Michael Render, better known to fans of Run The Jewels as ‘Killer Mike,’ is a prominent, award-winning rapper, entrepreneur and activist. He’s also a firm believer in Black ownership of firearms. He takes a historic view on gun ownership and is against Red Flag laws as just another leverage point for taking away guns.

 

On Real Time with Bill Maher, where he has spoken about gun rights frequently, Render talks about laws in the south that allowed Blacks to buy shotguns but not rifles. For him this is a personal defense issue noting that with a shotgun you could kill Klan members 30 yards outside your front door but at 100 yards with a rifle. He prefers they never get within 100 yards.

 

Firearms ownership is a deeply personal issue with the Black community because for many it is seen as an issue of life or death.

 

While Black Americans are buying more guns for concealed carry, home defense, hunting and sport shooting, they still largely exist as an outlier within the overall community of firearms owners.

 

When I lived in Michigan I often listen to Ted Nugent’s morning radio show. It was entertaining, as one would expect, but it was also culturally informative. One of his frequently voiced tenets was, “If you like us, we like you.”

 

When it comes to Black Americans and gun ownership, clearly they like the thing we like, meaning owning a gun, but have we made it clear that we’re both reading from the same sheet a music and that because of that shared value we, in turn, like them?

 

Probably not as much as we should have, especially in terms of their growing numbers. Let’s face it, this is a predominantly white industry so when it comes to connecting with Black American gun owners, it’s a bit of an uphill battle. Particularly for what some refer to as the ‘Old Whites.’

 

The need to connect and interact with Black gun owners is important, both culturally and politically. Breaking down those barriers to engagement is where a recent report from the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) comes in.

 

Last week NSSF released ‘Black American Gun Owners Report & R3 Communications Toolkit.’ For those looking to engage with and welcome Black gun owners into the larger community the toolkit provides much needed insights and tools. These include:

The report was made possible through a Multi-State Conservation Grant. The NSSF along with project partners from Responsive Management, JMI, Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources and the National African American Gun Association worked collaboratively to develop a toolkit designed to achieve three primary goals.

 

– Drive Growth: Foster meaningful growth in Black American sport shooting participation through targeted, research-based communication strategies.

 

– Create Pathways: Build sustainable avenues for Black American involvement in sport shooting by addressing barriers and utilizing existing resources.

 

– Enable Action: Provide stakeholder teams with practical tools and resources to execute effective communication strategies.

 

One of the major findings in the report is in regard to how many Black firearm owners go sport shooting. The report found that “overall, 82% of Black firearm owners have gone sport shooting before, with about two thirds having gone within the past 3 years.”

 

 

That is strong participation but shows the need for a vibrant Recruitment, Retention, and Reactivation (R3) initiative to not only get the 17% that hasn’t participated in sport shooting in the last three years back on the range but to reach the 18% that have never gone.

 

The report notes that “among Black firearm owners who have never gone sport shooting, the most common reason for never having done so is simply a lack of interest, followed by not knowing anything about sport shooting or thinking about it.”

 

If you know nothing about sport shooting it’s easy to write it off. But we know from the example of programs like the Scholastic Clay Target Program, a program NSSF launched several years ago to encourage elementary and high school aged students to take up Trap, Skeet and Sporting Clays as a team sport, when we promote and communicate properly the value of participating in sport shooting, they will come.

 

Youth shooting has exploded across the U.S., largely due to NSSF’s original efforts back in early 2000. Using this new toolkit, based on extensive research, we can replicate the R3 success we’ve already witnessed.

 

Based on obvious longstanding historical and cultural concerns, personal protection and self defense are the driving reason for firearms ownership within the Black community. NSSF’s report found that 93% of Black firearms owners indicated that “protection in general / self-defense / safety / security” was the most important reason for owning a firearm.

 

The highest rated non-protection related reason for owning a firearm came in at mere 10%, and that was owning a firearm for “sport / recreation / hobby.”

 

In an industry – and market – where concealed carry and personal defense firearms are king, and some 21 million Americans hold a concealed carry firearm permit, NSSF’s data shows that Black American gun owners are almost exactly like us when it comes to wanting to safeguard our homes and families.

 

How we haven’t already jumped all over this fact and embraced the Black gun owner as ‘one of us’ is the very reason NSSF’s new report – and more importantly their toolkit – is so badly needed.

 

The cultural acceptance of firearm ownership as a much needed right is the same for both Black and White firearm owners. It doesn’t matter that we got there through different life experiences. What matters is that we have the same fundamental beliefs in self preservation through the judicial and lawful use of a firearm.

 

And on that, we share a great deal of common ground. It’s a good time to stand on business and recognize that “if you like guns, we like you” and warmly welcome Black gun owners to our ranges, our classes and our competitions.

 

What’s the worst that can happen? You earn a new customer, make a new friend, or pick up a new excuse for why you lost a match.

 

If you are interested in learning more, NSSF will be hosting a live webinar this Thursday, March 20, at 1:00pm ET. For more information on the toolkit and the webinar, visit nssf.org/research/r3 where you can find a link to register for the webinar.