NRA lawsuits come amid changing face of American gun owners – By Patrik Jonsson & Noah Robertson (CS Monitor) / Aug 13 2020
Outside lawsuits and internal revolts for the once-powerful organization come at a time when more Americans – and more diverse Americans – are buying guns. Not all say the NRA speaks for them.
Babu Omowale says he needs the National Rifle Association – but only until he doesn’t.
As the national firearms organization finds itself under existential threat, Mr. Omowale, the co-founder of the Huey P. Newton Gun Club in Dallas, is emblematic of a shifting gun-owning population in the U.S., some of whom say they do not identify with the NRA’s message.
On the one hand, the NRA certifies gun owners in many states. But that narrow utility makes it expendable, especially for Black gun owners, whom the NRA has historically struggled to engage as members.
“The NRA is just a political tool for us to be able to arm ourselves, but we don’t buy into the politics of any of it since it’s the right of every American to take advantage of [the Second Amendment],” says Mr. Omowale, who has joined armed rallies recently on behalf of Black rights. “I believe it’s time for [Black people] to start our own NRA.”
Continue to article: https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2020/0813/NRA-lawsuits-come-amid-changing-face-of-American-gun-owners
