Newsweek reports:
“Attorney Ben Crump slammed the National Rifle Association (NRA) and gun rights activists Wednesday over their silence on the Amir Locke case after Minnesota prosecutors said the Minneapolis police officer who shot and killed him will not be charged. “Where [are] the Second Amendment supporters for Black people who have a right to bear arms?” Crump said at a news conference in New York City alongside Locke’s mother. “Where is the NRA? They should be outraged.” Officers were executing a no-knock warrant early in the morning of February 2 when Locke, who was Black, grabbed his gun, at which point one of the officers shot him. Locke, 22, owned the gun legally and had a concealed carry permit, according to his family’s legal representation. He also had no criminal history and was not the target of the warrant. At Wednesday’s news conference, Crump said, “They keep promoting Second Amendment gun rights to protect your home, to protect your sanctuary, but that applies to Black people too. Her son was one of those people who had every right to the Second Amendment.” …”
Crump is right. NRA should have said something.
I don’t believe racism is the issue here. I believe their silence is because 1. there are several current and former police officers on the Board and staff who won’t criticize other officers, and 2. blacks are largely a Democrat constituency group and NRA has increasingly turned 2A into a partisan Republican issue.
With a SCOTUS decision on right-to-carry coming in the near future, what would the effect be on New York City? It won’t be rich white people from the upper West Side lining up for pistol licenses, they can grease the machine to get them now. No, it will be peasant-class blacks and browns from Brooklyn and the Bronx applying. Is anyone talking about that? No. From both a public safety and political standpoint NRA and other 2A groups need to make a concerted effort to reach out to them.