Black Guns Matter: Changing the Perspective

Black Guns Matter is a charity based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that educates and informs urban communities on their Second Amendment rights and responsibilities. Black Guns Matter believes that educating people about their right to bear arms is essential to maintaining a free and safe society.

Black Guns Matter was started by Maj Toure, who is an educator and community leader. One of his main goals when setting up this charity is to prevent people from being arrested for what he believes is an avoidable gun possession charge due to a lack of information and knowledge about how to legally own a firearm. He also aims to dispel the negative stereotypes often associated with urban communities and gun ownership.

Additionally, Black Guns Matter works closely with local law enforcement agencies to promote communication and understanding between citizens and police officers. Maj recently posted a thought-provoking question:

“What if we stopped trying to get guns off the streets and instead started licensing young men in Philadelphia to legally carry a gun?”

The goals of this organization are simple:

• They provide free training and education to everyone who needs it.
• They want to reduce crime in Philadelphia by 25% in five years.
• They aim to purchase a building without a mortgage so that they have a base where anyone can come and learn about safe gun use.

Along with other members of the Black Guns Matter community, they have travelled across the country since 2019 teaching urban Americans from all walks of lives, spanning a range of ages about their human rights to self-defense and personal protection. They are trying to remove the stigma in urban areas that if you carry a gun, you are either law enforcement or a bad guy, because that is simply not true. But while you have a right to carry a gun, you also have a right to be responsible with it. They are passionate about changing the misinformation through their tour and stopping the path of destruction many people are on.

Why is Black Guns Matter important?

Black Guns Matter gives people who may not have access to the correct information and education a proper understanding of responsible gun ownership. It has increased safe gun ownership and reduced crime, especially in underprivileged areas. One of their future goals is to create a scalable model so that their success can be replicated in more metropolitan and populated areas such as major cities like New York and Boston.

In 2019 Toure spoke in front of the US House of Representatives, as a representative of “Black Guns Matter.” During this time, he argued his opinion during a hearing on gun violence. He stated that educating citizens, especially young men, on conflict solutions is more effective than gun control. This charity believes that the high homicide rates due to gun violence could be drastically reduced as people do not know how to de-escalate from violence and gun safety. Also, these people would seem less of a threat to law enforcement if they were correctly educated, whether carrying a gun or not.

The excellent work of Black Guns Matter has encouraged other people to start educating on gun safety. One special center in Philadelphia called The Solution Center has been inspired by Black Guns Matter’s work and has added several education events and free classes in multiple areas around the city. These events will educate people about how the legal gun trade works, conflict resolution and the increased safety in your neighborhood and how that directly affects everyone’s quality of life.

This is a topic of conversation that is so important to everyone as with more education around gun safety, many people will have the tools they need to use their firearms correctly. Also, they will go on to teach younger people what they have learned. It not only promotes gun safety and conflict solutions in this generation but many younger generations.

If you are inspired by the work of Black Guns Matter, they have opened an online shop where they are fundraising to try and gather enough money to buy their main base in Philadelphia. It is where you can buy many different jumpers, t-shirts and cups, with various slogans promoting the sentiment around this organization.

If you would like to know more about the Black Guns Matter movement, visit their Facebook page here. If you would like to learn more about firearms or the gunsmithing industry MGS Trade School is a wealth of information about everything guns. Go to their page today to start your knowledge journey.

Written by: Ryan Clancy, Engineering HQ