Lenny McAllister, a Black Republican and author, has called for a renewed focus on gun reform, including mandatory background checks, asserting that the founders of the United States intended for the nation's work to be unfinished and open to improvement. His advocacy stems from a personal tragedy: the 1996 shooting of his father during a home invasion.
On November 23, 1996, McAllister's father was shot in the abdomen while attempting to disarm a robber at an associate's house. The incident left him hospitalized for 11 months, requiring multiple surgeries and a prolonged period on a feeding tube. McAllister recounted the initial fear and uncertainty, including the difficulty in ascertaining his father's condition and the pressure from some family members to cease life-sustaining treatment.
Despite the trauma, McAllister's father survived. The experience profoundly shaped McAllister's views on firearms and safety. "When people ask where I stand on guns, I don’t give them the answer they expect from a Black man, or the one they expect from a Republican," McAllister stated. He expressed respect for the Second Amendment but also pointed to national statistics indicating a high rate of firearm deaths, including a significant increase in gun deaths among children. He noted that gun deaths among individuals aged 1 to 17 have risen 106% since 2013, making firearms the leading cause of death for this age group since 2020.
McAllister specifically referenced the 2013 bipartisan effort by former Senators Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) and Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.) to enact mandatory background checks for gun buyers, urging a revisit of such initiatives. He believes that pursuing such reforms is part of fulfilling the founders' vision of "a more perfect union" and upholding the right to a liberty-filled life, which he sees as greater than the right to bear arms.
McAllister's memoir, "A Venn Diagram of One: An American Story," is set to be released on August 11. The narrative explores his experiences and perspectives as a Black Republican grappling with issues of gun violence and constitutional rights.