Gun sales to Asian Americans soar 43 percent during the pandemic
Between 2000 and 2019, Asian population in US nearly doubled, and it is projected to surpass 46 million by 2060, according to Pew Research...
GUN ownership in the US hit record numbers during the pandemic, as more than 5 million people became first-time owners, according to the trade organization National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF).
As videos of anti-Asian violence began flooding social media and cable news, gun sales to Asian Americans, though still significantly lower than those of other racial groups, rose by an estimated 43 percent, a report in the Guardian noted.
And, a new peer-reviewed study from the University of Michigan and Eastern Michigan University (EMU) has found that Asian Americans who experienced or witnessed increased acts of racism at the start of the pandemic were more likely to buy firearms for self-defense.
‘Racism is like a time bomb that causes stress and anxiety, which increases people’s intention to buy firearms,’ Tsu-Yin Wu, the lead researcher and director of EMU’s Center for Health Disparities Innovation and Studies, was quoted as saying by the Guardian. ‘Not only are people carrying it on more days, they’re also carrying it more than 50 percent of the time.’
Data on firearm use among Asian Americans is limited, as the group, which comprises about 7 percent of the US population, has historically had low gun ownership rates. From 2015 to 2019, FBI’s Supplementary Homicide Report documented 37 justifiable firearm homicides committed by Asian Americans.
By contrast, more than 3,000 Asian Americans died in firearm suicides, homicides and accidental shootings during the same time period. Among Asian American youth, the firearm suicide rate rose by 71 percent over the last decade – the largest growth of any racial or ethnic group, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
According to the Guardian, the National Rifle Association is now aggressively market guns to Asian Americans. Varun Nikore, executive director of AAPI Victory Alliance, said it’s opportunistic for gun manufacturers to court the group given the existing data linking rising gun ownership rates to firearm-related deaths.