rick Ector is working to educate one type of demographic. While Maj Toure is working to educate another completely different demographic. And both have been very successful. The fact that this story was written by the AP is proof that the, white anti-civil rights socialist progressives, are very worried.
They will continue to vote for anti-Second Amendment politicians.
maybe not!
Those 8 million new gun owners last year surely did. These women will too. Strict Democrat voters.
Sad, but true.
Maybe women should have guns for the right reasons instead of the wrong ones. I question people’s motivation. The real motivation should be to protect the home and loved ones not fear mongering. The brain should be the strongest weapon an individual has not a gun. Having a gun means nothing if someone is scared or stupid. Shooting scared and stupidly is weak soldiering.
I wish they bought guns to protect their families from real threats instead of imaginary ones and trained against real threats instead of hypothetical ones based on over speculation. They lack nobility. It is more important to understand what we are fighting for rather than being able to fight itself. We fight to protect a sacred way of life, protection of property and family. None of this is based on fear but rather love and freedom.
Messages like this article confuse the issue and turn it into something base and profane. Just another “I’m scared so I bought a gun” which leads to minorities asking for permission to bear arms and seeking acceptance and overly trying to justify their reasons for owning guns. The problem is that Blacks lack freedom to express themselves. They feel the need to cowtow or acquiesce to white government whether Republican or Democrat. It’s a case of slave mentality. The takeaway is they want guns but need an “excuse” so people approve of their actions. Having to beg for freedom and civil rights is neither.
You arm yourself and fight for what you believe in all the time not just when convenient, dam the consequences. It’s wrong to buy guns out of fear but right to buy guns out of a desire to defend your family. These are mutually exclusive motivations. Fear is usually a manipulation tactic not a valid threat. Whether white or black you should defend yourself from people trying to hurt you or your family. This is in contrast to blacks claiming they need guns to defend against Capitol Building protestors and whites claiming they need to defend themselves from BLM protestors.
It’s “kowtow”. And blacks don’t kowtow to any Republicans. GTFOH with that falsehood.
The dominant force pushing marxism in the demtard party are their pseudo educated moronic broads. A major part of this are the marxist black women their RUN their ghettos/cities (see the burn/loot/murder mob).
The dudes are too busy smoking/pushing pot/drugs, whoring, and shooting each other to do anything useful in their “community”. So their chicks took over.
Thanks LBJ/dem party.
Maybe they could ask the women if they were buying firearms to protect themselves from,
A – White Racists
B – The neighborhood gang bangers.
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