The Jacksonville (FL) Times-Union newspaper got itself splashed all over the Internet recently with a front-page story about panic-buying of guns after the election. The story itself was old news: the heavy buying had started before the election, ramped up to epic proportions as soon as the results were in, and continues unabated as I write this. Publishing the story on 11/23/08, the Jacksonville paper was behind its usual fast track in gathering news that is actually new. What caught the nation’s attention was one individual quoted in newsman Charlie Patton’s story:

“In a comment bound to infuriate some gun owners, Mikhail Muhammad, state and Jacksonville chairman of the New Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, said the increasing gun sales were a reaction by ‘the radical element in the white community.’ ‘We call it white supremacy anxiety disorder,’ Muhammad said.”

It may have infuriated “some gun owners,” but it caused this one to laugh.

I’m of Syrian descent on my paternal side, and Scotch-Irish on the maternal. “A mutt,” as Barack Obama recently called himself, like so many of us. When my eldest was ten, I took her with me on safari in South Africa, in the time of apartheid. It gave her a new appreciation of American freedom, a new understanding of her mom and dad telling her what it was like to grow up when there was segregation in parts of our own country. And an understanding of what it was like to be the ones discriminated against, because under the three-tiered system of White/Colored/Black that was apartheid, the kid and I were “Colored.”

One thing all of us can be thankful about as we review the results of November 4 is that this country finally elected an African-American as its President, and did so thanks to a huge percentage of the Caucasian vote. It will go far – though how far, we don’t know yet – to exorcise the demons of racism that have haunted our nation’s history for so long.

Hell, it’s no secret to anyone who reads Backwoods Home magazine or this blog that the candidate I really wanted was African-American. Unfortunately, Condoleeza Rice was apparently too fed up with thankless jobs to run for the one that would have put her in the Oval Office.

I’m feeling an urge to phone the Black Panther HQ in Jacksonville and talk to Mikhail Muhammad. If it’s about “white supremacy anxiety disorder,” I’d like to hear his take on why so many African-Americans are buying “assault rifles” and “high capacity” magazines right now. I’d like to ask him why the website www.newblackpantherjax.com says in its “10-Point Platform,” “ARMS IN THE HANDS OF THE PEOPLE!” (Point 2) and “The Second Amendment of white America’s Constitution gives a right to bear arms” (Point 7). Hell, I might even ask him if he knew that Martin Luther King was a gun owner. He was also a Republican.

Let’s consider the principle of Occam’s Razor. Often, the simplest explanation is the correct explanation.

Ya think it just might be that all Americans of every color are desperately buying certain guns because a President has been elected, and a Party given great power, who made it clear that they don’t want those American citizens to have access to those guns anymore?

The front page story in question.

Racial elements in the last Presidential race were more layered than they looked.

Black and white alike have been buying guns in the current “run.” Scene is Trail Boss Gun Shop in Sierra Vista, AZ.

1 COMMENT

  1. Like you, I am a mutt (1/4 cherokee, 1/8 choctaw, and a mixture of different white that includes jews). I get tired of the stereotyping of gun owners/buyers as white, undereducated, males. At a recent gunshow, I saw the entire racial rainbow of people buying what they wanted. I even helped an african-American couple choose a firearm that is reliable and in their price range. It is not fear of what “black” president will do that has caused an upsurge in firearms sales. It is fear of what a known opponent of personal freedom will do.

  2. Then there’s me. An old white guy, Vietnam combat vet. I bought two revolvers recently and applied for my CCW permit here in Florida. It’s partially in response to my having to work in a nasty part of town way before dawn. But I’m also fearful that President-Elect Obama might be assassinated. If that happens, I want to be sure I have an even chance against the unrest that would follow. I might also want to join the hunt against those assassins. I’m older and slower but I doubt if I’ve forgotten how to hunt.
    I hope Obama doesn’t try to do anything to abrogate gun ownership. At this point I’m wiling to give him a chance on that issue.
    Massad, I’ve read most of what you’ve written about guns and shooting that I’ve found on line. I’ve loved the information and your style.
    Eric

  3. Hi Mas,

    It’s not the President elect’s skin color at all.

    It’s the fact that he could care less about the US Constitution and want’s to ban firearms and stop CCW across this great land.

    They might get a ban, but they can’t enforce it. Just what we need, a few more stupid firearms laws.

