Amira Ayyoub

DEARBORN — As small business owners, many Arab Americans carry guns for protection. However, recent mass shootings across the country have reignited the gun control debate.

Over the past few years, gun violence has claimed many lives in the community. Several suicides, homicides and a murder-suicide were all carried out by guns.

It is not uncommon to see local community members with visible guns at their waists. But while a Lebanese saying claims “guns are the decoration of men”, critics say too many lives have been lost to guns in our community and around the country.

“I have to think about my family”

The necessity of business owners carrying guns for safety, especially in areas with high crime rates, raises questions about how guns should be secured and who should be able to carry and use them.

Amira Ayyoub, an American Muslim convert from Dearborn, is often seen wearing a black hijab, cargo pants and boots at her husband’s gas station in Detroit. At her waist, she flaunts an unconcealed gun.

Born in Kentucky and raised in Southeast Detroit, the paramedics student and mother of a 4-year-old boy said she carries a gun everywhere she goes because she feels threatened and unsafe as a Muslim woman in today’s increasingly Islamophobic climate.

Ayyoub said that twice in one week, she was verbally attacked by customers calling her a terrorist and asking her if she was “part of jihad.”

“Just because I have a gun doesn’t mean I’m a terrorist,” Ayyoub said. “I’m protecting myself and my family.”

She added that she gets mixed responses about her weapon. Some fear her and others respect her.

She said most Arabs see her as non-feminine and atypical for a Muslim woman. However, she has gotten used to the disapproving glares.

Ayyoub said police in Detroit do not respond quickly enough to dangerous situations.

Despite the visible gun on her waist, Ayyoub believes stricter gun laws are needed.

She said Second Amendment rights should be granted to responsible gun owners who abide by proper safety measures.

“I will never use my weapon unless I absolutely have to,” Ayyoub said. “I would shoot to hurt, but never shoot to kill.”

Ramy Hijazi, 23, said it’s hard for him not to want to carry a weapon to defend himself when he sees violence occurring daily in the news.

Hijazi, a Dearborn Heights resident, said the only reason criminals get away is because they are feared and their orders are followed at gunpoint.

“Why wait until something happens? I’m not gonna take any chances,” he said. “It could be too late.”

It took three weeks for Hijazi to complete a criminal background check and fill out the proper paperwork.

A gas station owner in Hamtramck who declined to reveal his name said he has had to pull out his gun because of a customer’s violent threat. He added that every business owner, especially ones who deal with large quantities of cash every day, should carry guns.

“I have to think about me and my family,” the owner said.

Spencer, who grew up in Dearborn and frequently interacts with Arab Americans, is a co-owner of a local gun shop. He also didn’t want to use his full name, but said there is not a great deal of stigma attached to Arabs’ owning guns because most Americans understand they have a legal right to own them.

Stricter gun laws?

Detroit Police Chief James Craig told The Detroit News last month that violent extremists would be less likely to target Detroit for fear of armed citizens.

But Dearborn Police Chief Ron Haddad said guns cannot solve gun violence.

Haddad said to confront the issue of increasing violence, a change in the nation’s outlook on firearm safety and responsibility is needed.

“Guns are out of control,” Haddad said. “We need to have a renewed responsibility to keep our people safe; and if more guns were the answer, America would be crime free.”

The chief said 300 illegally possessed firearms are removed from Dearborn’s streets annually. He added that even some residents who legally own guns are arrested for handling a weapon while intoxicated.

Another “troubling” emerging trend in the city is weapons in homes where domestic violence occurs, Haddad said.

He said about 15 non-fatal accidental shootings occur in Dearborn each year.

Haddad said that legally owned guns can also be a danger when left in unlocked cars.

He added that there are more guns than there are people in the United States and that more than a million of those guns are reportedly lost or stolen, according to FBI reports.

More guns in the hand of citizens does not reduce crime levels, Haddad said, pointing to several statistics to demonstrate his argument.

He said that 3.2 million people have been killed by firearms since the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963.

The chief added that the number of Michigan Concealed Pistol License (CPL) holders has doubled in the last five years.

“Have we seen a massive reduction in crime? The answer is no,” Haddad said.

Dearborn Police Chief Ron Haddad

“Vigilante police work”

Haddad has witnessed about 200 cases of gun owners claiming to have used their weapons in self-defense or to stop a crime, but said only a few have been cleared of legal penalties. 

He said the rest were charged with misuse of a firearm.

“We don’t ask citizens to do peacekeeping or crime fighting,” the Dearborn police chief said. “That’s our responsibility, they put us in that job.”

Standing next to a large table covered with an assortment of confiscated pistols, shotguns, rifles and other weapons, Haddad picked up a pair of brass knuckles and said in an ironic tone, “We have no problem outlawing this, but we think it’s okay to carry an AR-15 with a hundred-round magazine on the street.”

Getting caught with brass knuckles can land someone five years in jail.

He added that Michigan hunters are more limited on the number of rounds they can put in their guns and they cannot conceal their weapons. He criticized lawmakers who are rightfully willing to protect wildlife, but not people’s lives.

The mental fitness question

The mental health of gun owners has come into question after several tragic mass shootings. The Sandy Hook and Aurora theater shooters who killed a total of 40 people were said to be mentally disturbed.

State Sen. Morris Hood (D-Dearborn) said it is difficult to identify people with mental issues if they have not run into the law because of them.

Hood said Michigan’s Republican-majority House is resisting attempts to implement restrictions on gun sales and safety.

One of the first pieces of legislation passed and signed into law this year, Senate Bill 34, eliminated county concealed weapons licensing boards, which provided an additional layer of protection to ensure guns don’t end up in the wrong hands.

The senator also pointed to House Bill 4261, proposed in February, which would close the open carry loopholes that may allow for the carrying of guns in no-carry zones.

Another set of House bills (4590-4592), introduced in May, would require universal background checks for those purchasing firearms.

The bills are stuck in the committee and have not moved, according to Hood.

Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon said the problem lies in the county’s mental health system. However, he said stricter gun legislation is not the answer. According to Napoleon, it is already relatively difficult to obtain a gun.

Instead, the sheriff said he would like to see a focus on better recognition and treatment of mental health issues.

He added that those who have sought help for family members with apparent mental problems have largely been ignored because of the attached negative stigma.

“The violence that exists in our community is primarily among people who have an inclination to be a criminal, as opposed to honest people with a gun,” Napoleon said.

He added that many of those booked at the Wayne County Jail are required to undergo psychiatric counseling. 

Hijazi, the Dearborn gun owner, said he did not have to go through a mental or psychological fitness exam to acquire his CPL, but he was prompted to check off a box asking if he has a history of mental health issues.

Ayyoub, the gun owner who wears the hijab, compared the current method for determining a CPL applicant’s psychological fitness to a new relationship.

She said people often say you cannot base a romantic relationship on the first few months, because they will never reveal their true self.

Comparatively, CPL’s are too often issued to individuals whose mental fitness is not regularly tested and updated.

“You never know what happens to them later, or what they’ll do next,” she said.