Late on the eve of Lunar New Year in Monterey Park, California, 72-year-old Huu Can Tran shot and killed 11 people and injured 9 others at the Star Ballroom Dance Studio. Just two days later, on the afternoon of January 23, 66-year-old Chunli Zhao shot and killed 7 people and wounded 1 other person at two farms in Half Moon Bay, California. Though they occurred nearly 400 miles from each other, the shootings were strangely similar: both were committed by older Asian men and both men used semi-automatic pistols. Tran, the Monterey Park shooter, shot and killed himself the day after committing mass murder. Zhao was apprehended alive and has been charged with seven counts of murder.
Both Tran and Zhao were immigrants. Tran has been described by different sources as having moved to the United States from China or Vietnam, while Zhao came to the U.S. from China at least a decade ago. Tran was a former trucker and a regular at the Star Ballroom, where he used to give informal lessons to other patrons. Zhao was a farm worker who lived and worked at one of the farms at which the mass shooting he committed took place. In both shootings, the victims were predominantly Asian. The Asian communities in California and across the United States mourn the dead while demanding that something be done about gun violence.
For three years, the Stop Asian Hate movement has drawn attention to the violence Asian Americans have faced. While these shootings were committed by Asian perpetrators, they are nonetheless part of a pattern of gun violence to which the United States seems uniquely prone. Stop Asian Hate, which as a movement began after a 2021 mass shooting with predominantly Asian victims, has always overlapped with movements seeking to address gun violence. But what could have been done to prevent these latest tragedies? California politicians led by Governor Gavin Newsom are considering new legislation to strengthen public-carry laws, but questions remain as…
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