  4. Like you I am a bunch of nationalities, “e pluribus unum, out of many one,” Maybe it’s time we stopped embracing multiculturalism and became that melting pot once again, instead of trying to become a buffet of cultures.

    My guess would be that Mikhail Muhammad’s response is probably due to his being prohibited from buying one.

  6. Yup! Clearly it’s because [white] American’s are racist, not because the Pres, and VP moving into the White House next month vote for every ridiculous feel-good gun ban scheme that comes up to vote. It’s not because we’re afraid we may never have a chance to buy these later.

  7. The saddest thing is a great many of those mass buyers were obama voters. What the H were they thinking? I work with a few, vote Dem and cry like a baby “why doesn’t the NRA do something?”, of course none of them are members. And you can’t sense to them, it’s never their fault. Sometimes I get so disguisted, I think you know what I mean.

  8. Had there been a litmus test, Obama would not have been elected. At the very least a class in Political Science should be required.

    At least half of the morons that voted for our new antigun President believe that the Republicans were in control of the House and Senate. The other half believe that the President (Bush) had the power to pass laws; thus everything wrong is the fault of the President (Bush).

    Let us hope that our enemies abroad don’t assasinate Obama in an attempt to cause the civil unrest that will surely follow.

    May God grant a long and healthy life to our current members of the Supreme Court.

    Gotta run now; need to stock up on reloading supplies.

    Ken

    “SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES”

    God help us all if Obama is assasinated!

  9. As many have stated its the people voted into office that caused the stir. I was at our local county gun range yesterday and it truely has become scarey. Many new shooters have been showing up with absolutely no clue as to how to handle their new firearm safely. People have been buying AR’s and AK’s and larger caliber hand guns in large numbers. This what I find scarey. The uneducated in firearm safety. I had to leave early because uf what was going on around me. Truely sad it is.

  10. A few years back, when my career fell apart I drove a cab for a living in a mostly Black area. Over three and a half years, I had close conversation with African Americans from every possible spectrum of society. Tens of thousands of hours talking about every subject imaginable. White folks should understand that many, if not most Black Americans have a very differant view of the world than they have. Everything is viewed with regard to the effects of racism on it. I’m not condemming this. I’m only reporting what I learned first hand. Many Black Americans view this election result very differently than White Americans, even Liberals. They view it in terms of Black folks being on top for the very first time. There is even an
    undertone of vengefulness about how they see things now. This is NOT what Dr. King would have hoped for after the election of America’s first Black President. What I’m reading from what I’ve seen and heard recently, is for want of a better term, almost an arrogance which says, hay buddy, we’re in charge now, and you had better know it!

    Isn’t it interesting that when President-Elect Obama said that gun laws should be different, for cities with crime problems, and for rural areas where all the sportsmen live, Black Americans seemed to completly miss that he was saying that large black urban populations just can not be trused with firearms? You might think
    that the racist implications of that would have dawned on folks. They were so blinded by Mr. Obamas color that anything he says is what they support.

    Just before the election an interviewer went into Harlem. He asked Black voters if they supported Mr. Obama because of his policies. If they answered yes, he read them a McCain policy word for word, saying that it was an Obama policy. Every one of them said that they strongly supported that policy. Some even agreed when asked that Palin would be a great Vice-President for Obama. If you think that the 95% black vote for Obama had anything to do with other than race, you’re foolish.

  11. yes to all those who are offend by my comments stop crying like little wimps and trust me i am well armed okay. and to the silly hateful peckerwood who would make an assuption about muslim names .. the blackman was here before the arabs so i did not adopt anyone elses name … the names are african of the blackmans culture.you say the arabs played a role in slave traficking yes it is true, but the wicked whiteman profited the most , he raped ,robbed murdered africans but like you he was a coward lier ..and to this day you the whiteman is still trying to …… hide and deny your envolvement.. and like i stated most of the gun purchases are by white folks most of my people have felonys which disqualifies many african americans the white man is a sorry and poor loser ..

  12. yes to all those who are offend by my comments stop crying like little wimps and trust me i am well armed okay. and to the silly hateful peckerwood who would make an assuption about muslim names .. the blackman was here before the arabs so i did not adopt anyone elses name … the names are african of the blackmans culture.you say the arabs played a role in slave traficking yes it is true, but the wicked whiteman profited the most , he raped ,robbed murdered africans but like you he was a coward lier ..and to this day you the whiteman is still trying to …… hide and deny your envolvement.. and like i stated most of the gun purchases are by white folks most of my people have felonys which disqualifies many african americans the white man is a sorry and poor loser ..

