Interesting Guardian article on Latino gun owners

[hso]

Ignore the inherent bias long enough to get the very interesting information on the growth in gun owners.

In the US, gun purchases by Latinos have surged in recent years – including among self-described progressives.

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[PzGren]

The first photo was worth following the link and made me laugh. It prompted me to research the dude. Julian Longoria is the owner and operator of Primal Defense Co. in Los Fresnos, a gun licensing and self-defense education program.
He cannot even teach the overweight woman the proper stance to mitigate the recoil!

 

[old lady new shooter]

At my old range in Cali, most of the staff (including the one who was my first instructor) and a large percentage of the members were Hispanic. Here in AZ, I see a fair amount of Hispanics at my indoor range, but never saw any at the outdoor range I went to during COVID.

 

[GEM]

Plenty of Latino competitors in the gun sports in TX. The motivations are well documented as ownership is moving out of the classic 'white male' demographic. This offends some folks, tough.

As far as overweight, how is that relevant? How many 'classic' gun owners have the good ol' boy belly?

 

[wayneinFL]

“They might see us as a threat,” Hurtado said. “For the longest [time], I made a point not to get a handgun, because if I were to get pulled over, I didn’t want to be just a brown guy with a gun.”

This guy is whiter than I am.

I just shot my first USPSA match in a couple of years, in Okeechobee. I was the only one on my squad who wasn't Hispanic. That's always been very common in South Florida.

I've noticed a lot of first and second generation Cubans who fled communism share a lot of right wing beliefs, and are pro-gun.

A lot of South American countries have strict gun laws loosely enforced- this results in a lot of criminals running around with guns. it takes a lot to change when that's been reinforced in your mind.

But immigrants by nature don't seem to have that victim mentality that so many left wingers seem to have. They fled oppressive or corrupt governments and when given the chance to do for themselves in the US, most of them are successful. It just seems natural that they would embrace gun ownership eventually.

 

[Riomouse911]

When all added up, to me it looks like a slight majority of the patrons at my local indoor range are of a minority race, or female, on any given day.

The owner is from The Philippines, one staff member is native Hawaiian, the other two are Anglo. It is a good mix of our society, and I am glad to see such a diverse cross section of gun owners/shooters here. This certainly doesn’t fit into the book preached by the elite, urban whites and their anti gun narrative.

Stay safe.

 

[Jim Watson]

I see few Latin Americans at ranges I go to, plenty of blacks and women, a good number of Orientals, I think mostly overseas students at the college experiencing something they cannot do at home.

 

[PzGren]

....

As far as overweight, how is that relevant? How many 'classic' gun owners have the good ol' boy belly?

It is a comment on the "teacher". I think as an esteemed moderator emeritus you should understand physics and have a basic understanding of shooting technique and stance.
Weight can be used to counter recoil forces, or used your favor in a fight. The shooter's stance is unbalanced, she is leaning back and cannot make use of her weight, nor of important muscle groups to counter the recoil. The gun is also not gripped well.

​

 

[GEM]

You might have said it like that but you didn't.

 

[PzGren]

You might have said it like that but you didn't.

Wrong. I just did not explain it in depth because anybody who shoots a handgun should know it and we are on a gun forum, aren't we???

 

[old lady new shooter]

It is a comment on the "teacher". I think as an esteemed moderator emeritus you should understand physics and have a basic understanding of shooting technique and stance.
Weight can be used to counter recoil forces, or used your favor in a fight. The shooter's stance is unbalanced, she is leaning back and cannot make use of her weight, nor of important muscle groups to counter the recoil. The gun is also not gripped well.

​

I think stance is not one-size-fits-all. My first shooting experience was in a class. We were instructed to use the Weaver stance. I have multi-level degenerative disk disease and that was quite painful for me. What works well for me is isosceles and what I would describe as "planted" weight distribution, leaning forward as seen in many shooting photos feels unsteady to me. I have seen photos of how Israelis are trained and I think what I do is similar to that.

 

[Speedo66]

“Salas’s own understanding of what gun ownership means has evolved in reaction to both the machismo within Latin culture and a ‘hyper-masculine and toxic’ white gun culture embodied by groups like the NRA.”

Can’t say I’m thrilled with this characterization by one of the people the author interviewed.

 

[old lady new shooter]

“They might see us as a threat,” Hurtado said. “For the longest [time], I made a point not to get a handgun, because if I were to get pulled over, I didn’t want to be just a brown guy with a gun.”

This guy is whiter than I am.

I just shot my first USPSA match in a couple of years, in Okeechobee. I was the only one on my squad who wasn't Hispanic. That's always been very common in South Florida.

I've noticed a lot of first and second generation Cubans who fled communism share a lot of right wing beliefs, and are pro-gun.

A lot of South American countries have strict gun laws loosely enforced- this results in a lot of criminals running around with guns. it takes a lot to change when that's been reinforced in your mind.

But immigrants by nature don't seem to have that victim mentality that so many left wingers seem to have. They fled oppressive or corrupt governments and when given the chance to do for themselves in the US, most of them are successful. It just seems natural that they would embrace gun ownership eventually.

Check out photos of male Mexican "ranchera" singers, their standard outfit includes a revolver on the hip. There is even a classic ranchera song called "Yo Soy Mexicano" which includes a line about how the singer's pistol has a deer antler grip.

 

[herrwalther]

The bias in that article is just sad, and made it only halfway through. I have taught nearly every ethnic group how to shoot. I don't care what color they are. They come to me wanting to get better. This stance of "Latinos are buying more guns cause white people are scary" is divisive drivel.