Black gun rights groups are seizing on a Supreme Court ruling that makes it easier to carry handguns in public, touting it as an important vindication of their rights to self-defense and an opportunity to reshape the debate in the Black community over gun ownership six years after the killing of Philando Castile.
The justices in a 6-3 decision in June struck down a New York state law on concealed carry that restricted the carrying of handguns in public by most people.
The decision, coming amid a wave of mass shootings, has sparked worries about public safety, and raised questions about whether gun owners of color, such as Castile, would enjoy the same privileges as others. Castile, a Black man in Minnesota who had a permit for his firearm, was shot and killed by police during a 2016 traffic stop.
Philip Smith, founder and national president of the National African American Gun Association, which filed an amicus brief against the New York law, said the court ruling reinforces the rights of gun owners like Castile.
“When he was shot by that officer, after watching that video, I told our members, make sure you can still carry in your state. The one thing we cannot do is to act cowardly and to shudder in the corner like we don’t deserve to have a gun,” Smith said. “We’re going to stand tall and exercise our Second Amendment rights.”
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REUTERS/Eric Lee U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin gave his own account of conversations he and President Trump had with Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Zohran Mamdani regarding the IC...