Black Gun Rights Activist Launches ‘Black Guns Matter’

Gun rights activist Maj Toure is seeking to educate his fellow black citizens on the importance of the Second Amendment, gun ownership, and gun safety via his new group, “Black Guns Matter” (BGM).

The launch of BGM “kicked off a planned 13-city tour, with similar events in cities like Baltimore and Chicago with high rates of gun violence, where he feels gun training could make a difference.

In an interview with Ebony magazine, Toure said:

There’s so much ignorance around the Second Amendment, especially in the ‘hood. The general public thinks if you have a firearm, then you’ve got to be this horrible person. [But] having a firearm and being a responsible gun owner is good citizenship. You can protect against negative portions of the community and law enforcement. Anybody not trying to do the right thing is a tyrant or a terrorist, for lack of a better term. We created something that would address that, as opposed to complaining about it.

Ebony asked Toure how he arrived to focus on “black” guns in particular. Toure explained:

Well, it’s not necessarily about the actual firearm [so] much for us. It’s about the safety and training around [guns]. It’s understanding what your rights are. Not something that was given, necessarily by the government. Something that’s a human, inalienable right. You can have all the constitutional rights and amendments you want, but if you don’t have something to defend those rights and beliefs from somebody who’s trying to violate those rights, then it doesn’t even make sense. It’s got to be something behind those words. A bully doesn’t stop bullying because you’re just saying stuff. A bully stops bullying because you pushed back.

When asked if BGM and the Black Lives Matter movement intersect, Toure stressed that the two groups are separate entities serving separate purposes.

He said:

We don’t really have an affiliation with BLM. We understand there’s a struggle. Everybody’s trying to fight against prejudice and tyranny. In that sense, I could see how people would make that association, but we’re totally separate organizations. BLM, as an organization, to me, has put a face on [the movement] and gave it a name. But these things have been happening [in America] for a minute, as we all know.

What we can do at BGM is offer any strategic advice or just do things we know helps. We ain’t really about marching. We’re more about getting in, informing the people, training the people and getting them to stand on their own.

AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.