An Atlanta-based gun organization targeting Black clientele is unsurprised by the uptick in membership due to increased gun popularity.
The National African-American Gun Association offers an alternative to the National Rifle Association as the Pew Research Center reported more Black people now see gun ownership as a good thing.
An NAAGA instructor is training Nezida Davis to survive what she described as the dangerous era of Donald Trump politics.
“Besides just crime in your community, there could be crime coming from anywhere,” Davis tells CBS46. “And we’re not just talking about terroristic threats — domestic terrorism, you know, white supremacists, whatever you want to call them.”
“I’d be lying to you if I didn’t say … that there’s an apprehension in the community based on some of the political rhetoric, regardless if you’re a Republican or Democrat, left or right,” Philip Smith, president of Bass Reeves Gun & Rifle Club, the NAAGA’s Atlanta chapter, tells the news station. “A lot of folks are just concerned with the way the country’s being run right now.”
The NAAGA was founded in 2015 and has since grown to more than 20,000 members.
“With the recent election and [Donald] Trump getting into office, we anticipated a spike in gun ownership within the African-American community,” safety instructor Mitch Mitchell says. “And we were right.”
The group noted they are focused on safety, protection and acceptance, and their mission isn’t political.
“We are now getting to the point where folks are saying, ‘You know what? I can get a gun and protect my family if I’m a single mom or a dad,'” Smith says.
