Brandon stands wearing a blue suit next to a building, holding a semiautomatic handgun. In a recorded clip, he describes being a black gun owner in America in terms of “double consciousness” akin to what W. E. B. Du Bois discussed.
“The gun owner in me tells me that everyone should have a right to protect themselves,” he says. “It’s our intrinsic human right. It’s our natural right to be able to protect ourselves. But, sometimes, as a black person, I look at some of these cases and think that, potentially, I might not get the same justice.”
Brandon’s photo is part of the “Armed Doesn’t Mean Dangerous” exhibit on display through February 22 at the Colorado Photographic Arts Center in Denver. Chicago photographer Christian K. Lee describes his work, “The point of this project is to recondition myself, and others, toward the more positive view of Black people and guns: to promote a more balanced archive of images of African Americans with firearms by showing responsible gun owners—those who use these weapons for sport, hobby and protection. I hope these photos bring that important point into focus.”
Tiana, another person photographed by Lee, says, “Whatever your political views are, that’s yours. Whatever your religious views are, those are yours. But when it comes to the Second Amendment right, that’s what I’m for, bottom line.”
Stephanie of Chicago, who sits with a pink top, pink slippers, and a handgun, says, “I do exercise my Second Amendment right. And I’ve had some arguments with people about that,” as some people presume her views about guns predict her other political views.
She also discusses getting hassled by police for being a gun owner: “I get stopped by the police a lot, which is strange to me, because many of the times they have stopped me, I have been in uniform, coming from work. . . . And I’ve been asked, ‘Is this your weapon? Are you supposed to have this?’ . . . I feel like a white person, they would just give them a wave and keep on going. I feel because I’m black, and I’m a black woman, that is the reason they stop me. And they almost look surprised to find out that everything is legit.”
A ‘complicated relationship’
Recently Lee sat down for a recorded video call with the Center’s Samantha Johnston. Discussing his personal background and some of his projects, he says, “For me, photography is very spiritual. It’s a way to connect with my family, community, and the world around me.”
Lee describes his photographic work as revealing underlying mental models and beliefs that give rise to the scenes and events explicitly shown in the work. In covering the protests in Ferguson, Missouri, he says, he wrestled with the view of the unbiased photographer versus his growing sense of caring about the underlying events. (In my view, being unbiased means following the evidence where it leads, not eschewing moral judgment or avoiding emotional reactions. In his book Progressive Myths, Michael Huemer discusses details of the police killing of Michael Brown, which sparked the Ferguson unrest.)
Lee also says he tries to reveal what people are not talking about, such as the impact of cancelled high school proms during the pandemic. He says he has come to think of himself more as an artist than a documentarian.
Lee describes his Denver exhibit as about “the complicated relationship between African Americans and the Second Amendment.” He shows a photo of his father, a Chicago-area police officer, who, Lee says, “really taught me about protecting myself.” Lee continues, “He was one of the first people that I saw, black people, that looked like me, with a gun.” Lee dedicated the exhibit to his father.
Lee says part of his inspiration for taking on the project was reading Carol Anderson’s book “The Second: Race and Guns in a Fatally Unequal America.” Lee, a veteran, was struck by the history of black people in the military and of racist opposition to black people owning guns. (Dave Kopel also discusses some of that history and offers a somewhat different take than what Lee gathers from Anderson in terms of the purpose of the Second Amendment.)
Lee says, “There’s a lesson being taught to me from history, there’s a lesson being taught to me from [current events], that this firearm is not for me. It’s for a certain group. And I just refuse to accept that.”
Lee continues, “I knew that there was something out there that I wasn’t seeing. It couldn’t be that my father was the only responsible gun owner on my block, or in my community. So I started to search for responsible, African American gun owners.”
Black gun owners in Colorado
The black newspaper Colorado Statesman discusses the Gun and Rod Club in several short articles. A 1950 article reviews, “This gun club has been in existence since 1940 and has successfully leased and maintained some 5,000 acres of good duck, pheasant and rabbit hunting and shooting grounds. . . . The club also works to promote better sportsmanship and good fellowship.”
A 1941 article discusses black business owner Ernest Howard, who ran a hardware store at 2735 Welton Street in Denver and helped to organize the gun club. A 1947 article announcing Howard’s retirement notes, “Howard always took an active part in civic affairs, and was generous in his support of our churches and institutions.” In addition to participating in various lodges, Howard was a “member of 20th Century Gun and Rod Club of which he was one of its organizers.”
In 1954, the Statesman reported, the Gun and Rod Club organized “one of the season’s most delightful dinner parties” where “attorney Irving Andrews was the guest speaker.” Andrews had assisted in the case Brown v. Board of Education.
A few years ago, Anubis Heru made the news for starting a black-owned gun club, the 1770 Armory, in Denver. In his 2021 article discussing the new club for the Colorado Sun, Theo E. J. Wilson anticipates many of the concerns voiced by Lee. Around that time Heru and his business associate discussed his project with radio host Ross Kaminsky. Heru appeared in a short 2022 documentary to discuss his work.
Lee’s exhibit reminds us that responsible black gun owners long have been part of our Colorado community.
Ari Armstrong writes regularly for Complete Colorado and is the author of books about Ayn Rand, Harry Potter, and classical liberalism. He can be reached at ari at ariarmstrong dot com.
