A | | CONTINUED FROM PAGE 49 T THIS POINT , I ’ M STILL NOT or false : When someone passes you a quite committed to keeping and handgun you should first look down the on gun ownership . “ Second Amendment bearing arms , but I know I have barrel to make sure that it ’ s clear .” No rights are different down here ,” he notes . to see it through at least as far one outside of an old Warner Brothers “ I applied for a concealed carry license as the blue card test . And so I cartoon should have trouble answering
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and within eleven days it was in my mailbox .”
While local laws might be more amenable to his self-defense , the culture wasn ’ t always so welcoming . There were gun stores adorned with Confederate flags . He would flip through the NRA ’ s holiday catalogue ( they have a holiday catalogue ?) and not see a single person of color . It was the same at gun ranges .
“ There is this myth that firearms are only for white , middle class , conservative people , that the Second Amendment is for them and not for us ,” he says . “ The Second Amendment was instrumental in the security of African-Americans .”
Hence , his involvement in NAAGA , whose goal “ is to have every African- American introduced to firearm use .” He sees it as a vehicle for his community to take ownership not only of the Second Amendment , but gun culture . “ We have a mission to develop responsible , legal , ethical gun owners ,” he says .
Diana Garlington is another person whose belief in responsible gun ownership for personal safety comes from experience , not political ideology . She is about as far from the stereotype of the American gun owner as one could imagine : a fiftytwo-year-old Black woman who lost a daughter to gun violence and is heavily involved in the local chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America .
She purchased a firearm in 2005 , when her daughter was in a relationship with a dangerous man . “ I became very protective ,” Diana recalls . “ I felt I needed my firearm as protection .”
In 2011 , Diana ’ s daughter was riding in that boyfriend ’ s car when another car pulled alongside them and opened fire . She was pronounced dead on arrival .
That loss spurred Diana to get involved with Moms Demand Action , to help other survivors “ amplify their voices with their stories .” Despite that , she still owns a firearm .
“ I always try to explain that I am not against owning a gun . I am against people who use guns for purposes they shouldn ’ t be used for ,” she says . “ I feel that everyone has the right to be protected .”
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set out on a snowy day , when the grocery stores are closed but the gun stores are still open .
It seems like a sound idea : To purchase a handgun , you must educate yourself on safety , then take a test proving that you understand it .
The reality is a bit different . The free study guide available at any gun store gives the impression that earning your blue card requires comprehensive knowledge of handguns — the different types , their uses , the mechanics of how they work — but the actual test is focused almost exclusively on safety practices and principals .
It ’ s fifty questions : twenty-five multiple choice and twenty-five — I kid you not — true or false . And these questions aren ’ t exactly the math problem from Good Will Hunting . A sample question , which I ’ m paraphrasing but only slightly , is , “ True
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that one .
Oh , and did I mention that you take the test at a gun store ? That would be like taking the road test for your driver ’ s license at a used car lot .
Even Tom allows that it ’ s a bit silly . “ I believe everyone has the right to own a gun and should have as many guns as they want . I don ’ t believe in any limitations on that ,” he says . “ But if you can ’ t pass the blue card test , you have no business owning a firearm .”
I ’ ll soon find out whether I have any business owning a firearm . It takes about two weeks to receive your blue card in the mail after the test , assuming you pass . ( You have to score at least eighty percent .)
As of this writing , I ’ m still checking my mailbox . I haven ’ t made a final decision about what , if anything , I ’ m going to do if I get my blue card — but I know what America wants me to do . �
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