Gun Violence in the African American Community
I was listening to a local talk show last week and there was a man on by the name of John Rosenthal from an organization called Stop Hand Gun Violence, and I don't remember the exact figure, but he mentioned the fact that at least 85% of the people killed by handguns are African American. Absolutely stunning. So if you are black, watch your back. He talked about the gun industry, particular guns, how guns are marketed, and the government's sort of chummy relationship with the gun industry.
Check out these guns from The Bloomberg Collection. They almost look like fashion accessories, ones you'd pick out to match your outfit or you can have a different color for the day of the week. How fashionable. If you are going to kill, why not do it in style? Just what our impressionable young people need--matching guns and outfits.
According to Serf City, the gun manufacturerseller and marketer of this line, "Wisconsin-based Lauer Custom Weaponry is honoring our hoplophobic mayor with a line of brightly colored paints for each of the 5 boroughs — Manhattan red, Bronx rose, Brooklyn blue, Queens green, and Staten Island orange. They even include a stencil of Mayor Mike’s face for the barrel of the gun."
According to The Coalition To Stop Gun Violence, assault rifles can be purchased at gun tradeshows without background checks. One more interesting point made during the interview was the fact that there used to be more gas stations than gun dealers. Now this fact is only true for five states: Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Wyoming. Highly black populated states?
We have the right to bear arms, but arms continue to get into the wrongs hands. What is the problem with this picture and how can we fix it? I know-- guns don't kill. People kill.
If you ever take the time to watch the A & E weekly crime documentary First 48, and you will notice a predominate number of black murder gunshot victims cases, with some hispanics too, and most of the alleged perpetrators are black males, in poor black neighborhoods. Yes, crime occurs everywhere. But much of the black on black gun violent crime is occurring in these places. I don't know what kind of contracts these jursidictions enter into with the cable show for actual filming.
Some people don't like negative statistics, and some quickly dismiss them as conspiracies, inaccuracies, etc., but until I seem evidence to counter them, I will have to take what I see as fact. With this said, follow the jump for the rest of the gun violence stats affecting the black community.
More statistics from the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.
Gun violence is a priority issue for African-Americans and other minorities. Over 368,000 Americans were victims to murders, robberies, and aggravated assaults in 2005 committed by perpetrators carrying a firearm, and the African-American community is one of the hardest hit:
- In 2004, firearm homicide was the number one cause of death for 15-34 year old African-Americans.
- In 2004, the firearm death rate for African-Americans was twice that of whites.
- In 2004, an African-American male under age 30 was 7.5 times more likely to be murdered than a white male under age 30.
- In 2005, nearly 91 percent of African-American murder victims were slain by African-American offenders.
- In 2004, African-American males accounted for 47 percent of all firearm homicide victims, while they only account for 6 percent of the entire population.
- Firearms have become the predominant method of suicide for African-Americans aged 15-24 years, accounting for 56 percent of suicides in 2004.
- In Florida, African-American males have an almost eight times greater chance of dying in a firearm-related homicide than white males. In addition, the firearm-related homicide death rate for African-American females is greater than white males and over four times greater than white females.
Reference:
You should really expand your horizons. Only exposing yourself to one side of an issue can seriously skew your worldview.
Where to start...
-Contention: 85% of handgun homicide victims are Black.
According to this DOJ statistics page, Blacks are the victim in 50.9% of gun homicides (not just handgun).
Unless you can cite some other evidence, I would submit that your 85% number is a bit high. The point that the number of Black homicide victims is deplorable is valid, but your transparent attempt to blame handguns falls flat.
-Contention: "the gun manufacturer of this line, "Wisconsin-based Lauer Custom Weaponry..."
Lauer Custom Weaponry does not manufacture guns. They apply protective and decorative coatings to guns and they sell guns, they don't manufacture them.
You never seem to get to a point with this line of consideration. What's the problem exactly? Do yellow guns kill more efficiently than Black ones? Is the problem that they enable guns to be colored at all? Do you have similar complaints against Rustoleum and Krylon? Or is it just that Lauer is poking fun at a "favorite son" of authoritarians and gun controllers everywhere?
