NAAGA: Your Second Amendment Rights are not Free

What Does NAAGA Stand For ?

Hi Robert! This is your November 2017 NAAGA Newsletter. The newsletter contains information that is related to gun ownership and the National African-American Gun Association. Please carve out time to read the newsletter from start to finish as it is jam-packed with information. e National African American Gun Association Newsletter  November 2017 ​                                                                ​​​​​​ 20,000+ Members with 48 Chapters In 20 years you can say I was a part of history by joining the Association. Go to www.NAAGA.co and click on Join Today! Instructors Database.    We are establishing a National Firearms Instructor Database.  If you are a Certified Instructor in the United States please click on the link below if you want to add your information to our Database.  Will be used for referrals, training and specialized instructional opportunities. Click on link below and fill out the form. http://wwwnaaga.ontraport.com/c/s/qv2/OZw/6/6G/sM3/6Rd1hO/vE1CeNmUk0/P/P   Digital Membership Cards! Join Today to get a high tech Digital Membership Card at www.NAAGA.co  Message From the President                                                                    Who we Are As the President and Founder of NAAGA, I originally wanted to develop an Organization that our community would feel at home with when they joined. Our heroes, Our history, and unique perspective. ​​​​I wanted to address learning about Firearms in a safety-first focused setting and additionally be able to openly discuss those social and  political issues that impact our lives daily as it relates to Guns.. It is my belief and perspective that owning a Gun and deciding to protect yourself isn't a Liberal , Conservative, or Progressive Statement, but more accurately it is a Personal Statement in which you are saying you value your life enough to fight and protect it.  I believe that is a good thing and is the right of every Human Being.  Collectively Black Gun owners must embrace and understand that we aren't second-class or discounted citizens when it comes to attaining a Gun for self defense, recreation, or competitive sports. We have to really believe that and not accept anything less.         Simply put we have a Voice ! The reason our organization is growing with so many different types of new gun owners, not only "Black" but outside our community, is that you can originate from any place in American society and feel comfortable becoming a NAAGA member. Your lifestyle, your politics of who you voted for, sex, or race doesn't matter here.  The connecting factor for all of our members is that we believe in the 2nd Amendment and want to exercise those rights in the Country we love...... As much as it may make me personally happy or uncomfortable we have members that represent many different  things in America. .... Black Gun owners aren't monolithic in  thoughts on Gun ownership or Politics and that is okay within our organization.  We all have a equal voice.....The key is to respect each other even if  you don't agree.     Some of our members want stricter Gun Control, some want less, some voted for Trump while some voted for Hillary, some like  to hunt and a few like to Open Carry. Some like Obama and yes some want to discuss Black men being shot because it is important. Some of our members are scared of Right Wing Terrorists, and some are Preppers. ​​​​​​​And yes we have thousands of Military and Law Enforcement that are very proud members. I think "listening" is a lost art in America. Instead of building barriers between each other I think the best way you understand someone who has a different perspective on Guns is to find out how they have become the person they are by learning about their past. Once two individuals can respectively do that then a conversation that is balanced and honest can take place......I didn't say it was going to be easy but it is a start. If you as an individual can only feel comfortable by surrounding yourself with people that only, look like you,  think like you and agree with everything you say then you are possibly part of the problem..... Let's be the best 2nd Amendment Organization in the USA by embracing differences and finding common areas of agreement.   For Questions, suggestions or comments please send to President@naaga.co   NAAGA President Philip Smith Competitive shooter URSULA WILLIAMS SAYS JUMP IN AND HAVE FUN ! I recently had the honor and pleasure of interviewing Ursula Williams who is a successful African American Shooting Competitor in Arizona. She represents the future of the Shooting Sports where you will see a lot more women that look like her participating and winning. Known for having a great personality and great smile she is the “Real Deal” when it comes to competition. To put it simply the woman can flat out “Pull A Trigger”.  