Black Americans, the NRA and Guns

[tipoc]

I think this is a very useful video on the NRA, guns and the opinions of Black folk on the same. Opinions usually not seen here.

http://www.gunnews.com/black-folk-dont-join-nra/

tipoc

 

[Ozzieman]

Several minutes were enough for me.
Not because of their opinion but this is an anti gun and anti NRA propaganda film made by anti gun people.
I belong to a large private gun range that has several hundred members. We have a good number of black people as members and my favorite Range master is also, you have to be an NRA member to join the range.
Comparing the NRA to the KKK and then saying that the NRA is racist I would like to know where that came from.

 

[Knight cadet]

Ironic since gun control has been a historic tool by racists to disenfranchise blacks and prevent them from protecting themselves against mobs like the KKK.

My uncle is a liberal midwestern Democrat who owns several shotguns and rifles for hunting but thinks that semiautos and pistols should be restricted to the police and military. I think he's what a lot of people mean when they say "Fudd".

Anyhow, I was having a discussion with him one day when I was talking about getting my first AR15. He started going off about how no one needs a machine gun and assault rifles are dangerous etc.

I knew he was in the army a billion years ago so he'd fired an M16, so I asked him, "If you were the leader of a black family surrounded by a mob of peckerwoods in white sheets, which gun would you want to have to protect your family?"

That ended the conversation.

 

[kutz]

Dang!

 

[g.willikers]

"Gun Control is Racist"
The fourth one down:
http://jpfo.org/filegen-a-m/gj.htm

 

[Pahoo]

Is history true?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't the NRA start after the Civil War to promote and protect the rights of blacks, to be able to defend themselves? When the slaves got their "freedom" many white authorities were suppressing blacks from owning guns. .....

Be Safe !!!

 

[SIGSHR]

The NRA was founded by Union Army officers.
In his Message to Congress urging passage of the Ku Klux Acts, President Grant (who also served as President of the NRA) said that among the Klan's many crimes was:
"They have conspired to deny Negro citizens the right to own and bear arms."

 

[44 AMP]

As far as I know, and I've never heard anything different, the NRA started in 1871, by some people concerned with America's poor showing in the international target matches popular at the time.

They felt America's marksmanship skills were in decline, and started the NRA to promote shooting, marksmanship, and general gun skills (including safety).

While the NRA always championed 2nd Amendment rights (everyone's rights), they were not a political group, and did not take much a role in politics until the late 1960s, when, essentially there was no choice.

TO comply with various laws, the NRA created the ILA (Institute for Legislative Action) a separately run and funded group to engage in political action. NONE of your NRA dues goes to the ILA. Not one cent.

 

[ClydeFrog]

Slanted US media.....

Young blacks & people who live in mostly urban areas are heavily influenced by the media & pop culture.
When they watch media & read a constant stream of anti-gun & anti-2A messages, they become conditioned to "hate" the NRA or gun owners(irrespective of race/national origin).

The recent "high profile event" in central Florida is a great example. The media & several well known celebs twisted the case and details into the ground.
It doesn't take a CCW license holder, NRA member or legal scholar to point out the lies, fabrications, double-standards, bogus statements etc related to the case.
People believe what they choose to believe. Being open minded, learning the facts, knowing all the issues is no longer vogue or popular with today's urban youth.

 

[tipoc]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't the NRA start after the Civil War to promote and protect the rights of blacks, to be able to defend themselves?

No that is incorrect. The NRA was founded by Union Army officers (the U.S. Army) in 1871 to promote rifle shooting for the defense of the country. It's goal was not to defend the rights of the freedmen.

The National Rifle Association was first chartered in the state of New York on November 17, 1871[13] by Army and Navy Journal editor William Conant Church and General George Wood Wingate. Its first president was Civil War General Ambrose Burnside, who had worked as a Rhode Island gunsmith, and Wingate was the original secretary of the organization. Church succeeded Burnside as president in the following year.

Union Army records for the Civil War indicate that its troops fired about 1,000 rifle shots for each Confederate soldier hit, causing General Burnside to lament his recruits: "Out of ten soldiers who are perfect in drill and the manual of arms, only one knows the purpose of the sights on his gun or can hit the broad side of a barn."[14] The generals attributed this to the use of volley tactics, devised for earlier, less accurate smoothbore muskets.[15][16]

Recognizing a need for better training, Wingate traveled to Europe and observed European armies' marksmanship training programs. With plans provided by Wingate, the New York Legislature funded the construction of a modern range at Creedmore, Long Island, for long-range shooting competitions. Wingate then wrote a marksmanship manual.[14]

The freedmen and their allies organized themselves and armed themselves to exercise the right to vote, own land, etc. in the aftermath of the Civil War. From 1871 to 1877 the Reconstruction governments in the former Confederate states and elsewhere saw large numbers of African Americans vote for the first time and be elected to State office and Congress.

The NRA was not a direct part of this process. Nor did it come forward during the defeat of Reconstruction and the rise of the KKK in the years after 1877.

tipoc

 

[tipoc]

Not because of their opinion but this is an anti gun and anti NRA propaganda film made by anti gun people.

