Bass Reeves Gun Club Featured by Canadian Newspaper La Presse

Black women, responsible gun ownership and the history behind the right to self-defense

The work of Bass Reeves Gun Club recently reached an international audience when La Presse, a major French-language Canadian newspaper based in Montreal, visited Georgia for a special series examining America’s Second Amendment.

Published in French, the two articles explore women’s growing interest in firearms and the complicated relationship between Black Americans, gun ownership and racial history. At the center of the reporting is the Bass Reeves Gun Club—the Metro Atlanta founding chapter of the National African American Gun Association (NAAGA).

A Different Picture of American Gun Ownership

In “Protecting Yourself Is a Basic Need”, journalist Laura-Julie Perreault attended a Bass Reeves Gun Club Ladies Day Outdoors event at South River Gun Club in Covington, Georgia.

The article opens with Tara Mendez, a 57-year-old nurse attending her first firearms training session. As a woman living alone, she wanted to learn how to handle a firearm safely and become better prepared to protect herself.

Her reason was straightforward: law enforcement cannot be everywhere at once, and the ability to protect yourself is a basic need.

That day, approximately 20 Black women gathered for hands-on instruction with handguns and rifles. For some, it was their first time shooting. Others arrived with prior experience and a desire to continue improving their skills. All were given a structured environment where safety, education and responsible handling came first.

The scene challenges the outdated stereotype that American gun ownership belongs primarily to white men. Women—particularly Black women—are increasingly seeking firearms education, not because they are looking for conflict, but because they want knowledge, confidence and greater control over their personal safety.

More Than a Day at the Range

Bass Reeves Gun Club’s Ladies Day Outdoors is designed to make firearms education approachable. Participants learn essential safety rules, firearm operation and marksmanship fundamentals before receiving guided range time.

The experience is about more than learning how to shoot. It gives women a place to ask questions without judgment, learn at a comfortable pace and build skills alongside people who understand their concerns and experiences.

That sense of community matters. Walking into an unfamiliar range can be intimidating, especially for someone who does not fit the image many people still associate with firearms culture. BRGC helps remove that barrier by creating a welcoming space centered on patience, responsibility and support.

No one is handed confidence at the firing line. It is built one safe repetition at a time.

Black Gun Ownership Has a Deeper History

The companion article, “Firearms: A History Inseparable from Racial Tensions”, places today’s conversations within a much longer American history.

For Black Americans, the right to keep and bear arms has never existed separately from the country’s history of slavery, racial violence, discriminatory laws and the struggle for equal citizenship. Firearms have been used to oppress Black communities, but lawful firearm ownership has also played a role in protecting families, homes and civil-rights workers when government institutions failed to provide equal protection.

That history helps explain why organizations such as NAAGA and Bass Reeves Gun Club are important today. Their mission is not based on fear or reckless gun culture. It is rooted in education, civic responsibility, historical awareness and the belief that Black Americans should be fully represented in conversations about constitutional rights.

Carrying Forward the Legacy of Bass Reeves

The club is named for Bass Reeves, one of the first Black deputy U.S. marshals to serve west of the Mississippi River. Born into slavery, Reeves escaped during the Civil War and later built an extraordinary law-enforcement career in Indian Territory.

He became known for his courage, discipline, marksmanship and commitment to duty. His story represents resilience, service and the long-standing Black tradition of arms—a history that is too often missing from mainstream accounts of the American West and the Second Amendment.

BRGC carries that legacy forward by helping members become informed, skilled and responsibly armed citizens.

Local Work with International Impact

The La Presse coverage shows that the conversations happening at BRGC extend far beyond Metro Atlanta. From Canada, the newspaper’s readers were introduced to Black women who are taking personal safety seriously, instructors who volunteer their time and a community working to replace stereotypes with education.

For Bass Reeves Gun Club, this international recognition is about more than being featured in the news. It is an opportunity to show what responsible gun ownership looks like in practice: safety before ego, preparation before fear and community before assumptions.

The language of the original articles may be French, but the message translates clearly—education creates confidence, responsible training saves lives and every community deserves access to the knowledge necessary to protect itself.

Learn more about Bass Reeves Gun Club, upcoming training opportunities and community events at BassReevesGC.com.

This post is an original English-language summary inspired by reporting published by La Presse on July 16, 2026. It is not a direct or complete translation of the original articles.