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- May 11, 2013
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by Ehab Zahriyeh
September 1, 2013
Some African-Americans say tighter restrictions on guns rob them of their civil rights
Eight years ago, Rick Ector had just pulled into his driveway in Detroit after work when two men approached him. They asked for money and pulled out a gun. He handed over his cash, and they left. Though he reported the incident, to his knowledge, the two men haven’t been caught.
"If I survive this incident, I will no longer depend on the police, who have a legal obligation to protect me," Ector recalls thinking. "I had to do what I needed to do to protect myself."
Ector had never before owned a gun. After the incident, he not only legally armed himself; he became a certified firearms instructor and a National Rifle Training counselor; he now runs the Rick’s Firearm Academy in Detroit.
Unlike most members of the National Rifle Association, Ector is black. Since guns are the leading cause of death among African Americans age 14 to 18, black people tend to favor gun control.
But Ector and other African-Americans who share his views on firearms see gun rights as a civil rights issue and tighter regulations as a way to keep power out of the hands of minorities.
"Gun control has racist roots and when you deny people the opportunity to own a gun and to protect themselves, that is the epitome of racism," he told Al Jazeera.
[Excerpt]
Read more:
For some blacks, gun control raises echoes of segregated past | Al Jazeera America
Racist Democrats during the 19th Century and well into the middle of the 20th Century used gun control to deprive Afro-Americans their right to protect themselves. Now the same people are seeking to disarm all Americans.
September 1, 2013
Some African-Americans say tighter restrictions on guns rob them of their civil rights
Eight years ago, Rick Ector had just pulled into his driveway in Detroit after work when two men approached him. They asked for money and pulled out a gun. He handed over his cash, and they left. Though he reported the incident, to his knowledge, the two men haven’t been caught.
"If I survive this incident, I will no longer depend on the police, who have a legal obligation to protect me," Ector recalls thinking. "I had to do what I needed to do to protect myself."
Ector had never before owned a gun. After the incident, he not only legally armed himself; he became a certified firearms instructor and a National Rifle Training counselor; he now runs the Rick’s Firearm Academy in Detroit.
Unlike most members of the National Rifle Association, Ector is black. Since guns are the leading cause of death among African Americans age 14 to 18, black people tend to favor gun control.
But Ector and other African-Americans who share his views on firearms see gun rights as a civil rights issue and tighter regulations as a way to keep power out of the hands of minorities.
"Gun control has racist roots and when you deny people the opportunity to own a gun and to protect themselves, that is the epitome of racism," he told Al Jazeera.
[Excerpt]
Read more:
For some blacks, gun control raises echoes of segregated past | Al Jazeera America
Racist Democrats during the 19th Century and well into the middle of the 20th Century used gun control to deprive Afro-Americans their right to protect themselves. Now the same people are seeking to disarm all Americans.