AAPI Victory Alliance on the Ninth Annual National Gun Violence Awareness Day
WASHINGTON — Today, in commemoration of the ninth annual National Gun Violence Awareness Day, AAPI Victory Alliance reflects on its leadership in the AAPI space to address gun violence.
AAPI Victory Alliance Executive Director Varun Nikore issued the following statement:
“The rise of gun violence and anti-Asian hate has inflicted irreparable emotional, physical and mental harm to the AAPI community. Our collective resiliency as we navigate the aftermath is what has helped us cope with the losses to our communities, but this crisis is nowhere close to being over. We can’t let the lives lost to gun violence be overshadowed by politics — our country needs to unite and put a stop to the nonstop carnage we all face almost daily.
“Gun violence is an issue at the top of Asian Americans’ minds as they navigate everyday life. It is going to take all of us to keep our communities safe and call on our leaders to enact common-sense gun violence prevention measures. Together, with a broad coalition of survivors, community members and allies, AAPI Victory Alliance is committed to transforming our grief into meaningful action.”
About AAPI Victory Alliance’s Gun Violence Prevention Efforts
AAPI Victory Alliance is committed to ending gun violence and building a world where everyone feels safe in their communities. In April 2021, the AAPI Victory Alliance launched the first-ever AAPI think tank to tackle the growing issue of anti-Asian hate through a research-backed policy-focused approach. Gun violence prevention has been at the forefront of its work.
Since 2021, AAPI Victory Alliance has hosted multiple virtual panel discussions uplifting the voices of gun violence survivors and examining policy solutions with lawmakers like Rep. Lucy McBath.
Ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, Garin-Hart-Yang Research, on behalf of AAPI Victory Alliance and coalition partners, conducted a poll that found the top non-economic issue for AAPI voters was gun violence. After the elections, AAPI Victory Alliance hosted an AAPI Policy Conference where Executive Director Varun Nikore participated in a panel called: “Gun Violence Prevention: An AAPI Issue.” You can watch that panel here and read the poll memo here.
Following the tragic mass shootings in Monterey Park, CA, and Half Moon Bay, CA, AAPI Victory Alliance Executive Director Varun Nikore called for financial aid and resources for AAPI communities. He told Alicia Menendez, AAPI groups are “understaffed and under-resourced.” You can watch Varun’s MSNBC interview here.
Varun Nikore called out the NRA and gun manufacturers for pushing guns into the AAPI community. Sitting down with anchor Priya David Clemens Varun said, “The NRA used to be a known as the premier gun safety organization…this entity now has turned into an organization that strictly lobbies on behalf of the gun industry and as they expand into new audiences, unfortunately, AAPIs are a captive audience." You can watch Varun’s KQED Newsroom interview here.
In March, AAPI Victory Alliance, alongside coalition partners, sent a letter to Wells Fargo CEO Charles Scharf to demand the bank stop funding the gun manufacturing industry, the NRA and the NSSF. After a month passed with no response, AAPI Victory Alliance leaders joined forces with national gun violence prevention groups — like March For Our Lives and Guns Down America — to host the Corporate Accountability Rally to hold banks like Wells Fargo accountable for the direct cost that funding guns has on lives in AAPI communities. Attendees included gun violence survivors, students, senior citizens, doctors, and community-based groups who gathered just blocks from Wells Fargo headquarters in San Francisco. After the rally, AAPI Victory Alliance sent Scharf a follow-up letter again asking to meet and discuss divesting from the gun industry. AAPI Victory Alliance has yet to receive a response. You can read more about their corporate accountability campaign here. You can read the San Francisco Chronicle’s article here and watch ABC7’s coverage here.
This month, AAPI Victory Alliance is hosting the 2nd Annual AAPI Against Gun Violence Conference in Washington, D.C. to meet with AAPI community members and national gun violence prevention advocates and discuss the next steps toward ensuring safer communities. Press interested in attending the event should reach out to erika@firesidecampaigns.com.
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AAPI Victory Alliance works to build Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) political power across the country by providing education on progressive issues; creating and advocating for policies that affect these communities; and building alliances with organizations to help AAPIs exert their power and be the margin of victory at the local, state, and national levels.