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Minority Gun Owners Face Balancing Act, Weighing Isolation and Stigma of Violence
NY Times ^ | June 14, 2012 | TANZINA VEGA

Posted on 06/15/2014 5:08:28 AM PDT by Pharmboy

INDIANAPOLIS — Standing in a small booth surrounded by displays for rifles, pistols, holsters and other firearm accouterments, the Rev. Kenn Blanchard signed copies of his book “Black Man With a Gun: Reloaded.” Amid the sea of thousands of white faces that descended on this city for the National Rifle Association convention in late April, Mr. Blanchard, an N.R.A. member since 1991, offered his reasoning for why he was one of the few black visitors.

“We still culturally have a fear that we’re going to be that lone guy out, and you don’t want to be the lone guy out,” he said, estimating that one in 100 people at the convention was black. “The exposed nail gets hammered.”

snip....

At a time when gun issues are volatile nationally and sales are increasing, minority gun owners — whether black, Asian or Latino — may feel that their weighing of the practical pros and cons of gun ownership comes up against the conservatism and unyielding stances of the N.R.A. and some other gun advocates. Mr. Blanchard said it could be a difficult balancing act.

Blacks are less likely than whites to own a gun. snip

Chuck Gueno Jr., 57, an African-American retired Marine at the convention who likes to shoot competitively, said the N.R.A. had “a stigma of being the good old boys, and people of color might be a little intimidated.” snip

“The reality is self-defense, and the firearm played a key role in the freeing of the slaves,” Sheriff Clarke said. “So what I’ve seen as my role is just to re-engage the black community with their history and let them figure it out for themselves. But right now they are being fed a lot of propaganda.” [emphasis added]

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Extended News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: africanamericans; banglist; guns; nra; nytimes
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To: Pharmboy

Gun rights tend to be a conservative/ republican issue.

Most blacks vote democrat.


21 posted on 06/15/2014 9:24:19 AM PDT by smokingfrog ( sleep with one eye open (<o> ---)
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To: Pharmboy

“a stigma of being the good old boys, and people of color might be a little intimidated.” snip

Blah blah blah. Sounds ‘racist’ to me.


22 posted on 06/15/2014 9:27:58 AM PDT by Altura Ct.
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To: Vaquero
But if you're black, a gun owner, NRA member, republican or hang-out with white people, you'll be called an Uncle Tom.
23 posted on 06/15/2014 9:28:50 AM PDT by smokingfrog ( sleep with one eye open (<o> ---)
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To: smokingfrog

An armed And dangerous Tom.


24 posted on 06/15/2014 9:56:30 AM PDT by Vaquero (Don't pick a fight with an old guy. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you.)
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To: Vaquero

Post o’ the day!


25 posted on 06/15/2014 11:01:55 AM PDT by Pharmboy (Democrats lie because they must.)
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