Discriminatory Rules Prevent Black Americans from Buying Guns

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Discriminatory rules in cities like Oakland prevent black Americans from buying guns, despite oftentimes living in neighborhoods where self-defense is needed most. Jordan Michaels reports in Guns America Digest:

California’s draconian gun-control regime, like most such regimes in America’s history, has a disproportionately negative effect on minority communities in the state.

The gun-buying spree of the last 18 months has forced some mainstream media outlets to finally cover African American gun owners, and the most recent installment suggests that residents of Oakland’s most at-risk neighborhoods can’t get the firearms they need to protect themselves.

“I always hear in the Black community that it’s hard for Black and brown (people) to get firearms,” Anthony Dart, a Bay Area firearms instructor, told the San Francisco Chronicle.

Dart estimates that he’s trained more than 400 people, and he specializes in serving the area’s Black community. But there are no gun stores in the city, and Dart’s attempts over the last three years to open one have been blocked by the state’s maze of regulations and fees. He also hasn’t been able to find a landlord to rent a storefront or a bank to float him a loan.

“I tell them I want to open a gun store. They’re like, ‘Oh no, we don’t want this here,’” he said, referring to what he saw as resistance from all sides.

There’s a demand for what Dart wants to sell. Keisha Henderson told the Chronicle that many residents feel the need to protect themselves with firearms.

Henderson serves on the Neighborhood Crime Prevention Council, and she said her neighbors want to arm themselves for a variety of reasons. Some worry about slow police response as the smaller police force deals with rising homicide rates. Others are concerned about racially motivated attacks.

Unfortunately, even if those individuals are able to purchase a gun, they likely won’t be able to carry it outside their homes. The Chronicle reports that despite a sharp rise in applications for concealed carry permits, the approval rate dropped down to 17% in 2020 (down from 55% in 2019 and 30% so far this year).

Many potential applicants appear to be scared away by the state’s “good cause” requirement, which allows local law enforcement to reject an application if the applicant cannot show a “good cause” to carry a firearm. Alameda County boasts a population of 1.7 million, but the county only received 162 concealed carry applications in 2020.

The lion’s share of approved applications has gone to residents in suburban communities of Livermore and Castro Valley. There are 107 active permits in these more affluent neighborhoods while Oakland city only has 29, according to the Chronicle.

Action Line: No matter who you are, it’s time to get your gun and your training now.

Originally posted on Your Survival Guy.