Mass shootings reshape Asian Americans' views on guns: The Guardian

LONDON, March 22 (Xinhua) -- Mass shootings in the United States are reshaping Asian Americans' views on guns amid rising anti-Asian hate, British newspaper The Guardian has reported.

More than two-thirds of Asian Americans in the state of California said they were worried about gun violence, the highest level among all racial groups, said the report published Tuesday, citing the 2021 California Health Interview Survey.

Only one-third of whites, by contrast, responded similarly. Nearly half of Black and Asian American teens expressed concern about being victims of gun violence. Asian Americans have also expressed strong support for stricter gun laws, said the report.

Asian Americans bought guns in record numbers over the past three years, a phenomenon fueled largely by a rise in anti-Asian violence, it said.

Asian Americans who experienced or witnessed increased acts of racism during the pandemic were more likely to buy firearms for self-defense, said the report, citing a study from the University of Michigan and Eastern Michigan University.

From 2015 to 2019, more than 3,000 Asian Americans died in firearm suicides, homicides and accidental shootings, according to the report.