![]() “Responsible gun ownership is for every American in this country, regardless of the color of your skin,” said Cheng. Kyung Lah/CNNĬheng doesn’t shy away from what he believes is a fundamental right that Asian Americans culturally have avoided. That moved him from a life in tech to what he now calls civil rights advocacy in the firearms community.Ĭhris Cheng is pictured in San Francisco's Castro neighborhood, where he lives with his husband. He ended up beating 17 professional marksmen on the show to win a $100,000 cash prize and a contract with a gun seller. ![]() “The face of the typical gun owner being White, that can send a message to say, ‘oh, gun ownership is a civil right is only for White people,’ which is just factually incorrect,” said Cheng.Ī gay man, Cheng said, “I’m a diversity and inclusion advocate, no matter where I am, whether it’s in the gun community, whether it’s in my day job in Silicon Valley.”Ĭheng found fame on History Channel’s reality TV show, “Top Shot.” At the start of the series, he was an amateur gun owner with no formal training. “This is what my gun experience has been like,” said Cheng, waving at the three Asian friends. Ha, Bui and Sargentini gathered at Chris Cheng’s private gun range near Santa Cruz for target practice, what they call their Asian American gun community. His friend Charlie Ha, right, is a civil engineer. “My wife feels it’s dangerous going out there and that she doesn’t feel safe anymore,” said Bui.Ĭonrad Bui, left, is a chiropractor. Ha turned to his childhood friend Conrad Bui, a San Francisco chiropractor, for help finding a gun and proper training.īui says his own wife’s attitude about guns has fundamentally changed after watching videos on social media of Asian Americans being harassed. When things hit the fan like in this case, it definitely encouraged people to get firearms to protect themselves,” said Ha. Being marginalized all your life, it wears on you. “People were being xenophobic, blaming China and other minorities who look like they’re Chinese. Suddenly, I’m Asian American.”Ĭharlie Ha, a civil engineer in South San Jose and Vietnamese American, bought his first gun during the pandemic. “That was the first time that it was very clear that I wasn’t just American. “I definitely felt very worried for myself and others in the Asian American community,” said Sargentini, reflecting on the dozens of viral videos of Asian Americans being spat on, beaten, tripped and in some cases, murdered. Trish Sargentini, 34, was one of those new Asian American gun buyers.Ī biotech worker, Sargentini bought a gun for self-defense during the pandemic, driven by fear, a feeling that was entirely new to her living in the Bay Area. Thirty-six percent of White adults said they own a gun with another 11% saying they live with a gun owner.īut during the pandemic, the 2021 National Firearms Survey found that many new gun owners were people of color, including Asian Americans.Ĭhris Cheng and Trish Sargentini, in the foreground, practice at Cheng's private range. In 2021, a Pew Research Center survey found 10% of Asian adults reported they personally owned a gun and another 10% said they live in a household with a gun owner. He said he would think about it and promised to come back.Īttacks against Asian Americans on the riseĪsian American buyers make up a small percentage of overall gun sales in the US. Liu unlocked his glass case and gave He a handgun to hold, bluntly explaining, in Mandarin, how a new gun owner should train and safely live with a deadly weapon. He, who is not a native English speaker, said, “I think if you have gun, I have gun. One of He’s friends lost his aunt in the Monterey Park shooting that killed 11 people, mostly Asian. Kris He came into Liu's store shortly after getting his gun license.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |