Campaign to eliminate black human silhouette targets at shooting ranges; guess why

Campaign to eliminate black human silhouette targets at shooting ranges; guess why

“Young black men are 3X more likely to be shot by trained shooters than their white peers.”  So begins the spiel at a website that militates against the use of your more-or-less conventional shooting range target, which depicts a black silhouette of a human head and torso.

The site, #No More Targets, bases its claim that “unconscious bias can be deadly” on a study by researchers at the University of Illinois on trigger bias and whether race affects how likely a target is to be shot.

“What we found is that it does,” says Yara Mekawi, one of the study’s authors, in an interview with NPR.

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In our study we found two main things: First, people were quicker to shoot black targets with a gun, relative to white targets with a gun. And … people were more trigger-happy when shooting black targets compared to shooting white targets.

A video at the #No More Targets website, which also contains a petition that is presumably meant to urges lawmakers to outlaw black targets, has an interactive section that permits you to design your own target.

Although the voices behind the campaign don’t say so, you’re probably safe in assuming that rainbow targets are likewise off-limits, though you’re probably safe selecting an all-white target.

(h/t Weasel Zippers)

Ben Bowles

Ben Bowles

Ben Bowles is a freelance writer and regular contributor to "Liberty Unyielding."

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