Charles M. Blow: Black and armed

Growing up in rural northern Louisiana, everyone I knew, at least every household, seemed to have guns. Men had guns racked in the back windows of their pickup trucks, and pistols under their seats. Women, like my mother, tucked smaller handguns into their purses.My hometown, Gibsland, a flyspeck of a place, was and is majority Black. Gun ownership was the norm in those parts, including in the Black community. It was not associated with danger but with safety. There were many older Black people