The Reawakening of the Black Gun-Rights Movement

When Second Amendment activist Brent Holmes started showing up at police brutality protests in Richmond, Virginia, over the summer while carrying an assault rifle across his chest, passersby would cheer him on.

"'Yes, yes, he gets it,'" Holmes says. "He knows that he has those rights, too.'"

Holmes, who also wears a red baseball cap with the words "I CAN'T BREATHE" embroidered across the front, is part of a community of black gun-rights activists who have been showing up armed to protests in several American cities.

"You have this...