The NRA For Black People Wants to Get Political

[Applause] you're gonna hit flour out and then you're gonna move back to create the distance and then you can push out does that make sense yes Geneva Solomon is a mother of three and firearms instructor in Los Angeles she teaches self-defense and shooting skills to a group of black gun enthusiasts and me a New Yorker who's never touched a gun oh [Laughter] Geneva says she didn't grow up around guns but first turned to firearms for self-defense after leaving a relationship she described as violent and so I walked into a gun store and I'm a black woman walking into a gun store I was the only one there and I think I waited about an hour and a half before someone would come and talk to me and I didn't like that experience at all the memory of that experience prompted Geneva and her husband Jonathan to open redstone firearms but in the five years they've been open they've dealt with some harassment we've had swastikas carved into the windows cars been keyed emails have been sent lots of threatening phone calls there is not a lot of black on gun shops in the country it's pretty rare we didn't really realize we were that unique it wasn't until about a year into operating the actual store that I sat down got on the computer and realized oh my were one of like five and we're the only one in California redstone firearms is registered with the NRA the organization has a tight grip on the gun industry offering benefits to business owners like Geneva yet Geneva turn to another gun club for a sense of belonging it's named the National african-american gun Association or Naga some call at the NRA for black people to to buy one today the Solomons are Nagas state directors for California shooter ready Joe dr. Rashid IV is one of magaz newest members I love what night he's doing and loved our positive they were how much they were really devoted to teaching people how to be positively owners and changing the stigma in our communities of gun ownership are you also a member of the NRA no why not the stigma associated with them is that their race gets a racist organization black gun owners and the NRA have had a contentious relationship for generations in 1967 in response to the Black Panther Party legally and openly carrying loaded guns the NRA actually supported gun control legislation old wounds were reopened in 2016 when registered gun owner falando Castile was shot and killed by a police officer he have you told him get his ID sir his driver's license the officer was later acquitted of manslaughter but at the time of Castillo's death the nra released a statement saying reports of the incident were troubling but that response wasn't enough for many black Americans yet the NRA continues to be a political firepower that touts its inclusivity we in this room we all come from every conceivable walk of life we're proud of that diversity within our ranks I got one question ass we're all mine a gazette naga is nowhere near as large as the nra which has over five million members but it wants some of the same influence Nagas celebrated its fifth anniversary this year and is considering forming a political action committee when I first started I thought I told my wife I might have 300 people over two or three years and then the first month I had 300 people and we are now at the place where over 30,000 members and what makes us different than any other firearms organization is that we are family Brotherhood and sisterhood we agree to disagree but we do not disconnect repeat it with me we agree to disagree but not disconnect good people should have a fighting chance to defend themselves and they want our assistance in that process we're here for them I rather have a good guy with a gun then a good guy without a gun when you say good guy with a gun the first thing I think of is falando Castillo are you afraid being a black gun owner that you will do everything you are supposed to do everything the correct way but still end up like him the worst thing we can do as black folks and I'm just gonna keep it 100 is to say you know what he got shot so I'm gonna put my gun away because of one bad person so it has a black gun owner we should all say you know what I'm really gonna carry my gun we can't bow down we're not sub Americans we're not sub citizens we've earned that right our ancestors have died for us Nagas is looking at possibly forming a PAC why I think it is selfish at a minimum not to look at other avenues to help our people are you going to be looking to endorse candidates or focus on issues we're gonna focus on issues there's some african-american minutes but specifically in certain parts of the country they have a very difficult time getting a gun license for whatever reason they don't have any background issues they have clean credit they have a good job but for some reason they get declined we would like to be an advocate for those type of individuals Phil is leaving the decision to form a PAC to members so first off just show a hands who thinks nagisa form a PAC Wow a good chunk of the room who thinks you should endorse a candidate Wow no one all right so are you concerned that if Naga goes political some white people are going to be afraid that it's the new Black Panther Party I don't care what they think why have a National african-american gun Association why not just join the NRA well this is America right we can create any organization that we want and why shouldn't we create an organization that we're prideful of an organization that is focused on our community an organization is focused on education why not right so I really don't care what anyone thinks it's not about them it's about us if we focus on them that's what they want the group will decide on its political future at a convention in August of next year a lot has happened since we attended nakos meeting [Applause] the continuing threat of coronavirus and the fallout over the recent killings of black men and women have led to a surge in NAG of membership roughly about 5500 people have joined NAG within the last few months based on what's happening on society and one half people were joining the organization partly because they were fearful you know society breaking down of shortage of food of people coming in and raiding and doing home invasions and on the other hand now you have black men and women getting shot police running into their homes shooting them without any type of warning or cause those two things together has really developed a melting pot of anger of concern and so in preparation for that people say you know what I'm gonna go out and buy a gun I might be even be anti-gun but I'm gonna go ahead and buy a gun because I just don't know what's gonna happen [Music] you

Channel: VICE News

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Keywords: the NRA For Black People, nra, VICE News Tonight, National African American Gun Association, VICE News, VICE on HBO, news, vice video, VICE on SHOWTIME, vice news 2020, gun rights, guns, george floyd, justice for george floyd, racism, juneteenth, black lives matter, worldnews, gun control, Second amendment

Id: GsTAkqWaI8A

Length: 8min 19sec (499 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 19 2020