  13. yes to all those who are offend by my comments stop crying like little wimps and trust me i am well armed okay. and to the silly hateful peckerwood who would make an assuption about muslim names .. the blackman was here before the arabs so i did not adopt anyone elses name … the names are african of the blackmans culture.you say the arabs played a role in slave traficking yes it is true, but the wicked whiteman profited the most , he raped ,robbed murdered africans but like you he was a coward lier ..and to this day you the whiteman is still trying to …… hide and deny your envolvement.. and like i stated most of the gun purchases are by white folks most of my people have felonys which disqualifies many african americans the white man is a sorry and poor loser ..

  14. yes to all those who are offend by my comments stop crying like little wimps and trust me i am well armed okay. and to the silly hateful peckerwood who would make an assuption about muslim names .. the blackman was here before the arabs so i did not adopt anyone elses name … the names are african of the blackmans culture.you say the arabs played a role in slave traficking yes it is true, but the wicked whiteman profited the most , he raped ,robbed murdered africans but like you he was a coward lier ..and to this day you the whiteman is still trying to …… hide and deny your envolvement.. and like i stated most of the gun purchases are by white folks most of my people have felonys which disqualifies many african americans the white man is a sorry and poor loser ..

  15. Welcome to Mikhail Muhammad, the New Black Panther Party official who was quoted in the Jacksonville newspaper article mentioned in the blog entry that began this dialogue.

    Sir, perhaps you could answer here the question I posed in the blog entry: if you believe the current wave of gun-buying is symptomatic of “white supremacy anxiety disorder,” why do feel that so many African-Americans, and so many Americans of other heritage, are purchasing firearms at an accelerated rate?

    You make reference to “the silly hateful peckerwood who would make an assuption about muslim names” (sic). Who would that be, exactly? I think I missed that part.

    Looking forward to hearing back from you,
    Mas

  16. hello and good morning to the writer who WOULD A SK THE QUESTION WHY ARE SO MANY AMERICANS BUYING WEAPONS ../THERE ARE MUTIPLE REASONS THE COMMENTS SUPPOSEDLY MADE BY THE PRESIDENT ELECT HAVE TRIGGERED A BUYING FRENZY AS WELL AS HIS ELECTION..I WILL SAY THIS THERE ARE SOME BLACKS WHO ARE ABLE TO PURCHASE WEAPONS SOLD IN GUN OR PAWN SHOPS , BUT WHITE AMERICANS ARE THE MAJORITY OF THE AMERICAN POPULATION SO FIGURE, MEMBERS OF MY ORGANIZATION ARE IN OBSERVATION AT VARIOUS GUN SHOPS, THERE IS MORE SIGNIFICENT ISSUES FOR BLACK SO CALLED AMERICANS , ACCORDING TO THE AMERICAN CONSTITUTION WHICH DOES NOT APPLY TO THE BLACK COMMUNITY, WHICH STATES CITIZENS HAVE THE RIGHT BEAR ARMS .. I HAVE SPOKEN ON THIS MORE THAN I CARE FOR I STAND ON MY PREVIOUS STATEMENT .. BLACK POWER

  17. hello and good morning to the writer who WOULD A SK THE QUESTION WHY ARE SO MANY AMERICANS BUYING WEAPONS ../THERE ARE MUTIPLE REASONS THE COMMENTS SUPPOSEDLY MADE BY THE PRESIDENT ELECT HAVE TRIGGERED A BUYING FRENZY AS WELL AS HIS ELECTION..I WILL SAY THIS THERE ARE SOME BLACKS WHO ARE ABLE TO PURCHASE WEAPONS SOLD IN GUN OR PAWN SHOPS , BUT WHITE AMERICANS ARE THE MAJORITY OF THE AMERICAN POPULATION SO FIGURE, MEMBERS OF MY ORGANIZATION ARE IN OBSERVATION AT VARIOUS GUN SHOPS, THERE IS MORE SIGNIFICENT ISSUES FOR BLACK SO CALLED AMERICANS , ACCORDING TO THE AMERICAN CONSTITUTION WHICH DOES NOT APPLY TO THE BLACK COMMUNITY, WHICH STATES CITIZENS HAVE THE RIGHT BEAR ARMS .. I HAVE SPOKEN ON THIS MORE THAN I CARE FOR I STAND ON MY PREVIOUS STATEMENT .. BLACK POWER