Do you sincerely believe that criminals sending their stolen guns to Lauer for a $200+ duracoat job is actually a problem? If so, what is the basis for that belief?
What specific colors are acceptable in firearms and why?
-Contention: "According to The Coalition To Stop Gun Violence, assault rifles can be purchased at gun tradeshows without background checks."
Do you even know what an "assault rifle" is? Apparently you don't know that they can't legally be sold to anyone without submitting fingerprints and undergoing an intensive background check with the FBI, the payment of a $200 federal tax and federal registration. Apparently you further don't know that assault rifles manufactured after 1986 may not be sold to the public and, therefore, "transferable" assault rifles (those few available produced and registered prior to 1986) run in the tens of thousands of dollars in price.
You are apparently also unaware that all federal firearms laws that apply outside a gun show, apply equally inside a gun show. There is no "loophole."
-Contention: "One more interesting point made during the interview was the fact that there used to be more gas stations than gun dealers. Now this fact is only true for five states: Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Wyoming. Highly black populated states?"
You got that one exactly backwards. The VPC's contention is that there used to be more gun dealers than gas stations but the decline of gun dealers has made this untrue in recent years. I'm not sure where you were going with that one, but you misstated their position.
Finally, you finish up with some sobering statistics about the homicide rates of Black Americans. I agree that this is a travesty and that more should be done...I just disagree that the problem lies in the coloration of guns, in the marketing practices of gun manufacturers, or in the number of gun dealers relative to the number of gas stations.
One major salient point that you mention in passing but never address in any qualitative way is that, not only are Black Americans the victims of homicide at a disproportionate rate, but also Black Americans are the perpetrators of homicide at an even more disproportionate rate:
Blacks are the victims of homicide 6 times more often than Whites...but Blacks are the perpetrators of homicide 7 times more often than Whites.
While it is a tragedy that Blacks make up 47% of all homicide victims while only making up about 12% of the population, it is equally tragic that 94% of those Black victims were victimized by other Blacks.
The bottom line is that the problem is not guns. The problem is the culture of gangs and violence prevalent in many Black communities...primarily in the inner cities.
I know that my point is not politically correct to mention and it is much less emotionally draining to blame inanimate objects than an entire culture, but the Black community in this country will never see any relief to this problem until they acknowledge and face up to what the problem actually is, and addresses it aggressively.
In my humble opinion, you are placing way too much emphasis on the "gun" aspect, and not nearly enough on the "violence" in the equation.
Railing against colorful guns and hinting about conspiracies between the "evil gun lobby" and the government amounts to nothing more than avoiding responsibility and idly standing by doing nothing while more Black Americans fall victim to criminal and gang violence every day.
Sailorcurt,
You should really expand your horizons. Only exposing yourself to one side of an issue can seriously skew your worldview. Where to start... -Contention: 85% of handgun homicide victims are Black. According to this DOJ statistics page, Blacks are the victim in 50.9% of gun homicides (not just handgun). Unless you can cite some other evidence, I would submit that your 85% number is a bit high.
85% may be high, but the number mentioned on the show in reference to handguns was high. I am more inclined to believe it. And 50.9% is extremely high for a 12% population, so it makes the 80s a more probable stat to me.
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The point that the number of Black homicide victims is deplorable is valid, but your transparent attempt to blame handguns falls flat. -Contention: "the gun manufacturer of this line, "Wisconsin-based Lauer Custom Weaponry..." Lauer Custom Weaponry does not manufacture guns. They apply protective and decorative coatings to guns and they sell guns, they don't manufacture them.
Okay, I stand corrected on this, and I will just say the company that markets and sells these handguns.
