Florida Today: “Home on the range: Black gun owners take aim at training, education with formation of Brevard gun club” - Jeff Gallop
Florida Today
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Kendra Thompson is no stranger to stepping up, squeezing the trigger, and letting the bullets rip through the target at the shooting range.
Her aim is true, punching out head and body shots with expert accuracy.
The 33-year-old Palm Bay business owner purchased her first gun a decade ago when she moved to an Orlando apartment to attend school full-time.
Then a college student working toward her master's degree, the Melbourne native had heard the horror stories of women who had gone missing in Central Florida or were targeted by predators in the city. She wanted to take her safety into her own hands.
“My first gun was a .38 Special. I just googled 'weapons for women' and it was the second or third on the list. I bought it in Daytona and they let me shoot. That was it,” said Thompson, a staunch supporter of the Second Amendment.
But finding a gun club where she could be comfortable as a Black woman talking and sharing training techniques was difficult.
“A group of friends who are also Black and I went to a shooting range in Melbourne about two years ago ... it was like, all eyes were on us," she said. "It was like we were being intimidated. We ended up leaving and not even shooting.”
Now Thompson may have found her niche.
She was one of about 40 people who turned out at the FrogBones Family Shooting Center in Melbourne in mid-September for the Dynasty Arms Gun Club. The group educates Blacks and others about firearms and allows them a place to become familiar with arms training.
Over a buffet of hot chicken wings and baked macaroni and cheese, some in the group chatted during that first meeting, sharing knowing nods and insights as gun owners or curiosity about owning weapons.
The group, which is structured as a non-profit but functions as a club, has a no-judgment zone on experience, said organizers. It includes veterans, former and current police officers, business owners, and others and has been planned for more than a year.
'Come together and feel comfortable'
“You typically see African-Americans underrepresented in a lot of gun clubs, shooting events, or even at gun shows that you see in our area periodically,” said the club's CEO Alex Byrd, who is also a minister.
“What we want to do as an association is to create an atmosphere where people can come together and feel comfortable. With us, they don’t have to worry about their level of expertise.”
Byrd and others have pointed to American history as a reason why some in the Black community have been reluctant to form groups or talk openly about owning firearms.
Although the Second Amendment allowed citizens to bear arms, historians point out that there were laws aimed specifically at prohibiting Blacks from legally bearing arms into the Jim Crow era of segregation. In some instances, the right to have a gun for self-protection was a goal for civil rights activists such as Malcolm X or the Black Panther Party.
Famously, then Gov. Ronald Reagan of California signed the Mulford Act into law in 1967 restricting firearms, either openly or concealed, from being carried in public places. The gun restriction law was hurriedly passed after nearly 30 Black Panthers marched up the Capitol steps in Sacramento to protest.
Once, according to biographers, Martin Luther King Jr. was denied a concealed carry permit in Alabama during his time leading the mid-50s civil rights crusades amid a constant barrage of death threats.
Even under the protection of law in the 21st century, Blacks still run the risk of coming across biases from some in law enforcement or even fellow adherents to the Second Amendment, said Brandon Countee, spokesperson for the National African American Gun Association based in Atlanta.
Thompson agreed, pointing to that familiar sense that others are watching whenever she goes to a traditional gun club to practice.
"As far as the Second Amendment, it seems to fall short for us in practice. The fact that you see these news stories out there shows that there is this expectation that we are not supposed to exercise our rights," Thompson said.
One case that is frequently cited is that of Philando Castile, a 32-year-old Minneapolis man who was shot and killed in a 2016 traffic stop even as he told a police officer that he had a weapon and a license to carry. The officer was later acquitted of the charges.
"Somehow the rules just seem stricter for us but in reality, the Second Amendment is for all of us," Thompson said.
More guns, more clubs
The gun club's first event happened as gun sales surged after national and political unrest including the pandemic, crime, and the aftermath of the George Floyd protests.
Gun sellers noted a surge in firearms sales overall in recent years, but especially to Blacks, according to the National Shooting Sports Foundation and the National African American Gun Association.
The National Shooting Sports Foundation, a trade association, noted 21 million background checks took place in 2020, with purchases by Blacks increasing by 58 percent over what retailers saw in 2019.
There are no hard demographic numbers kept by the government, but the Pew Research Center shows that 36 percent of whites own weapons; that number falls to 24 percent among Blacks who report owning a firearm and 15 percent for Hispanics.
There's been a proliferation of Black gun clubs across the United States.
The largest group is the National African American Gun Association, a Second Amendment organization based in Atlanta that has about 30,000 members nationwide and chapters in Orlando, Miami, and other major Florida cities.
“I think you’re seeing more clubs because we’ve shown that there’s nothing wrong with Black people getting together to have gun clubs and exercising their Second Amendment rights,” Countee said.