Her story is unique and in her own words reveals a person who overcame obstacles to get where she is at presently.  In her own words....... I was born and raised in Detroit, MIchigan, on the east side, which was ravaged by gangs and drugs. Even with that, I managed to have a remarkable childhood that was full of life lessons because of my parents. If there were firearms in the household while growing up my siblings and I didn't know about them. Growing up in a predominately black neighborhood in the  mid 80's, that had firearms were good guys ( the police ) and bad guys ( criminals ). No one went hunting or camping, not even the Boy Scouts. The High schools didn't have rifle teams which I learned were available in rural schools. It was just the culture. This is the main reason that there aren't a lot of black women competitive shooters is that they are exposed to firearms later on in life i.e. career choice and/or other outside influences later on in life i.e. friends, significant others, work related team building functions, etc However, over the past few years, there has been an increase in black women      becoming gun owners according to the recent Pew  Research Center study. I hate to admit this but my very  first gun experience was totally  illegal by today’s            standards. I was around 11 or 12 when my father invited  me outside in the backyard on New Years’ Eve to shoot a  shotgun in the airMy dad stood behind me when it  knocked the wind out of me. A few years ago, when I  became an instructor, I jokingly confronted my dad about  this. Like, “what were you thinking?!”  When I was 16, my parents decided to move the family to  Phoenix, Arizona I moved down there kicking and screaming but it was the best thing that could have happend. I don’t think that my life would be as rich as it  is now if I had stayed there.  I became a detention officer in Arizona in January 2005.  Officer firearms certification is elective training and not  a part of the basic academy. I obtained my certification in 2010 so I can carry on duty although I’ve always carried  off-duty.  At that time, my agency did not offer any mandatory post  firearms certification training. Since I wanted to be more  proficient with my duty gun, a Glock 22, I started to go to  a local indoor range on “Payday Fridays”. A few months  later, I started to dabble in local pistol competitions at an  outdoor range.  After participating in several matches, I befriended a man  at the range. It turned out that he’s a professional shooter (in 3 Gun and precision rifle) for some major    companies. He took me under his wing and made me into  a much better shooter. He harassed me for years to get  into 3 Gun until I found the A Girl & A Gun’s 3 Gun  University in 2015, a real competition with real training.  I could hear him smiling through the phone when I told  him I wanted to shoot that match. Not only did he even  loan me his woodland camo, semiutomatic Benelli M2  shotgun for the match, he also taught me how to shoot 3  Gun. He covered everything from transitioning between  firearm platforms to getting in and out of improvised  shooting positions all in the blazing Arizona sun. I owe a  lot to him. He was the first person in the shooting sports to believe  in me and push me out of my shooting comfort  zone.  He was like Aladdin to Jasmine and showed me a whole  new world.   I was hooked on 3 Gun after shooting the 2015 A  Girl & A Gun’s 3 Gun University. I placed 2nd in Irons  (non magnified optic on rifle) and walked away with a  Mossberg 930 JM Pro. I even put the seat belt on my trophy that was riding shotgun on my way  home.  Since then, I’ve competed in many local pistol,  rifle, precision rifle, and 3 Gun matches and dozens of  major matches all over the country.   My main shootings goals have always been to get more  law enforcement officers to practice regularly and women  on the range. There are competitions and training  available for both in all disciplines.  I love shooting women-only  matches because they show other women that they  are capable of doing this empowering, liberating, life-skill sport.      If one is interested, they can follow all of my  shooting adventures on Instagram at Ursula.308”. Competition Pictures - Ursula Williams One tactic you learn is to keep the match booklets. “Keep notes. List two things to work on and two things you did great. It’s easy to focus on the negative but you need to focus on positive Bessie  Coleman  African American Female Pilot Bessie Coleman was the first African American to earn an international pilot's license. She dazzled crowds with her stunts at air shows and refused to be slowed by racism.   