What happens when black Americans own guns? Joy Behar has an idea. On Wednesday's edition of “The View,” the group was able to take control of gun control. They actually tried. Host Sara Haines brought up the topic during the conversation held on Tuesday night alongside Connecticut’s Democratic Senator Chris Murphy, leading Joy to focus her attention on the GOP. “The Republican Party already has declared, a lot of times that taking the AR-15s from the marketplace isn't a viable option. It's all about guns, right?”
Republican guest host Lindsey Granger, on-air ringmaster of Sony Pictures’ program “Daily Blast Live” and the former national correspondent for “The List,” interjected. “Can I say this quickly as a gun owner? There are some people in this country who are gun owners and do it because of the same reasons.”
“An AR-15?” Joy asked.
Lindsey continued, “Let me share with you an example. There's a man from Connecticut who watched his neighbor suffer a home invasion and saw the entire family of his victim die. He constructed his own AR-15 due to the fact that Connecticut will not allow you to purchase the guns, but you can comply with the laws which allow you to construct AR-15s. Then he keeps one at home to protect his family since he does not want to repeat that experience. He's a black male… That's what I'm trying to say: They're not crazy people.”
They aren’t? This would certainly be shocking to people who collect their gun data from old news sources. It is often the case that those who advocate bans on AR-15s have no knowledge of their use. They also appear to be those who are disseminating the false information. If a gun expert was trapped in a small room by an angry criminal who was clutching a modern-day sporting rifle, he or she wouldn't be able to breathe with relief if the madman was able to switch to an old-fashioned Glock 19. Gun-related crimes mostly occur due to handguns. According to FBI statistics, of the 13,927 murders that occurred in 2019, 10,258 were committed using firearms. Of these, handguns were responsible for 6,368 deaths, while rifles were involved in just 364 cases. (For the other 3,281, the method was not specified.) However, the battle regarding the AR-15, which is actually a weapon employed by Americans in war, persists.
Moving forward, Joy called for a catalyst that could change Republicans' Second Amendment stance. “Here's the truth: once the black population is allowed to have guns in the United States, the gun laws are likely to change. Don't be fooled by me.” She reaffirmed, “Trust me on that. We'll get some action.”
Concerning assertions, she made at least one or more of them: for example, black Americans don't own guns.
- Black Americans cannot get guns.
- Republican lawmakers are racist.
- The NRA is a racist organization.
- The members of the NRA are racist.
- Republican supporters are racist.
In 2021, the National Firearms Survey reported on the characteristics of American firearm ownership: 40.2 percent are females, and 57.8 percent are males. About 25.4 percent of blacks have guns, 28.3 percent of Hispanics possess guns, 19.4 percent of Asians have firearms, and 34.3 percent of whites have guns.
If Joy would like to see black Americans equipped the way she would prefer, her wish will probably be granted; there are more black American firearm owners than she thought. In the event of the NRA having discovered the same, they may have this information. It is possible that she was shocked to learn of Lindsey Granger, the black gun owner on her left whom she apparently did not know, or the black man that was at the center of her story.
If Joy is right regarding Republicans and their prejudices, it's not unreasonable to expect GOP legislators to start bans on scissors when black Americans are granted those. Of the 14,000 murders committed in 2019, 1,476—nearly four times the number of murders that involved rifles—were caused by “knives or cutting instruments.”
What happens when blacks get hammers? Republicans might take off with the hammer. Blunt objects were used in 397 murders, 33 more than rifles. Perhaps conservatives believe that all Americans ought to have Second Amendment rights. Perhaps, despite the stereotyping of the long-running hosts of “The View,” many of the conservatives on “The View” are black.
