| No Images? Click here   By Samantha Storey and Nick BaumannWhy Black People Own GunsSince the 2016 election, interest in firearms has supposedly ticked upward in the black community. Gun shops and clubs link the interest to a desire for self-protection against the white supremacists emboldened by President Donald Trump’s election.HuffPost spoke to 11 black gun owners about their reasons for owning a firearm. Trump was a non-factor. Instead, they talked about wanting to protect themselves out of fear that no one else would. Julia Craven, a HuffPost reporter who covers race in America, talks about how the story came about.What was the seed for the story? Whose idea was it?Me and my editor were having a random conversation about how, historically and currently, gun control and legally owning a firearm is different for black people. I’m a Southerner. So I was going on about my family’s incredibly pro-gun stance — my grandmother owns two firearms and my mother is seeking to purchase one. And that conversation evolved into this pretty wild idea that we should interview as many black gun owners as possible about race, the police, why they own guns and then take photos of them with their guns.What was the hardest thing about reporting, writing or editing this piece?Taking 11 raw transcripts and editing them down into cohesive, coherent "as told to” stories is incredibly taxing. It took weeks to transcribe, edit, follow-up, and then re-edit. That was by-far the most difficult part. Otherwise, it was fun! I loved reporting this out the most. I had a lot of insightful conversations about being black with a gun.What did you expect to find? What surprised you?I thought I knew a lot about black people and guns since my Nana has guns. But I learned that all of my assumptions about what black gun ownership means were wrong — even when I did a preliminary interview with her to help frame my questions! — and that was so awesome to me. I love having my expectations proven wrong!Did you learn anything that might be useful to other writers or reporters?Look for and embrace broader themes in your reporting. The repetitiveness of this story is what makes it so wonderful. Every single gun owner I interviewed, essentially, told me the same story just from a different angle — whether it’s the perspective of an armed security guard, a black woman from the hood who lost her brother to gun violence or a black father who loves to hunt but won’t because he doesn’t want his kids around guns. All 11 of those folks in the piece are saying the same thing — how they fear the police, how much they honor the rules of gun ownership, etc. That’s why the story works.What do you think readers should take away from this story?I want readers to see that "Why Black People Own Guns" is about fear, trauma, double consciousness, critical self-awareness and a harrowing realization that a gun will not save you from anything if you are black. It’s not really about guns. As provocative as they may be, the story is deeper than firearms.
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