Gun violence is a major cause of death in America every year. This pain is particularly acute in Black communities. Many Black leaders have been calling for more guns to be removed from the streets for a long time and are closely aligned with gun-control advocates. A growing number of Black Americans are choosing a different approach. Black gun ownership rates increased during the Trump administration. In 2020, Black Americans saw the largest increase in gun sales at the beginning of the year. People like Kenn Blanchard have been advocating for Black gun owners for decades. Blanchard, who served in the military, held a number of law enforcement jobs, and became known as the Black Man With a Gun. He has a book, a website and a podcast. Blanchard rejects the notion that gun control will make Black communities more secure and has made it his mission encourage Black Americans to consider gun ownership an essential part of self-defense. Blanchard spoke to me on Friday's episode of A Word about his gun advocacy and his faith. He also discussed how Black gun owners can be safer from police violence. This edited version of our conversation was condensed to make it more clear.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementJason Johnson: Jason is a veteran of the military and a former officer in law enforcement. Guns have been an integral part of your life for many years. How did you go from being a law enforcement officer to becoming a gun rights advocate.Kenn Blanchard: Entrepreneurism actually. What could I do to make a real difference? What could I do that was easy? In the beginning, I thought I would become a gun instructor. I planned to spend time at a range and then I would be available to help parents buy a gun for their home. I would make every home safer. I would be teaching family classes. Because we don't know the gun we have, we can kill many people in our homes. I was going make sure the undercover gun owner wasn't there anymore. It is not safe to keep it in your closet. Our kids have not had the opportunity to go through the education that tells them that, unlike Elmer Fudd's, if they point this thing at someone, their face will not turn black and they'll be fine tomorrow. There is an education that must be continued, and I was determined to be that man.AdvertisementAdvertisementOnce I started to get into it, I realized that not everyone grew up on a farm. Everyone didn't know the hunting and responsibility aspects. I had to do more than being the entrepreneur and just be the shingle man. I had to learn about gun rights and gun history. My people had to see that they have the right to do it, and that it was not prohibited since the founding of the country. We have been deprived of this right by Native Americans and Africans, which has led to a deliberate ignorance that has hurt us all. This is why I decided to demystify it. I was an activist before I was an entrepreneur. The money didn't come. Because I was always advocating safety, reliability and responsibility and getting beaten up for standing up for the owner of a gun, I became "Black Man With a Gun". That's how it all began.AdvertisementKenn, you've heard about the U.S. leading industrialized nations in gun violence and death. You also know that Black men are more likely to be victims of gun crime than white men. Legal gun ownership could increase your chances of suicide. My chances of succeeding if there is a gun in my house, and I am having suicidal thoughts, are higher than if there are pills or a paring knife. Why is it important to advocate gun ownership before the community decides how to handle guns that are already in our possession?AdvertisementEducation saved us from the plantation, and education can help us stay free. The firearm will not solve your problem if you have a problem. It's both sides of the coin. People who support guns, or gun people, believe that if they purchase this bazooka they will have no crime. People who don't own a gun believe that all guns are bad. It's a two-way street. There is no solution, because humanity has not been fixed yet. We don't know how to love our brothers and sisters. When we look at how to fix things, education is still the most important thing. There's plenty of information right now.AdvertisementBecause you are a pastor and some people believe that advocating for guns is anti-Christian, I want to discuss that. Talk about the rhetorical abuses you have suffered. Did other clergy criticize you? If you were the pastor of a church, were you getting criticized by your parishioners? Was it possible to get beaten up as the Black Man with a Gun?AdvertisementMy first job was as a janitor at a large church in D.C. I was the one who arrived at 4 o'clock to open the church, prepare the choirs and clean up. I was also the security guard for the church. This meant that while the little ones were practicing the choirs and such, I was making sure everything was straight. I was actually working on my first book, Black Man With a Gun. It was a guide to responsible gun ownership. They thought, "How can you advocate gun ownership?" And I replied, "Easyguns don't equal murder." She shot a water moccasin in a matter of feet from me. She was my hero. My grandmother, who was a watchnight service member, celebrated freedom New Years Eve. She fired the gun in the middle of the Suffolk, Virginia night. That was my first time seeing a gun owner.AdvertisementThat was why I needed to be able explain it in church. As time passed, I became pseudo-famous as a pro-gun Black preacher. That didn't go down too well when I became a pastor. People would make fun of it, making jokes until foreign media came over to visit me as a pistol-packing preacher. My notoriety for this thing didn't interest my deacons. But, I tried to explain that I am still a peace-aholic and a peacenik. I have just been taught how to protect others. I know nothing about the gun. It is the heart of man who is most evil. It is not what you do with the tool.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementIf we look at the progression of your career from being a law enforcement officer to becoming a writer, podcaster, and clergy, how did Mother Emanuel Church's shooting affect your advocacy? Six years ago, a white nationalist attacked Charleston, South Carolina and killed nine people. How did that change the way you talk about gun advocacy? What did that do to the attitudes of the Black church? After that incident, I know of many churches who brought in armed security to Sunday services. What did you think of that?It was actually Noah that I learned. It's frustrating when you try to build an arch and it doesn't rain, then when it does rain, everyone runs to you. After I said this stuff to ministers I was talking to fellow pastors and they were like Kenn, Yes, it does rain. I'm not going to do that thing. Then they said, Oh, yeah man, we are going to the range next weekend. Are you interested in joining us? What are you doing? I thought to myself, you guys have already done the entire thing I was trying before. We went there. It was a journey that went from OK, nobody said You were wrong or Can we take some classes from you now? Each person took their own path, sometimes a bit too much.AdvertisementAdvertisementYou and many Black gun advocates often talk about the history of gun control in America and how it has been influenced by white supremacy, limiting Black people's freedom to defend themselves and liberating them from state-sponsored apartheid. What is the most important nexus in Black gun history? People who think they don't need guns should learn about Black Americans' history with guns in America.I used to believe that knowing that they were the Black Codes was enough to explain many of the civil rights and gun issues that we are discussing now. When you think about the Dred Scot decision, they wanted Dred Scott to lose his right to keep and bear weapons, as well as the right of citizenship. Cruikshank is the story of Black gun rights and voting rights of a group of people who were denied these rights. You can visit Louisiana and North Carolina to see where our people came from. See how laws prevented them from owning a musketball or pit bull. You were expelled if you could defend your rights.You also know about the Great Migration. This is the story of how our people moved to Detroit and New York, and other places that had industry. To be civilized, our maternal grandparents, our matriarchs, told us to leave behind the guns and we became these undercover brothers with our firearms. We were still in the military, police officers, and hunters. We have a culture that doesn't teach safety and responsibility, even though we couldn't legally keep a gun at mama's house. It is you who will convert. It is easy to hear the history of our country, but once you are a homeowner you will have something to protect. You also need a fire extinguisher for when a fire breaks out, or in times of emergency. You will soon discover that you are your own first responder.You can listen to the whole episode below or subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Overcast, Spotify or Stitcher or Google Play.
