The deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, documented by bystanders in gripping mobile phone videos, have sparked painful conversations among black gun owners like Hayes, Ashburne and Glover about racial profiling, police brutality and even their own mortality.
Hayes of Chamblee: “My biggest fear is that one day a police officer will approach me with the same attitude and mentality that we see in these videos and I am going to die that day.”
Ashburne of Lithonia: “I have to be very careful. I have to make sure I give them complete eye contact at all times. And my posture has to be a certain way. I can’t get loud. I have to be very calm and collected, whenever I am dealing with them, especially when I’m carrying.”
Chad Glover of Stone Mountain: “I thought about what happens after I give them my permit, and the police drag me out of the car and lay me face down on the side of the highway as they retrieve my gun from the center console. I thought of this happening in front of my wife and my children.”
“I say with confidence that I will keep my mouth shut about the gun,” he said. “I will hand over the paperwork as required by law and take my ticket. I’m not going to volunteer to being spread-eagle on the highway. I can’t.”
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