1999 Letter to The Editor NAACP Law Suit

Letters to the Editor
The Cleveland Plain Dealer
August 1, 1999

Civil-rights group misreads
NRA’s effort to guard liberty

There exists the misconception among some members of the black community
that the NRA is an all-white, racist organization. A die-hard racist,
regardless of color, is not going to pay an annual or life membership to
an organization that supports the rights of all law-abiding citizens to
keep and bear arms.

The NAACP has shown it’s blatant disregard for our second amendment
rights with the recent filing a lawsuit against gun manufacturers. This
will not solve the problem. These lawsuits will eventually drive up the
price of firearms and place them out of reach from Americans who need
them the most. This high pricing tactic was also used during the black
codes. This method priced guns out of the reach of freed slaves and poor
whites. Today all Americans will be affected. The gun prohibitionists’
primary objective is to disarm all law-abiding citizens in the name of
fighting crime.

If the NAACP wants to fight crime and gun violence, it should support
programs such as Project Exile in Virginia. Felons caught with firearms
are automatically sent to prison with no opportunity for reduced time.
All time is served. The gun charges are not dropped.

The NAACP could also support the nationally recognized, non-political
Eddie Eagle Gun Safety Program. It teaches children from zero to sixth
grade this life-saving message: “If you see a gun stop, don’t touch it,
leave the area and tell an adult.”

These programs work. While the NAACP grandstands in front of the media,
providing meaningless sound bites, thousands of dedicated NRA members
are saving lives on a daily basis by passing out life-saving information
in their communities across America.

The NAACP has obviously forgotten its roots. If we do not remember the
history of gun confiscation during WWII, we are doomed to repeat it.
Without gun rights, there can be no civil rights.

Frank M. Reed
Cleveland
Reed is a life member of the National Rifle Association
and an NRA Certified Instructor.