Community defense and
an emerging gun owner
profile.
Since 2016, the profile
of the American gun owner has
shifted. LGBT training groups,
community outreach programs,
firearm ownership organizations,
and left-wing militias. More and
more left-leaning Americans
are buying guns.
A new gun
owner.
In 2021, almost one-third of all new gun purchases were made by first-time gun buyers. The number of first-time buyers in 2021 exceeded 5.4 million Americans. More background checks were processed by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in 2021 than any year on record. Of 21 million background checks, 8.4 million were for individuals who had never purchased a gun. 33% of first-time gun buyers in 2021 were women. Retailers noted a substantial increase in this demographic as well as Black, Latino, Indigenous, and Asian American Pacific Islander buyers. Each demographic reports a majority aligning with left-wing candidates, policies, and ideologies.
Why the left is buying guns.
The fastest-growing demographic of gun owners in America is Black women. The National African American Gun Association, founded exclusively for Black gun owners, is the fastest-growing gun organization in America, including the National Rifle Association. The majority of this growing organization of 40,000 Black gun owners are women. According to the 2022 National Shooting Sports Foundation annual retailers survey, 45% of retailers noted an increase in Black women buying firearms, which has been growing since 2015.
Members of this growing segment of gun owners cite one primary reason as their purpose for arming themselves, defense. According to the Pew Research Center, 75% of all gun owners cite defense as the primary reason they own a firearm, and many first-time left-wing gun buyers cite this as the only reason for buying a gun. Frequent targeted attacks and mass shootings have many left-wing gun owners worried about personal and community safety.​
How the left is using guns.
In Dallas, Texas in February 2023 a group of anti-LGBT, anti-trans, anti-drag protestors calling themselves Project Texas Kids gathered across the street from BuzzBrews. The urban diner hosts a weekly drag brunch, and in light of recent anti-trans media coverage and political attacks, the event is an easy target for protests. Standing opposed to Project Texas Kids was a mass of counter-protestors, among them armed members of local left-wing gun organizations.
Primarily, the left uses guns in cases like these with the hope to dissuade and prevent violent action against members of their community. Many left-wing gun owners and organizations refer to this principle as “community defense.” While the right propagates a notion of self-defense as the reason for gun ownership, many gun owners on the left see defense as a collective action and act accordingly. Individuals and organizations show up armed at protests, counter-protests, queer events, clubs, and left-wing gatherings.
These displays of force are aimed at preventing all violence by showing the lengths some are willing to go to protect themselves, their ideology, and their community.
“That rifle on the wall of the labourer's cottage or
working class flat is the symbol of democracy. It
is our job to see that it stays there.”
- George Orwell, Evening Standard