New York Times: Minority Gun Owners Face Balancing Act

Over the weekend, the New York Times ran this article that talks about minority gun owners and what the Times refers to as a "balancing act" they face weighing the "isolation" of being a minority gun owner and the "stigma" of gun violence.  Once you get past the headline, it's not a bad article.

It starts off talking about Ken Blanchard, a minister, blogger and podcaster known as "Black Man With a Gun."  They caught up with Blanchard in April at the NRA Annual Meeting in Indianapolis. The article than goes into the numbers of minority gun owners and how they are lower than their white counterparts as well as their percentage of the population:

Blacks are less likely than whites to own a gun. In surveys from 1973 to 2012, an average of 27 percent of African-Americans nationwide said they owned a gun, compared with 47 percent of whites, according to data from NORC, a research center at the University of Chicago. Even so, their attendance at the N.R.A. convention was minuscule compared with their rate of gun ownership, let alone their presence in the population at large.

The accompanying video with the article featured interviews with a number of minority shooters at Anthony Colandro's Gun For Hire range.  It also mentioned NRANews Commentator Colion Noir.  While discussing the number of minorities who own firearms, the reporter accurately mentioned "the number of Blacks who admitted" to owning a firearm.  It is likely that a lot of gun owners, black and white, aren't likely to admit to a stranger on the phone if they own firearms, whether that person identifies themselves as a representative of a polling firm or not.  The reporter also repeated the myth that "overall less people own firearms now than in the past."  Tell that to the gun shops, firearms instructors, and manufacturers.

Talking about the "stigma" of being a Black gun owner, and how "gun violence" plays a part of that and how Blacks are more likely to be victims of such acts, the article also dredged up "Stand Your Ground" laws and the Trayvon Martin incident.  What the Times did not mention is that, at least in Florida, which has been the focus of such laws and where the Martin incident occurred, Blacks have actually benefited more from the Stand Your Ground defense.

Overall, it is a good article and worth checking out.

Update: Reverend Ken Blanchard, one of the main subjects of the story, spoke with Cam Edwards of NRANews about the experience and how the reporter became a convert to the Second Amendment.