After the country faced waves of civil unrest, panic buying, and a pandemic, the number of Black women and other diverse groups who owned guns rose substantially nationwide, according to recent reports and experts.
The National Shooting Sports Foundation found that in 2021, the number of Black women gun owners shot up by 87%.
Nathan Jones, the president of the Bay Area chapter of the Black Gun Owners Association, spoke with KCBS News Radio’s Alissa Clancy about the recent increase.
Jones’ organization is providing gun safety education to the fast-growing group of gun owners. When he looks at the statistics showing more diverse groups are becoming gun owners, he can see a correlation with what the country has faced throughout the last three years.
“The unusual set of circumstances that we had at the beginning of 2020 with the pandemic and the panic buying that ensued because of that,” Jones said. “Then you had various civil unrest and political unrest, and crime rates were rising. It was just kind of a culmination of things.”
Jones continued saying that many felt as if they needed to do something about the “crazy stuff happening” and take steps in protecting themselves.
Other diverse groups are also becoming gun owners, according to the NSSF report and Jones.
“Gun ownership, in general, is growing, and I would say that it’s growing most rapidly among groups that have traditionally not been gun owners,” Jones said.
These groups include liberal white Americans, who Jones says are “rethinking” their philosophy on guns, as well as Black Americans, Latinos, and more, as he says “it’s kind of across the board.”
“Everyone just has a heightened concern these days, and I think that people are thinking, ‘How can I gather some control over my own self-defense and not have to rely on other people?’” Jones said.
When it comes to who makes up his organization’s members, Jones says that 70% of his members are women gun owners, highlighting the growing demographic further.
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