NEW YORK, Feb. 21 (Xinhua) -- In the wake of the mass shootings in Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay in California, a growing number of Asian Americans are buying, or considering buying, guns for protection, reported CNN on Monday.

"Gun safety activists say this trend is in response to increased racial tensions across the country exacerbated by the pandemic and a nationwide gun violence epidemic," noted the report.

Asian American buyers make up a small percentage of overall gun sales in the United States. In 2021, a Pew Research Center survey found 10 percent of Asian adults reported they personally owned a gun and another 10 percent said they lived in a household with a gun owner.

"But during the pandemic, the 2021 National Firearms Survey found that many new gun owners were people of color, including Asian Americans," said the report.

As Asian Americans buy more guns, they are now also faced with how to prevent gun deaths in their communities, it added.