California massacres heighten immigrants' fears of U.S. gun violence
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[January 25, 2023]
By Alexandra Ulmer, Tim Reid and Sharon Bernstein
HALF MOON BAY/MONTEREY PARK, California (Reuters) - America was supposed
to be a place of safety for Jose Romero when he arrived some two years
ago to work on a California farm alongside other immigrants from Mexico
and China.
Romero was killed on Monday, shot dead by a gunman along with six other
farm workers in Half Moon Bay, just south of San Francisco. Even in a
nation all too familiar with gun violence, the shooting was stunning,
coming just two days after another gunman opened fire at a ballroom in
Monterey Park, an Asian American enclave outside Los Angeles.
In all, 18 people died in the back-to-back shootings, rattling two
close-knit communities that had drawn immigrants seeking opportunities.
"You look to improve your life and then you end up with this," said
Romero's cousin, Jose Juarez, quiet and sullen on Tuesday as he took a
break from cooking at a Mexican taqueria in a Half Moon Bay strip mall.
That police said the attacks were carried out by assailants known within
the community - Huu Can Tran, 72, frequented the Monterey Park dance
studio and Chunli Zhao, 66, worked on a Half Moon Bay farm - only added
to the sense of fear felt by immigrant groups that have been the targets
of racist rhetoric and attacks in the United States.
As many as 32% of Asian immigrants and 23% of Latino immigrants in
California say they are "very worried" about becoming victims of gun
violence in their adopted home - three times the level of fear reported
by people born in the United States, according to data gathered by the
University of California, Los Angeles, and shared with Reuters.
The massacres heightened those concerns for some people.
Antonio Perez, who now lives in Half Moon Bay after moving from Mexico
in 1983, said he feels stuck between cartel violence in his homeland and
gun violence in the United States.
“We never expected this kind of extreme here,” Perez said, shaking his
head. “What a tragedy.”
About 380 miles (610 km) south, in Monterey Park, residents expressed
fears in the aftermath of the dance hall shooting that the poison of
America’s gun culture and epidemic of mass shootings was infecting
Asian-American communities.
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People gather for a candlelight vigil
after a mass shooting during Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations in
Monterey Park, California, U.S. January 24, 2023. REUTERS/David
Swanson
"Americans can have guns, there are guns everywhere," said Frank Hio,
36, who is originally from China. "It’s dangerous here."
In the thriving suburb known for its Asian stores and restaurants,
some people expressed anguish that the gunman came from within the
community.
"The shooters are Asian, and the victims are Asian," said Rolando
Favis, 72, who moved to the United States from the Philippines 38
years ago.
But many also said they had been more fearful of their safety for
several years, following the rise in hate crimes against Asians in
the wake of the pandemic and rhetoric from then-President Donald
Trump blaming China.
In the aftermath of the pandemic, Asian American gun ownership
increased. A third of those who owned guns said they carried weapons
more frequently amid the anti-Asian incidents, and another third
said they kept guns loaded or unlocked in their homes, according to
a study by the University of Michigan.
At the Euro Arms Inc gun store in Alhambra, three miles (5 km) from
the scene of the Monterey Park massacre, store assistant Wesley Chan
said gun sales had risen since the start of the pandemic, including
among Asian Americans in the area.
"Everyone was scared and wanted to protect themselves," he said.
About 9.3% of Asian immigrants keep guns in their homes in
California, compared with 5.6% of Latino immigrants and 12% of white
immigrants, said Ninez Ponce, the lead researcher on the UCLA study.
Overall, about 17.6% of Californians of all backgrounds keep a gun
at home.
Both Tran and Zhao used semi-automatic pistols. Police have not said
where or when they were acquired.
(Reporting by Alexandra Ulmer in Half Moon Bay, Tim Reid in Monterey
Park and Sharon Bernstein in Sacramento, California; Writing by
Sharon Bernstein, Additional reporting by Nathan Frandino in Half
Moon Bay; Editing by Colleen Jenkins, Paul Thomasch and Raju
Gopalakrishnan)
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