In America, just the suspicion of being armed can get a Black man killed.
But now, with half of America’s states sanction carrying a gun in public without first securing a license, data suggests that unlicensed carry could saddle the Black community with a heavy burden.
Black Americans are already 10 times more likely to die from gun homicides, 18 times more likely to deal with gun assaults and three times more likely to be fatally shot by the police.
Alabama is the latest state to allow permitless carry of a firearm, which includes both concealed and open carry. The law went into effect on the first of the year, but gun violence experts harbor concerns about what that means for Black men often perceived as threatening, even when unarmed.
“We just need to be very prepared for the negative ramifications of what’s going to happen in terms of policing. We need to be prepared in terms of how we engage with the police,” says Joseph Richardson, a professor at the University of Maryland and gun violence researcher.
“There are definitely going to be situations where Black citizens are innocently carrying a firearm and they’re stopped by the police,” he added.
Homicide is the leading cause of death for Black males ages one to 44 and one of the top three leading causes of death for Black women (most homicides committed in the country involved a firearm). In 2020, firearms became the leading cause of death for all children, while Black children are exposed to gun violence four times more often than white children.
“There are definitely going to be situations where Black citizens are innocently carrying a firearm and they’re stopped by the police.”
– Joseph Richardson, Professor, University of Maryland
Lethal risks also increase with the presence of more guns on streets in the absence of required licenses limiting who gets to arm themselves.
“The key here is that these are people who have guns and don’t have any training,” says Brenda Goss Andrews, the former deputy chief of police in Detroit and the president of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives.
“Can you imagine being an officer and responding to something and everyone pulls out a gun? This is a real crisis here and a threat to everyone, including law enforcement in the field.”