Bessie Coleman was born on January 26, 1892, in a one-room, dirt-floored cabin in Atlanta, Texas, to George and Susan Coleman, the illiterate (unable to read and write) children of slaves. When Bessie was two years old, her father, a day laborer, moved his family to Waxahachie, Texas, where he bought a quarter-acre of land and built a three-room house in which two more daughters were born. In 1901 George Coleman left his family. Bessie's mother and two older brothers went to work and Bessie was left as caretaker of her two younger sisters  Read  More Below  http://www.notablebiographies.com/Co-Da/Coleman-Bessie.html#ixzz4yYPOkFzQ                Your Second Amendment Rights are not Free    It is no secret that black citizens of this great country have been treated as second class citizens when it applies to enforcing their second amendment rights. The danger with people of color owning and legally carrying their firearms, is the negative perception of a black man legally owning a firearm.  But what can you as a law-abiding gun owner to change the perception? The answer is simple and is nothing. There is nothing that we can do to change the views that owners have of us. What we CAN do is to make sure that our second amendment rights are not infringed by educating others on what their 2nd amendment rights.  NAAGA is a national organization that is growing with new chapters in new areas but we need every member in every state to be a beacon for African Americans and their second amendment rights!  We ask that every member and chapter reach out to their local black communities and educate these communities on how to protect their 2nd amendment rights and become an important part of the community.      Please help us welcome our new chapter ! KC NAAGA Gun Club   Jeffery Maple -  Chapter President   Kansas City, MO  Email Address:  ff-110@hotmail.com  Jeffery Maple - KC NAAGA Members, will be shooting at Tactical Simulation Instructor Range, 8201 E 23rd Street, Kansas City MO 64129  All meetings will be held at the same location    There focus will be Self Defense, Gun Education, Recreation      Chapter event updates  Black Bottom Gun Club – Detroit, MI   On October 14th, 2017, the Black Bottom Gun Club held a legal seminar about the aftermath of a self-defense shooting. Terry Johnson, Esq. of Firearms Legal Protection conducted the seminar. We discussed the potential costs and outcome of having to use your firearm in defense of yourself or a loved one at home, and best practices immediately following the incident.   On October 28th, 2017, we held a monthly meeting at The Firingline, which will be our “home” gun range. We discussed the path forward for the Club, including roles within the Club, possible community service initiatives for the holiday season, an update for training and other agenda items. After the meeting and range time, chapter president Chad King met with the Century Gun Club, the first and oldest Black-owned and operated gun club in Michigan that sits on 40 acres (est. 1945). We have two chapter members who are also members of Century, and we are working to add more to Black Bottom Gun Club and vice versa.   Chapter President: Chad King  Vice President: Kofi Kenyatta      Frederick Douglass Gun Club  NAAGA of Central Delaware is starting to grow! We’ve seen a lot of interest from people who aren’t associated with NAAGA and we’ve been contacted by NAAGA members who are happy to have our own chapter in Delaware. As we have begun to grow we have moved away from our MeetUp paged and launched our Facebook page. We can be found @FrederickDouglassGunClub. Be sure to “Like” our page!,,  We will be hosting another open meeting on 1pm Saturday, December 2 at the Dover Public Library in downtown Dover. If you haven’t already reached out to us, come out and meet with us.      Cincy Sharpshooters / the Powhatan Beaty Chapter  The Cincinnati chapter is called the Powhatan Beaty Chapter. Beaty was the first sergeant of the 5th United States Colored Infantry Regiment in the Union Army. He received America's highest military decoration, the Medal of Honor. Beaty took command of his company at the Battle of Chaffin's Farm, after all officers had been killed and/or wounded.  Currently the Cincy Sharpshooters are looking into finding a “Home” range as well as a meeting space to have training seasons and monthly meeting. To better serve the members of this chapter we ask members to email their contact information to naagacincy@gmail.com , so we can compile the information into a directory.  Chris Macklin  Cincy Sharpshooters / the Powhatan Beaty Chapter  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CincySharpshooters/  Cincinnati, OH   AAHGC  Chapter   We have officially launched our chapter website www.aahgc.org . With the purchase of the domain and website we are looking to have a broader audience by using Search Engine Optimization SEO to help perspective members find us and our schedule. Within the next two weeks we will be having our first gun cleaning class given to us by a member Pat Watson who is an AR 15 armorer.   