(Tony Sifert, Headline USA) As black-on-Asian violence has skyrocketed in recent years, Asian Americans have begun to purchase and acquire training in the use of firearms in large numbers, according to a report from the Guardian.
Claire Wang of the Guardian reported that gun ownership by Asian Americans rose more than 40% since the beginning of the pandemic in January, 2020, but she was eager to gaslight her readers (or affirm their prejudices) regarding the reason for the unprecedented increase.
According to Wang, the rise has nothing to do with the numerous viral videos that can be found on social media depicting seemingly random attacks by black men on Asian Americans, especially the elderly.
Rather, Wang suggested, Asian Americans are buying guns because they’re worried about white Trump supporters and police brutality, and she found a few activists willing to confirm her priors.
“Many folks are intimidated by these conservative, white-dominated spaces that don’t seem very friendly to them,” Tom Nguyen, founder of the aptly-named LA Progressive Shooters, told Wang. “So the gun industry has a long way to go in terms of addressing more diverse segments of our population who are interested but feel forgotten or ignored.”
Another Asian American man who was shortly to make his first firearm purchase told Wang that he was inspired to do so after watching news coverage of the BLM riots in the summer of 2020 — not out of a desire to defend his neighborhood from “mostly peaceful protests,” but to defend himself from the police.
“The past few years have brought to light how the police are with people,” the man said. “You’ve seen people get shot and killed by police. Do you really trust that they will serve and protect us?”
Wang also sought to blame the NRA for making direct appeals to the Asian American community.
“They’re directly exploiting our pain and trauma by doing direct and targeted campaigns to increase the amount of gun ownership in communities that have not typically had it,” Varun Nikore, executive director of AAPI Victory Alliance said.
