Free Republic

The country's largest and best known gun rights association, the NRA, is losing board members amid a spate of deadly mass shootings. But another, lesser-known gun organization is thriving: the National African American Gun Association, the largest minority gun group in the country. The group was founded by Phillip Smith, who fondly remembers the first time he fired his 9 mm pistol at a gun range. "I felt free," Smith said. "I had a chance to kind of have some power in my hands." Smith formed the first chapter of the National African American Gun Association, or NAAGA, in Atlanta....

...The South Florida chapter of the National African American Gun Association, also known as NAAGA, begin in a classroom. They learn everything from first aid to Florida gun laws. Travis Campbell: “We’re here to change the image of the black gun owner.” Across America, there are now 30,000 members in 75 chapters. It’s a rapidly growing group that was started only four years ago, and most members joined not just because they like the sport of shooting, but because they see this as a safe space. Danielle Campbell, gun owner: “It is inside and outside our community. We are seen...