VOICES Publishing from the AAJA National Convention
Chris Cheng was the first Asian American to win “Top Shot,” a History Channel reality show competition featuring various marksman shooting their way through variety of challenges.
The win brought him a $100,000 cash prize, a marksman contract with Bass Pro Shops, and stereotype-busting distinction.
Guns don’t hold the same place in Asian America as they do in the broader U.S. culture. But shooting is an important part of life for Cheng, whose father taught him how to shoot a gun when he was 6.
“Firearms, for me, are a way for me to know I have personal safety,” Cheng, 36, said in a telephone interview.
Election-year surveys show Cheng’s position on guns isn’t shared among many Asian Americans.
A 2016 report from APIA Vote, a nonpartisan organization partnering with AAJA for this year’s convention, reported that 77 percent of registered AAPI voters agree with the phrase, “We should have stricter gun laws in the United States.”
John Lin, a senior contributor at 8asian.com, said the survey results are not surprising. Where people live affects the need and ability to own guns, he said.
“Asian Americans tend to live in more urban centers and lean Democratic or unaffiliated/Independent,” Lin said. “People who live in rural areas are more likely to own guns, traditionally due to hunting as well as safety concerns. Living in rural areas, one isn’t close to public safety, the police.”
Only 1 percent of the total rural population is made up of Asian Americans, compared to about 4 percent of both the suburban and urban populations, according to a 2012 report from the Housing Assistance Council.
Additionally, there has been a shift in party identification towards the Democratic party from 2012 to 2016.
The APIA vote data also indicated that gun control is one of the most important issues for Asian Americans in the upcoming election. However, gun control is not among the top eight issues for the upcoming election for the general electorate, according to a CBS News/New York Times poll.
Lin said he believes that the overall trend of Asian Americans supporting strict gun control will continue, attributing it to influences from the countries that immigrants are coming from.
“Immigrants from Asia are the fastest growing immigrant demographic, so the overall trend regarding guns will probably remain the same,” Lin said. “There’s just not a lot of exposure to guns in Asia, where gun ownership is very tightly regulated in countries like Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan, etc.”
Cheng agreed with the observation.
“If you come from a country that bans firearms, then it isn’t a part of your culture,” Cheng said.
Cheng said that the 1992 Rodney King riots and the subsequent documentary, “Assaulted: Civil Rights Under Fire” were influential, particularly how Korean Americans defended themselves using their own guns when the police were unable to help them.
A historic photograph of Korean Americans keeping watch over a store during the LA Riots of 1992. (Photo reproduced by LA Times)
“It resonated with me, as an Asian, to see other Asians protecting themselves.”
But for some AAPI groups, gun death statistics speak for themselves.
Firearms kill around 33,000 people per year, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports.
“It is long past time for Congress to take action – from closing background check loopholes and strengthening our national security to allowing research on gun control and repealing immunity for the gun industry, which prevents victims of gun violence from holding bad actors accountable,” Christopher Kang, of the National Council of Asian Pacific Americans, said in the statement.