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You never seem to get to a point with this line of consideration. What's the problem exactly? Do yellow guns kill more efficiently than Black ones? Is the problem that they enable guns to be colored at all? Do you have similar complaints against Rustoleum and Krylon? Or is it just that Lauer is poking fun at a "favorite son" of authoritarians and gun controllers everywhere? Do you sincerely believe that criminals sending their stolen guns to Lauer for a $200+ duracoat job is actually a problem? If so, what is the basis for that belief? What specific colors are acceptable in firearms and why? –
I will just give a blanket "no" to those questions, except yes, there is a tiny problem with the poking of fun at Bloomberg, because while these guns were designed perhaps to goof on Bloomberg, thugs will want to get their hands on them for the reason I already noted. The company that sells these guns is in business to make money, and if they wanted to make gag gifts, they could have just sent him a gift box of the set. No one is implying one color makes a better shot over the next. The point is we don’t need more guns, let alone “designer” or Kool Aid flavored guns to attract more criminal activity.
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Contention: "According to The Coalition To Stop Gun Violence, assault rifles can be purchased at gun tradeshows without background checks." Do you even know what an "assault rifle" is? Apparently you don't know that they can't legally be sold to anyone without submitting fingerprints and undergoing an intensive background check with the FBI, the payment of a $200 federal tax and federal registration.
If this is so, then the information regarding the tradeshows purchases without background checks noted on, “The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence” must be inaccurate with this statement? http://www.csgv.org/site/c.pmL5JnO7KzE/b.3509285/
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Apparently you further don't know that assault rifles manufactured after 1986 may not be sold to the public and, therefore, "transferable" assault rifles (those few available produced and registered prior to 1986) run in the tens of thousands of dollars in price. You are apparently also unaware that all federal firearms laws that apply outside a gun show, apply equally inside a gun show. There is no "loophole."
Thanks for the education.
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-Contention: "One more interesting point made during the interview was the fact that there used to be more gas stations than gun dealers. Now this fact is only true for five states: Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Wyoming. Highly black populated states?" You got that one exactly backwards. The VPC's contention is that there used to be more gun dealers than gas stations but the decline of gun dealers has made this untrue in recent years. I'm not sure where you were going with that one, but you misstated their position.
You are right, I typed that incorrectly, I meant more gun dealers than gas stations. Hey, I typed it, and read through it once. My mistake, because the information is taken directly from Violence Policy Center. I knew what I meant, just didn't come out that way.
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I have heard of the DOJ statistics, so they aren't anything new to me. I don't have them memorized, but I know where to find them.
“The problem is the culture of gangs and violence prevalent in many Black communities...primarily in the inner cities.”
I agree with you, and as I noted, and we’ve heard the sort of cliché but true guns don’t kill, people kill. But you can’t tell me that those colored guns aren’t attractive and won’t be desired by youth, because of the way they look. And yes, it is not the gun's fault. But I have a problem when guns are marketed as being glamorous, fun, and almost toylike, as an accessory.
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I know that my point is not politically correct to mention and it is much less emotionally draining to blame inanimate objects than an entire culture, but the Black community in this country will never see any relief to this problem until they acknowledge and face up to what the problem actually is, and addresses it aggressively.
I agree with you to a certain extent on this one, and you can see that sentiment reflected in some posts on this website. I don’t like guns and we don’t need more of them---any color.
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Railing against colorful guns and hinting about conspiracies between the "evil gun lobby" and the government amounts to nothing more than avoiding responsibility and idly standing by doing nothing while more Black Americans fall victim to criminal and gang violence every day.
I think we may disagree about the gun industry’s relationship with the government, and probably the government’s level of effort to get illegal guns off the streets, particularly in poor black/urban neighborhoods. People are taking responsibility and trying to combat violence and crime. Part of the problem is the volume of participants and unity."
Thank you for your cordial reply. This is a very contentious issue and tempers often flare when it comes up. You have gained my respect for keeping it focused on the issues.
I must admit that I found this article through Google news alerts and have never read this blog before, so if I made or implied any incorrect assumptions about your position on these issues, I apologize. I was responding directly and solely to the contents of this post.
If you are open to discussion and are willing to take the chance on having some of your biases and pre-conceptions challenged, I'd be happy to discuss this topic with you further.
