Reuters reports this week that African American support for gun control has fallen by 14% since 1993, when it stood at 74% according to the Pew data. During that same period, the number of blacks prioritizing gun rights over stricter gun controls nearly doubled, up to 34% in December from 18%. Attitudes toward guns are still deeply divided along racial lines, with 60% of blacks prioritizing controls on gun ownership over protecting gun rights, while 61% of whites say they consider gun rights more important than gun controls, according to a December poll by the Pew Research Center.

Black Americans in modern times have commonly resisted or hidden support for gun rights in order to not be viewed as “thugs,” in spite of the black community’s well-known need for effective means of defense. And a majority of those polled last December undoubtedly have no first-hand experience with the civil rights era. But now perhaps change is coming to all of America. Lott’s new study (above) notes that some evidence suggests that CCW licensing of minorities is increasing more than twice as fast as for whites.