  18. hello and good morning to the writer who WOULD A SK THE QUESTION WHY ARE SO MANY AMERICANS BUYING WEAPONS ../THERE ARE MUTIPLE REASONS THE COMMENTS SUPPOSEDLY MADE BY THE PRESIDENT ELECT HAVE TRIGGERED A BUYING FRENZY AS WELL AS HIS ELECTION..I WILL SAY THIS THERE ARE SOME BLACKS WHO ARE ABLE TO PURCHASE WEAPONS SOLD IN GUN OR PAWN SHOPS , BUT WHITE AMERICANS ARE THE MAJORITY OF THE AMERICAN POPULATION SO FIGURE, MEMBERS OF MY ORGANIZATION ARE IN OBSERVATION AT VARIOUS GUN SHOPS, THERE IS MORE SIGNIFICENT ISSUES FOR BLACK SO CALLED AMERICANS , ACCORDING TO THE AMERICAN CONSTITUTION WHICH DOES NOT APPLY TO THE BLACK COMMUNITY, WHICH STATES CITIZENS HAVE THE RIGHT BEAR ARMS .. I HAVE SPOKEN ON THIS MORE THAN I CARE FOR I STAND ON MY PREVIOUS STATEMENT .. BLACK POWER

  19. hello and good morning to the writer who WOULD A SK THE QUESTION WHY ARE SO MANY AMERICANS BUYING WEAPONS ../THERE ARE MUTIPLE REASONS THE COMMENTS SUPPOSEDLY MADE BY THE PRESIDENT ELECT HAVE TRIGGERED A BUYING FRENZY AS WELL AS HIS ELECTION..I WILL SAY THIS THERE ARE SOME BLACKS WHO ARE ABLE TO PURCHASE WEAPONS SOLD IN GUN OR PAWN SHOPS , BUT WHITE AMERICANS ARE THE MAJORITY OF THE AMERICAN POPULATION SO FIGURE, MEMBERS OF MY ORGANIZATION ARE IN OBSERVATION AT VARIOUS GUN SHOPS, THERE IS MORE SIGNIFICENT ISSUES FOR BLACK SO CALLED AMERICANS , ACCORDING TO THE AMERICAN CONSTITUTION WHICH DOES NOT APPLY TO THE BLACK COMMUNITY, WHICH STATES CITIZENS HAVE THE RIGHT BEAR ARMS .. I HAVE SPOKEN ON THIS MORE THAN I CARE FOR I STAND ON MY PREVIOUS STATEMENT .. BLACK POWER

  24. First off, I work for a police department (not an officer though) and have gone shooting and talked guns with my fellow officers. Your name has come up often Mas, and it should come as no surprise that you’re a well-respected figure in their ranks.

    As for the assertion that it is racism is driving the gun purchases… it’s clearly nonsense! A gun grabber has been elected, it doesn’t matter what color that gun grabber is! His VP is a gun grabber. Nearly every person he has tapped for his cabinet is a gun grabber (certainly his AG pick!) His statements that he supports the Second Amendment ring hollow as he always adds in a “but….” and even without the caveats all one has to do is look at his record to dispell any notion that he’s at all a friend to gun owners!

    So people are buying not because the President is a black man, but because he has promised to do things like reimplement the Assault Weapons Ban… and we’re taking him at his word!

  25. I am sorry to see Mas Ayoob go down this road. He has always written good columns. But to support Obama just to see an african american candidate will not work.. Mas is supposed to be a great supportere of gun rights yet Obama is the biggest antigunner, and communist in history. And Obama’s presidency has already caused many businesses to go under even before he got elected. This country is heading for a major depression and voting for a candidate just for his skin color will prove out to be a mistake. Obama is embroiled in the Blojevich scandal and has not taken office yet.

  27. Mas,

    Just wanted to say I’m happy you’re in our community. Some people don’t realize it’s not your race,what you look like. It’s how you act and WHAT YOU DO that defines you. Welcome aboard!