4 Famous Black NRA Members

Whoopi Goldberg and Killer Mike make this list.

The massacre of 20 elementary school students and six adults on Friday at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., has reopened the debate about gun control. Should semiautomatic weapons be banned? How many mass murders will it take before the National Rifle Association, the most powerful gun lobby in the country, supports some restrictions on gun rights? The NRA has faced immense criticism in the wake of the Sandy Hook shooting, even taking down its Facebook page for a few days immediately following the massacre. Although some of the group’s most famous supporters—Charlton Heston, Chuck Norris and Ted Nugent, to name a few—tend to be white and conservative, black celebrities support the group as well. This list reveals some famous African Americans who belong to the lobby.

[ALSO READ: Should Blacks Join the NRA?]

Killer Mike: In March, the rapper wrote a statement (edited for clarity) after disclosing to the NRA that he belongs to the NRA. “We have no black NRA and until we do, I will continue to use the organization that my white counterparts use to ‘protect’ them against lawmakers infringing upon second amendment rights. I hunt and fish. …I am glad that I have an organization that has programs and classes for all of us to use at our disposal.”

Whoopi Goldberg: The Oscar winner revealed in May on ABC’s “The View” that she’s an NRA member. When guest John Stossel of Fox News asked Goldberg if she was armed at the moment, she quipped, “You don’t want to find out.”

Karl Malone: This former NBA player isn’t just a member of the NRA, he’s a hunter who’s served as a spokesman for the group. In 2010, he wrote an Op-Ed in "Sports Illustrated" in which he stated, “Gun owners get a bad rap. We're good people; we're not back in the Old West. I got my first gun when I was 8 years old -- an old .410 single shot. I’ve been around them all the time ever since, and I’m a member of the NRA. I love guns, and I respect guns. I have them in a secure place.”

James Earl Jones: The “Star Wars” actor revealed in his 1993 autobiography, "Voices and Silences," that he’s an NRA member.   “When it comes to the right wing politics of the NRA, I don’t get into that. I just believe in my right to have a gun in my house.”

[SUBSCRIBE TO LOOP 21 RSS FEED]