We have 2 charitable events scheduled for the month of November with Empowering Our Youth Ministries. We will be collecting food for Thanksgiving baskets and distributing them shortly before Thanksgiving Day. We are also partnering with them in December for a toy drive.  December looks to be just as eventful as we will be attending a 2-day gun show in St. Paul, MN. This is one of the larger shows of the year and we hope to make many more contacts. The Gun show in October provided some great contacts both personally and professionally with the addition of new members. We also made connections with long standing members of the Minnesota gun community. We received praise and encouragement from vendors and other participants.    Louis Dennard  President   African American Heritage Gun Club  Minneapolis-St. Paul Minnesota    Bass Reeves Gun Club, Atlanta Georgia   November is set to be a jam-packed month in Atlanta! We have our growing monthly Ladies Day Out! – Safety & Guns, Shooting & Conversations. Local 11 Alive News visited a few months ago and interviewed our National Assistant Director Training Marchelle Washington, Kim Barbee, Chandra Stacey and Casandra Light on the empowerment of women as gun owners and to have the ability to defend themselves. The article was published November 8, 2017.  Bass Reeves Gun Club has 10 members attending the Glock Sport Shooting Foundation’s GLOCK Annual Shoot XXIV & Gunny Challenge XIII (November 17 – 19) at The CMP Talladega Marksmanship Park, Talladega, Alabama. Our new National Competitive Shooting Director, Rashid McCall, ran a safety and Range Officer clinic in preparation for our volunteering and shooting at the match. We’ll be sure to share the experience!  The next Chapter general meeting is scheduled for November 25th, where we will formally introduce our newly appointed Co-Vice Presidents Casandra Light and George Wilson II. We look forward to their contributions to the chapter and national organization alike!  Henry Flipper Gun Club/Houston NAAGA Chapter  In October, the Henry Flipper Gun Club held a meet and greet range day at the Boyert Gun Range located in Houston, Texas. In attendance was firearm Instructor and dealer Keith Rodney who worked with the members on proper stance and grip for close range engagement.  The event was very successful as it was our first event since Hurrican Harvey took toll on the area. We plan on hosting another shooting event in December of this year as several members will be performing charity/volunteer work for the holidays.  Chapter President: Brandon Countee  Houstonnaaga@gmail.com  Henry Flipper Gun Club  Houston, Texas      Ibon Eko Gun Club/ Houston NAAGA Chapter  Ibon Eko has recently got things back up and running after Hurricane Harvey decided to stop by. Our members have been working on more things for us to do next year that will benefit our community. There has been talks with a few organizations about us doing volunteer work as well a me working with the local Sheriff’s Department to make quarterly “Cop Talks” where we have members of the community ask a few officers questions in an open & comfortable setting.    Our last range day was a good one where we worked on sighting in our rifles and shot grouping. We have Oliver Kingdom coming down on December 2nd to give another great training session. We are also working with a local range to set up USPSA for beginners so that our members can get some different type of experiences. I also have a nurse working on giving a CPR class to our RSO’s.   Thomas McLemore  Ibon Eko Gun Club  Houston, Texas     The Sig Sauer P938  Compact and reliability in 16 ounces  When it comes to personal concealed carry, we look at 3 things: Ease to conceal, Bullet caliber and ease of carry. Its so important because more and more Americans are obtaining a CHL, many gun manufacturers have created many variants of firearms for conceal carry in response. Including German-Swiss manufacturer Sig Sauer with their 19111 inspired P938.  All configurations of the P938 feature a stainless steel slide on an aluminum alloy frame. All are single action only, hammer fired, and sport an ambidextrous thumb safety. While some of the mechanics are different, at a high level the pistol is a miniature 1911.  This compact Sig holds a 6 round magazine come with the flush-fitting, stainless steel. In super-hot weather, or when my back is just not giving me any respite, then the small size and lightweight of the P938.  Click below to Read More: https://www.sigsauer.com/products/firearms/pistols/p938/   Wish Everyone a Happy Thanksgiving !

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