Rapper Killer Mike is taking criticism from the left, particularly black leftists, after defending the Second Amendment and private gun ownership on NRATV.

Breitbart News reported that Killer Mike told NRATV’s Colion Noir that blacks in the “progressive movement” fail to realize that gun control is a return to slavery.

The Atlanta-based rapper and small business owner, according to Time, received “praise” for taking a liberty-based stand on the issue of gun ownership but also received a considerable backlash.

For example, liberal commentator Tariq Nasheed and former NAACP president Ben Jealous tweeted:

I love Killer Mike.Thats my brother. He made some excellent points about Black gun ownership. The problem is, he is talking about it on the NRA platform & the NRA could give LESS THAN A DAMN about protecting Black people's 2nd Amendment rights. Ask the family of Philando Castille — Tariq Nasheed (@tariqnasheed) March 24, 2018

Dear @KillerMike, Before you mention Jordan Davis again, please talk to @lucymcbath. Before you defend the NRA again, please consider #PhilandoCastile. Before you double down again, please reverse course. We’ve all buried too many too young. The ground is full. Ben — Ben Jealous (@BenJealous) March 25, 2018

And far-left writer Shaun King took issue with calling NRATV a “news platform,” tweeting:

Brother, I have to respond publicly because your NRA video was public. 1. They aren’t simply a news platform. 2. They’ve abandoned us many times over. 3. They’ve targeted & threatened & cruelly insulted us many times over. @KillerMike – I love you. You played yourself. — Shaun King (@shaunking) March 25, 2018

Killer Mike responded to the criticism in an Instagram post, highlighting his conviction that private gun ownership is key to black Americans’ freedom. He quoted from Robert F. Williams’ Negros with Guns.

“My Opinions on Black Gun Ownership are based on the brutal history my people share with this country,” Killer Mike wrote. “Read and research #RobertFWilliams#NegrosWithGuns until u do u cannot be an ally of mine or possibly understand my personal perspective. Love and Respect to all.”

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News, the host of the Breitbart podcast Bullets with AWR Hawkins, and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.