Asian Americans encouraged to purchase guns for protection

SCREEN CAPTURE / YOUTUBE

San Francisco Mayoral candidate Ellen Lee Zhou

ASAM NEWS

After a series of attacks, the San Francisco Coalition for Good Neighbors is encouraging Asian Americans in San Francisco to arm themselves for protection, Fox KTVU reports.
The group is encouraging Asian Americans to arm themselves because of recent crimes against Asian Americans in the San Francisco area.

“I have not seen such outrageous crime that is targeting Asian people over and over,” Ellen Lee Zhou, a member of the coalition and a mayoral candidate said.

In her campaign, Zhou has argued that Asian Americans are targeted victims of crimes, according to the San Francisco Examiner.
Zhou said that gun ownership is the “right thing” for people feeling “scared and helpless.” She and other members of the organization are encouraging Asian Americans to attend gun safety and training classes.

Other Asian American disapprove of the coalition’s attempts to convince Asian Americans to arm themselves.

“America has too many guns. And there’s a lot of gun violence already,” said Marlene Tran of the Visitacion Valley Asian Alliance.

The coalition says gun training classes will be held next week in Alameda County. (San Francisco no longer has any gun stores.) Members of the group say several people have expressed interest in attending.

“We don’t want to encourage people to arm themselves, it’s too dangerous, it’s not in today’s society. We have to rely on the police to protect us, but we want them to do a better job,” Chinatown Neighborhood Associatin chair Pius Lee told the Examiner.