The U.S. Constitution guarantees the citizenry's right to bear arms. But the country also grapples with far higher rates of gun violence compared to other high-income nations. With a highly contentious presidential election just around the corner, the discussion around gun ownership and gun control is on many voters' minds – Asian Americans included.
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00:00In a small suburb of northeast Los Angeles, home to a large portion of Los Angeles County's Asian population, is gun shop Arcadia Firearm and Safety.
00:13Owner David Liu was born in Taiwan where guns are strictly controlled, but he had the rare opportunity to grow up around firearms.
00:25My parents never stopped me from learning about firearms.
00:29My mom was in the Taipei shooting team when she was young.
00:33She was the team captain.
00:35And so I always get in touch like with airsoft and BB guns.
00:42Liu moved to the U.S. as a teenager after spending his childhood in Hong Kong.
00:49He's fluent in both Mandarin and Cantonese, able to have in-depth conversations with Chinese-speaking clients about gun ownership.
00:58He holds classes and seminars with the community to help educate those interested in owning guns.
01:04We find a lot of new immigrants and Chinese have a lot of misunderstanding about firearms and they have problem getting the proper channel and knowledge.
01:16Gun control is a hot topic in America, particularly in the lead up to the presidential election.
01:23The U.S. has one of the highest rates of gun violence among developed countries, and there are frequently calls for laws restricting gun ownership.
01:34Gun violence is increasingly impacting the Asian-American community in the U.S.
01:40Data from the country's Centers for Disease Control shows that Asian-American gun deaths rose steadily between 2018 and 2022.
01:50According to the Pew Research Center, around six in 10 U.S.
01:55adults favor stricter gun laws.
01:57Some camps say restrictions on gun ownership is a violation of the Second Amendment of the U.S.
02:03Constitution, which guarantees citizens the right to bear arms.
02:09Democratic candidate Kamala Harris says she supports the Second Amendment, but would also implement stronger gun control measures,
02:17such as a ban on assault weapons and a stricter universal background checks when buying guns.
02:24Republican candidate Donald Trump, on the other hand, says that Harris's proposals would destroy Second Amendment rights,
02:32hinting that he'd have a more relaxed policy on guns.
02:36For Liu, gun control should come in the form of encouraging responsible ownership rather than flat out restrictions on firearms.
02:46To me, the proper gun control is education, you know, using a firearm and background check.
02:53We should have background check. People should be checked.
02:56Some people should never have guns.
02:59That's, you know, that's the way of controlling the gun.
03:03Over in Texas, viewed as one of the most gun friendly states in the U.S., nonprofit Asian Texans for Justice's 2024 data polling found that gun safety is a big priority for Asian Americans.
03:16Universally, we all agree about having, you know, common sense gun safety laws like background checks,
03:23you know, gun storage laws, taking, you know, the required safety classes with gun ownership.
03:31And that is something that is really important to our community.
03:34On the eve of the U.S. presidential election, conversations around gun control and gun ownership are in the spotlight.
03:42And it's a conversation some Asian Americans are looking to get in on.
03:46Devin Tsai, Jeremy Olivier and Leslie Liao for Taiwan Plus.