California
Asians in California more fearful than other groups of becoming gun violence victims
Even earlier than final month’s mass shootings in Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay — the place most people shot had been Asian or Asian American — Asian residents in California had been far more apprehensive about turning into victims of gun violence in comparison with different racial and ethnic teams, based on a report launched Tuesday by the UCLA Heart for Well being Coverage Analysis and AAPI Information, a analysis group centered on Asian American and Pacific Islanders.
Two-thirds of Asians, and an identical share of Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders, stated they had been “very apprehensive” or “considerably apprehensive” about being a sufferer of gun violence — considerably greater than the 43% common of Californians of all races who stated the identical factor, based on the report. The report cited outcomes from the 2021 California Well being Interview Survey, an annual UCLA survey that interviewed greater than 20,000 California households.
By comparability, 49% of Hispanic respondents, 45% of Black respondents and 30% of white respondents stated they had been “very apprehensive” or “considerably apprehensive” about turning into victims of gun violence, the survey discovered. Outcomes for the 2022 survey should not but obtainable.
It’s not clear whether or not this stage of concern about gun violence felt amongst Asians is greater or decrease than sentiments felt on this neighborhood traditionally as a result of 2021 was the primary yr the survey requested this query, stated Karthick Ramakrishnan, founding father of AAPI Information and a professor of public coverage at UC Riverside.
Throughout the Asian demographic, individuals of Korean origin reported the very best stage of worry of gun violence, with 70% saying they had been very apprehensive or considerably apprehensive about it, based on the survey. This was adopted by 66% of individuals of Filipino and Chinese language origin, and 62% of individuals of Vietnamese origin, based on the survey. The Asian subgroup with the bottom stage of worry was individuals of Japanese origin, at 49%.
A number of elements possible contribute to Asians’ greater stage of worry of gun violence victimization, together with stories of hate crimes and hate incidents towards Asian residents throughout the pandemic — which vary from being harassed and referred to as names to being violently attacked, Ramakrishnan stated. The spate of mass shootings in colleges, film theaters and different public settings over the past a number of years might have additionally contributed to the heightened sense of worry, he stated.
He surmised that if the identical survey had been carried out in the present day, a good greater proportion of Asians would report being concerned about gun violence, given the 2 current mass shootings within the AAPI neighborhood.
Earlier analysis accomplished by AAPI Information exhibits that Asian Individuals are typically the strongest supporters of gun management, extra so than the nationwide common, he stated.
“Gun management is an Asian American problem, it has not gotten the popularity it deserves,” Ramakrishnan stated. “With Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay, hopefully we will enter right into a dialog about how Asian Individuals must be a part of that dialog. It additionally means gun management advocacy organizations want to concentrate and put money into Asian American communities.”
Attain Catherine Ho: cho@sfchronicle.com