Sailorcurt,
Thank you for your argument. I welcome and encourage it. I have heard about the DOJ statistics many times over the years, and often in the past it was injected on message boards whenever OJ's name came up in a thread. So when I saw that, I was expecting a personal attack somewhere in your post. So I prejudged a bit myself. I just won't argue with people when the name calling starts.
I have only purposely deleted one post since starting this blog, because it was on one post about an urban radio station in Hartford, and that was couple of days ago. Personal attack--and it could have been at one of the other commenters, but the person did not really state who the argument was directed against, and signed in as anonymous---so I saw no point in publishing the point of view or rant.
I am trying to work on not having to moderate comments, but there are about 100 robot spam messages that I have to delete almost daily. Slowly I am working on posting alternative--this is not a full-time gig for me.
Gun violence is a real problem, and people who advocate for guns, I understand many of those positions, and without making it another post about "what we needed to do," which "I know" and "we know," what we need to do, I chose to highlight a different edge on the problem.
Our primary disagreement is in narrowly defining the problem.
I believe that violence in general is the real problem and the tools used to perpetrate that violence are irrelevant.
The issues focused on by VPC and Brady et. al. (which are the same ones that you focused on in your post) are not germane to the situation and are not solutions, they are distractions.
Our society is broken and it's not broken because of guns, whether blued, parkerized gray, or duracoated lime green. Our society is broken by the culture that glorifies the "thug" ethos. That denies personal responsibility and accountability. That reveres violence as a means to "respect." That decries the virtues of hard work, education, civilized behavior and societal contribution as "selling out."
Our society has a problem all right...but guns ain't it.
"narrowly defining the problem"
The problem is complex involving a myriad of issues, and it can't be narrowed down to one sure thing. Personal responsibility is just one facet to solving many of the problems facing the community.
This post was slanted more at corporate responsiblity for the presentation of these weapons, in this post, and I know you disagree with me on this one--and I understand your point on this. Your position was well made. We are just looking at it through different lenses, and I respect your position on it.
Regarding activism, if you don't know about these black activism site, check it out when you get a chance and read a post or two on Al Sharpton(National Action Network) and the NAACP. http://www.blackwomenvote.blogspot.com/ & http://www.whataboutourdaughters.blogspot.com/
And I respect your acknowledgement that an opinion that differs from yours is worthy of consideration rather than outright dismissal and condemnation. A rare trait in the day of internet anonymity.
We can agree to disagree and be civil and courteous about it. Thank you for entertaining the discussion.
I'll look over the sites you linked. Thank you.
Sailorcurt,
Thank you. The feeling is mutual. Please stop by again. On those sites, you will find many readers who are trying to make changes, and not just talking/typing on many issues which are problems which affect the community, with much focus on black women and children. I just think you can't leave out the issues related to men. However, this is their chosen focus.
The thing I admire most about the blog owners and many of their readers is how they are calling out black "leaders" on issues they feel they are failing usand society in.
If we know all this info. about guns and how we think that its a government genocide conspiracy, why don't we do something about it, Black Folks. Its much easier to take on our children than the government. Lets get back to basics, such as parenting. Did you know Black folks are some of the biggest consumers of these ultra violent videogames? The government is not putting them in our kids' hands, parents are. Then, look how we sit and watch sex ladened BET. We are sending the message to "those" in charge that this is what we like. Stop buying into this stuff. Oh, my kid want this game. So what...the game is nothing but pure violence..and we wonder whats wrong with our youth...
the teacher
Yeah, blame video games, hip hop, thug culture, intimate objects, word rhyming dictionaries, but don't blame the individual. Crime is a problem that has existed and will exist along as there humans. No amount of legislation on guns or any consumer products we think to have bad traits on our children will work. Because you can't legislate morality. Even the most innocent and well liked people may do something someday to another person unlawfully. It is just who we are as humans.
To put it this way its not the gun's fault its the idealogy of the finger that pulls the trigger. Its a cultural thing that is breading this violence and saddly we are all to blame its easy to point the finger at the government and tell them to fix it. But its never going to change til you stand up and stop relying on laws. We are the reason America is like this not the government it is merely a byproduct of us.