To Meet Rising Crime and Armed Protesters, Black Women Pick Up a Gun
As violence rises, homicides increase, and white male protests continue to tout body armor and guns in public, Black women are protecting themselves.
Landwebs
According to industry experts and gun rights advocates, Black women facing fears of crime as shootings and murders increase around the country–as well as the display of public anger in the last 15 months over George Floyd’s murder and the COVID-19 restrictions–are considering gun ownership for personal protection, reports the Associated Press. About 8.5 million people in the U.S. bought their first gun in 2020, the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) says. The trade association for the firearms industry adds that gun purchases by Black men and Black women increased by more than 58 percent over the first six months of last year.
Black firearm owners still represent a relatively small portion of the gun-owning population, with 9.3 percent of gun owners being Black men and 5.4 percent Black women. Nearly 56 percent of U.S. gun owners are white men. Over 16 percent are white women, the Newtown, Connecticut-based NSSF says. For many Black women, it’s about taking care of themselves in the face of white men wearing body armor and holding guns at far-right protests. “Crime against women is nothing new. Women protecting themselves, that’s new,” said Lavette Adams, who is Black and a licensed firearm instructor who participated in a free Detroit-area training sponsored by gun advocacy group Legally Armed In Detroit.
