Two shootings that authorities say were carried out by elderly Asian men follow a spike in Asian Americans buying guns during the COVID-19 pandemic. The shootings come after gun ownership soared during the pandemic, with firearm sales to Asian Americans rising by an estimated 43 percent in the first half of 2020, according to the National Shooting Sports Foundation. But Asian Americans who experienced increased acts of racism at the start of the pandemic were more likely to buy firearms and ammunition for self-defense, a study by researchers at the University of Michigan and Eastern Michigan University (EMU) found last year.
Dr. Hsing-Fang Hsieh was a Co-PI on the study cited by Newsweek for this article.