By: Raquel Okyay - 3/24/2013 02:56 PM
Tennesee’s outspoken African American female Senate candidate in 2014 spoke to Guns & Patriots about gun rights, racism, and the Bill of Rights.
“Gun control historically begins with blacks who were forbidden from owning guns,” said Brenda S. Lenard, a 2013 political science PhD candidate from the University of Tennessee and a resident of Kingston.
“It was very easy for slave owners to keep and control blacks with gun control,” she said.
The same thing is happening today, she said. “It is a slow process of gun confiscation.”
It starts with certain groups of people, or certain types of rifles, and turns into an outright ban of firearms, said the two-year NRA member.
Lenard said the term racism is over-used. “I think that diminishes real issues of racism.”
“The government should not infringe on anyone’s rights,” she said.
Although blacks were one of the first groups to be targeted, today’s gun grab is not just about race, but about fundamentally altering civil rights for all Americans, she said.
The Bill of Rights does not matter anymore, she said. “This is about power and control.”
Lenard said that federal officials are engrossed with big government instead of limited government. “They want to take away our liberties.”
The hurdle to own or carry a firearm should not be placed in front of law-abiding citizens, Lenard said.
“Everyone should be able to have a gun,” she said.
“Once our firearms are confiscated, our Bibles are next,” she said.
“Make no mistake about it; Bibles will be illegal in America if we do not stand up and take our country back,” said the Biblical Education and Leadership graduate from Atlanta’s Beaulah Bible College.
The Second Amendment is a God-given right, she said.
“As Americans, we should not have to ask permission from our government to protect ourselves, our homes, and our families,” Lenard said.
“There is no law that deters a criminal from getting a gun,” she said.
Gun control has a negative effect on safety, she said. “Areas with the strictest gun laws have the highest black on white murder rate.”
Lenard said that politics-as-usual permeates Washington D.C. “When politicians remain in office for an extended period of time, they become anesthetized to the way people feel.”
The single mother of three said she is running for Senate because she wants to do more than just talk about the problems facing our Nation. “I decided that enough is enough.”
Too many politicians are not governing America based upon our founding principles, Lenard said.
“It is American principles that allowed me to excel in life; from the projects of Atlanta, Georgia to being a PhD candidate,” she continued.
She said she became concerned that a lack of true freedom will prevent others like her from living the American dream.
America is an exceptional nation, she said. “Only in America can a person battle their way out of poverty and into the ballot box.”
Lenard said politicians live in a bubble. “They are out of touch with the values of the American people and out of touch with the Constitution.”
She said they are more concerned with pleasing their colleagues than protecting liberty. “That’s what I intend to change.”
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