Gun sales to Asian Americans surge amid ongoing hate crimes

According to a report said on Thursday, Asian Americans are buying more guns amid the surge in hate crimes targeting them since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.

Many Asian Americans are choosing to take their defense into their hands though police have intensified patrols in the community to guard against the attacks.

Jimmy Gong, the owner of Jimmy’s Sport Shop in Mineola, Long Island, told Forbes that more Asians are being introduced to firearms. “Before, there was never gun culture in the Asian community. But after the pandemic and all the hate crime going on, there are more Asians buying guns to defend themselves.”

Gong, who emigrated from China in the 1980s said that he saw gun sales have doubled during the pandemic, with Asian Americans making up about half of his clients.

Gong said that many of his customers prefer shotguns to handguns as state law requires a pistol permit to carry a handgun.

Many gun shop owners have witnessed a surge in gun sales following the pandemic and the hate crimes. This movement is seen across the country. 

The fears of the Asian American community were sparked again on Tuesday when Robert Aaron Long shot three Atlanta-area spas, killing eight people, six of them Asian women.