Guns Are for White People

[n2doc]

By Francis Wilkinson Jul 30, 2013 10:13 AM ET


Everybody's white. That's the conclusion from a survey of gun magazines I bought the other day. The survey, I admit, was not conducted in accord with the best research practices: I asked the guy at the subway kiosk for as many gun magazines as he could give me before the #4 train pulled in. He handed me three for $17.

All the magazines have ads for, well, guns, and loads of accessories (love the "Sneaky Pete" concealment holster). Naturally, they have stories on guns -- whether "intimidating, big-muzzle looks" or a "Tank-tough Recon Tactical with added strength and reliability for patrol." In addition, there are features on gun life, such as columns in Guns Magazine called "Campfire Tales" and "Odd Angry Shot."

There are pictures of guys with guns, gals with guns, animals with guns, ammo with guns and guns with guns. Curiously absent are pictures of black people with guns, brown people with guns or Asian people with guns. The good guys are white. The bad guys are white. In the Gunworld depicted in these pages, pretty much everyone is white.

This point was so striking, in fact, that I decided to count the faces in the ads and stories, figuring arithmetic would refute a lazy first impression. Including illustrations and photos, here's my tally:

Combat Handguns Magazine, November 2013
Whites: 92
Blacks: 1
Hispanics: 1
Asian: 1

Interestingly, both the (light-skinned) black guy and the Hispanic guy are wearing uniforms -- don't worry, folks, they're on our side! The Asian is dressed in a suit and tie and is clearly presented as a law enforcement or high-end security professional.

more
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-30/guns-are-for-white-people.html

[napkinz]

1. Whites have "Zimmeranda Rights"

[Paladin]

2. K&R. (nt)

[Bacchus4.0]

3. its who they are marketing to n/t

s

[jeff47]

4. I think those of us interested in gun control should start a program to arm minorities.

A whole lot of the gun-loving crowd isn't exactly "enlightened" on racial issues.

[SQUEE]

7. I endeavor to work with progressives and actually avoid all NRA

based training programs, most of the people I shoot with are Hispanic, as being from the Southwest I tend to hang out with them more, it's a cultural thing. I offer training merely on a technical level and involve no political posturing or discourse, simple mechanics and understanding of the physics of shooting. You would be surprised at the numer of minorities involved in recreational shooting and firearms training.

[bullwinkle428]

9. What do you think provided the momentum for the 1968 Gun Control Act?

Lots of conservative Congressmen got on board when they saw footage of strife/discontent/riots in some of the Northeastern cities, and essentially started thinking, "OH MY GOD...what if 'those people' start getting hold of firearms and begin to use them against us?"

[Township75]

5. The best thing to do is to deluge the advertisers with negative PR until

They begin to have ads that target minorities and promote gun ownership in minority communities.

[Cali_Democrat]

6. K&R

[The Straight Story]

8. You are reading the wrong magazines and such, you need rapper mags:

Notice in those magazines there are only a few white people and they don't have guns.

[napkinz]

10. kick

nt

[Sarah Ibarruri]

11. It makes me sick nt