Shortly after Yvonne was born came the nightmare night in 1929, my earliest vivid memory. I remember being suddenly snatched awake into a frightening confusion of pistol shots and shooting and smoke and flames. My father had shouted and shot at the two white men who had set the fire and were running away. Our home was burning down around us . . . . After the fire, I remember that my father was called in and questioned about a permit for the pistol with which he had shot at the white men who set the fire. I remember that the police were always dropping by our house, "just checking" or "looking for a gun." The pistol they were looking for - which they never found, and for which they wouldn't issue a permit - was sewed up inside a pillow.
- The Autobiography of Malcolm X (Chapter I - Nightmare)
He mentions that his father also owned a .22 rifle and a shotgun, though, that the police never questioned because everyone had them for hunting. They only wanted to find the pistol.
***He mentions that his father also owned a .22 rifle and a shotgun***
I remember talking to a gun dealer back in 1968 Little Rock Arkansas. His store had been broken into and the only thing stolen were .22 pistols.
He knew that blacks did it as they were only allowed .22 single shot hunting rifles.