I'm not sure how you draw that conclusion. Maybe if you'd listened to what folks were saying all the way through your opinion might differ some.

tipoc

 

[Jay24bal]

NONE of your NRA dues goes to the ILA. Not one cent.

That is why I donate separately to the NRA-ILA, and use the NRA round up feature when checking out on every single gun-related purchase I make online from stores that are part of the program.

Also, for the sake of sharing info, check out www.smile.amazon.com. It is Amazon, but a portion (granted a small portion, .05%) of every purchase you make is donated to the charity of your choice, and the NRA Foundation (different division of the NRA that focuses on teaching and awarding grants) is an option. smile.amazon.com purchases have been available for every single product I have ever tried to buy on Amazon, but they say that not all products are eligible. It may not be much, but every little bit helps.

 

[billygun]

It must be really tough to be a non "stereotypical" black person. It seems they are judged more harshly by their own race(did you here that guy in the dreadlocks), than anyone else for not following suit. Like the NAACP calling Tim Scott a "ventriloquist dummy", instead of being happy he is the only black man in Congress.
I can not wait till this project is finished.

BG

 

[Tom Servo]

"Gun Control is Racist"

Clayton Cramer made that argument quite eloquently and comprehensively 20 years ago.

It must be really tough to be a non "stereotypical" black person

But what is "stereotypical" anymore? We're talking about folks whose backgrounds, outlooks, and lifestyles are just as diverse as anyone else. If anything, minorities are the fastest growing segment of the shooting culture.

What that video really shows is a certain self-loathing among a group of close-minded elites. It happens anywhere you've got pseudointellectuals gathered. The NRA is a convenient target for them to lampoon because they can be confident that nobody in their social circle will be offended, and nobody's going to point out the holes and fallacies in their arguments.

If we're to be honest, plenty of gun folks do the same thing.

 

[billygun]

With all do respect, you know what "stereotypical" means. I do not want to get this closed because I think this is thread is important to ALL gun owners. But you never hear a white person say, "that guy ain't white enough" or "he is to white".
If you don't grasp that, I can not help you. I'm tip toeing.

BG

 

[Sierra280]

Our differences are only cultural!! Anyone raised in an inner city environment will have views different from those raised in rural areas (changes in geographic regions have the same effect). A friend of mine, who grew up out in the rural west, was telling me about his backyard quail baiting/hunting with his pellet rifle (he owns many CF rifles as well) as well as his larger game hunting methods. I won't go into details but it made me stop and say 'damn, despite the color of your skin you have the reddest neck I've ever seen!' His response was 'That's only becuase your a big corn fed white boy!' Ironic that he's black and I'm a good portion native (both in face and name!). But the point is; we had actually gotten together to shoot/talk guns, both support the NRA, both have the same interests: because we grew up in same culture!

 

[billygun]

I also just want to say that IMHO the mods usually will close down any non-politically correct threads. Thank you for understanding. We need more Black, Mexican, Indian, Green , Blue, any color for Christ sake, and other gun owners, to know our American dream includes all Americans. Belief in the Constitution is a MUST. I wish we could reach out to the above mention community and other communities, and let them know about 2nd Amendment rights to support the Constitution.

bg

 

[Hal]

I'm not sure how you draw that conclusion. Maybe if you'd listened to what folks were saying all the way through your opinion might differ some.

- @ :54 seconds in - Black Folk don't - join the NRA.
@ 1:06 - "It's a white mans club".
@ 1:08 - "It's a bunch of red keck survivalists. It's like, these are crazy people".
@ 1:15 - "It's white men. It's Tea party, neo-confederates".
@ 1:21 - "We don't join the NRA because we feel the NRA is - racist"."It's like a legalized KKK. That's how white people really feel".
@ 1:43 - :The NRA has a long history of discriminatory policies". In fact Martin Luther King, after his home was firebombed in 1956, applied for a gun permit in Alabama and was turned down.

(I'm not sure how she figured the NRA issued concealed carry permits....
although, even if by some shift of the universe they did - King at that time was indicted for violating a 1921 statute - which he was found guilty of and sentenced to 386 days in jail.
You can't have things both ways...you can't disarm criminals, then hoot later that they are denied a permit to carry a gun.)
This little bit of partial truth & opinion is ridiculous.



Sorry - that's all I could stand and didn't feel the rest was worth listening to.
It's like the thing was scripted by Spike Lee.
I agree - anti gun, anti NRA & I'll toss in, anti white.

 

[Tom Servo]

The forum rules are clear on general discussions about race. Let's avoid that and stick to the video itself.

 

[Hal]

The forum rules are clear on general discussions about race. Let's avoid that and stick to the video itself.

I don't see where my observation about the slant of that video being racist is crossing the forum lines.

It is what it is.

If the people that made the video wish to make a positive impression - as in actually listen to more than 1:43 of the video- on me, they can drop the "red neck" "neo-confederate" "white man" "KKK" comments.