Firearms, The Great Equalizer Vs. Racism In America

Kathy Chatterton
Kathy Chatterton : ANJRPC President

New Jersey –-(Ammoland.com)- Recently our President “came out” about his feelings that America is a racist country.

Apparently, despite having been elected twice, the President still feels that Americans are suspicious of African Americans.

Within the past year we also heard Jamie Foxx declare that he loved making the movie Django because at the end of the movie he got to kill all the white people. This Saturday Night Live monologue went out of the airwaves and there was no outrage at all from the media! Clearly it was not a racist thing to say if the media didn’t think so.

The point of all this is that I believe I have something in common with those two men who feel demeaned by American society despite their immense successes and great fortunes. After all, I am female and grew up in the early days of feminism so I learned from the feminists that I would have to fight for everything I wanted in a man’s world. They told me that I would be viewed as a second-class citizen and in no way equal to men.

By that time, my father and brothers had already taught me that almost all men were faster and stronger than I. I learned that it was not wise to physically challenge boys or men in any way that required physical strength. But I had also already learned that I was just as smart as they were and in many ways and with different skillsets I could even outperform boys and men. Maybe I was just lucky but by the time adulthood rolled around I had developed a pretty solid belief that in America, if a person wanted to do something, man or woman, black or white, there was almost always a way to get to that something if you were smart about it and willing to work for it.

And now as a female in a male-dominated sport I demonstrate that theory frequently.

Why did I get involved with shooting in the first place? Well, somebody took me shooting and I was good at it, that’s why. Due to the nature of the sport I found I could compete strongly especially if I worked hard at it and learned the skills. I felt I was on equal ground.

Firearms have been called the Great Equalizer. The concept of the Great Equalizer was originally intended to convey that with a firearm, a weaker person can defend himself or herself from a stronger assailant as happened in the case referred to our President in his speech. This use of firearms for self- defense is a basic right of all Americans and the jury in this case, all women, clearly understood the concept of the Great Equalizer.

Thankfully, in my personal experience, the only equality I have had to rely on with firearms has to do with the ability to compete on a level field. NRA pistol is very American sport. Many people are not aware that International and Olympic shooting competitions do not allow direct competition of women against men with firearms. It’s also a very American sport because you have to work for your success. This is not a sport that requires talent—you can’t buy success and it’s not inherited. What it requires is good, solid practice and training. What you get out of it is a result of what you put into it. Service Pistol and the President’s Hundred (the top 100 shooters in the country with the service pistol) do not segregate shooters (we’ll have a full report of the results for NJ shooters from the 2013 National Championships at Camp Perry, Ohio, in another issue, for now enjoy this months found here).

Laws that restrict or deny the Second Amendment in America were clearly racist before (and even more so after) the Emancipation Proclamation. Many states prevented African Americans from owning firearms by subjective singling out of that population for denial of the legal right to own guns and by economic (taxes) restrictions in addition to completely race-based gun bans. As recently as the 1960s, laws were passed to prevent entire populations of the poor from owning firearms, mostly in low-income housing areas.

If we as Americans believe we have the right protect ourselves and our families as the President’s family is protected and Mayor Bloomberg’s family is protected and Jamie Foxx is protected, then we agree with the concept of the Great Equalizer—we declare as citizens that we are just as important as elected officials and the famous actors. We reject the notion that firearms and the right to an effective method of self-defense are a privilege only afforded to the wealthy and powerful.

We stand by the Second Amendment as the Great Equalizer. In fact, it may actually function as a barometer of equality in American.

Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs
Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs

The more gun laws we have, the more power in the hands of the elite, whatever the race, color or sex they may be. And the less power in the hands of the citizens of America.

Kathy Chatterton is ANJRPC President and holds the CMP Distinguished Pistol and NRA Distinguished Revolver awards. She is the current Ladies’ National Service Pistol Champion and a Daughter of the American Revolution. She is ANJRPC’s first female president in its 77-year history.

About Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs:The Association of New Jersey Rifle and Pistol Clubs, Inc. is the official NRA State Association in New Jersey. Our mission is to implement all of the programs and activities at the state level that the NRA does at the national level. This mission includes the following: To support and defend the constitutional rights of the people to keep and bear arms. To take immediate action against any legislation at the local, state and federal level that would infringe upon these rights. Visit: www.anjrpc.org

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robert rhodes

Completely correct!

Christopher Hill

“In America, if a person wanted to do something, man or woman, black or white, there was almost always a way to get to that something if you were smart about it and willing to work for it.” I rarely hear this mentioned in 2013 America anymore. What a shame.

Robby777

God made men and women; Sam Colt made them equal !

Michael Murray

“A free people ought not only to be armed and disciplined, but they should have sufficient arms and ammunition to maintain a status of independence from any who might attempt to abuse them, which would include their own government.”
George Washington

Stephen Ray Hale

AMEN Kathy….uh…..AWOMEN Kathy. That the likes of you ought to have the tools for equalizing in this artificially dangerous world (due to stupid gun control schemes), is one of the strongest reasons for the second amendment to be protected and secured, if not by government, then by the right hand of all the militia (not the little private army ones but every one of us who can hold a weapon of self defence)in every State in America.