“Over the years it had been something that was almost taboo," he said. "I’ve personally had people who’ve trolled me about being in a Black gun club. Or you have some people who assume we are in a club not to enjoy our Second Amendment rights, but to create some ethnocentric state or because we are separatist. But that’s not true. The bigger issue for those who think like that is, why? What gives you that feeling?”
Education, training
Over the years, communities have struggled with the increase of weapons that often illegally ended up in the hands of those involved in gun violence.
At the same time, a number of states eased restrictions for firearms. In Texas, for example, anyone 21 and older now can own a gun without a license or training unless there are prior, legal prohibitions. Similar laws being discussed in statehouses nationwide could increase the potential for untrained gun owners to carry concealed firearms in more public spaces.
Dynasty Arms and other similar groups hope to shift the old narratives as they reach out to more gun owners in the Black community. The goal is for Blacks to know their rights and to train for home security, recreational activities, and other legal uses of firearms.
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The group has its Second Amendment advocates who see the push for education and training as a possible remedy to the mishandling or lack of respect for the power that firearms can hold. Thompson, for example, has a YouTube channel dedicated to gun safety, showing her in one clip reassembling a compact 9mm pistol.
"We are here to educate," said William Crusoe, the chief operating officer of Dynasty Arms. "We are not a militia, that's not what we are. We want people to know their rights."
He said he finds a lot of people don't know their rights when it comes to gun ownership.
"People are intimidated when they go into gun shops. They just don't know what to expect," he said.
Ethan Sansoni, general manager of FrogBones, recalled talking to Dynasty organizers in 2020 about forming a gun club.
"I think what they're trying to do is awesome. It's great, they told me what their hopes were and we had good talks. I told them that I was glad that they weren't just talking about it online somewhere but actually trying to educate others with the club. Our arms are open," Sansoni said.
Dynasty Arms plans to focus on increasing its membership and creating training sessions for women, who make up a large percentage of gun clubs.
"Even with our event, the response was overwhelming, with nearly 10 women who weren't at the gathering reaching out," said Susan Phillips, one of the founders of Dynasty Arms and the chief development officer.
The group is also talking with the group Protect Your Piece handgun and safety organization about the training program for women.
"People are excited," said Phillips, a New Jersey native who has owned a gun since her father gave her a firearm at age 15.
Talk of politics is avoided.
"We don't have a political aim with this. We're steering away from that. We want to bring people together," Crusoe said.
Easing gun violence
Sentiments from some wary about the increase of guns have long been a part of the firearms debate in the Black community.
In April, community advocates and mothers of gunshot victims held rallies in Brevard County calling for a change in youth culture and addressing gun violence after a spate of killings, including the death of a 2-year-old Cocoa toddler by a teen with a handgun.
A total 33 people — out of the 43 reported homicides in Brevard in 2020 — were killed by people with firearms.
Cocoa City Councilmember Lavander Hearn, a gun owner, organized the April rally. He said he believes the gun club and its goal of better educating the public would go a long way in helping ease gun violence.
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"There's a misconception that if you talk about gun violence you're anti-gun. That's not true. So many kids have been caught up because they aren't properly educated about firearms," said Hearn, who was the victim of a drive-by shooting two months after graduating school. "Education is one of the solutions to this problem."
Alton Edmond, a criminal defense attorney who ran unsuccessfully for Brevard County sheriff in 2020, made support of the Second Amendment a highlight of his campaign, even taking photos with an AR-15 at a shooting range.
He said the club is long overdue for places like Brevard County.
"Every law-abiding citizen should have the right to have a firearm," said Edmond, who said he believes in the principle of self-defense. "And like anyone else, I understand the concerns about firearms and the impact they've had on the Black community."
He mentioned growing up in a poor neighborhood where people constantly looked over their shoulders or found that it wasn't unusual to hear gunshots at night.
Today, the right to bear arms has become more important in a world where reports of the latest mass shootings involving schools, theaters, churches, are a click away on social media. There is also concern over an increasingly heated political rhetoric stirring the potential for violence at school boards and other public settings.
"But we have to agree on the principle of supporting the Second Amendment for everyone," said Edmond, who gets to the shooting range at least once a month. "When I got my first gun, my mother was kind of (hesitant) but mainly out of concerns for safety. She wanted to make sure I know how to use it."
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Thompson said she is like anyone else. She loves to garden, is a vegetarian, and believes in education.
She plans to continue her passion for firearms and said she'll attend more Dynasty sessions.
"It is empowering to know that I'm in control of a firearm for me. I used to fear guns, but now I know I'm in control," she said.
She said she hasn't seen anything like this club — something catering to Black Americans.
"It's needed to bring awareness and these are people I can relate to," she said.
J.D. Gallop is a Criminal Justice/Breaking News Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Gallop at 321-917-4641 or jdgallop@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @JDGallop.
