Some Dallas Koreatown businesses are buying more guns after salon attack

Business owners in Dallas’s Asian Trade Center District, which the locals call “Old Koreatown,” are reexamining their safety plans after the May 11 shooting at a Korean hair salon that injured three women.

Police have also stepped up their presence in the area, but some restaurant and bar owners are preparing for the risk of violence by buying guns.

Jin Shin, a former U.S. Marine who owns Encore Family Karaoke, is buying a third pistol to protect his staff, customers and fellow community members, reports The Dallas Morning News.

“We’re not going to just sit on our butts and be scared. We’re preparing,” Shin said.

“We’ve got to protect ourselves. This is Texas. We’re allowed to.”

The new handgun with bring his gun collection to a total of seven firearms, including a hunting rifle.

Shin said that anyone who attacked his business would have faced returned fire.

“That’s the thing with these cowards, they never go somewhere they’ll be confronted. They go after women, like old ladies at Hair World,” said Shin.

Koreatown businessowners say that they have experienced a dip in sales after the attack on the Hair World Salon there. They hope that the increase police presence will help show clientele that the area is safe again.

Community leader Caroline Kim described Koreatown as integral to the city’s economic and cultural landscape, generating tens of millions of dollars in revenue, taxes and tourism each year.

That is “a conservative estimate,” Kim told the Morning News. “And it should be protected as much.”

Kim said at the safety town hall meeting hosted by the Dallas Police Department following the shooting that the condemnation of anti-Asian hate should be “loud and clear.”

“We deserve and need strong condemnation from the highest levels against AAPI hate, so that our communities know and understand that our neighborhood is a safe, protected and welcoming place to visit,” says Kim.

In a press conference the day after the shooting, Dallas PD ruled “confidently” ruled out hate as a motivating factor. They backtracked by the next day, saying that it was a hate crime and may be linked to two drive-by shootings in the area since April.

“I’m not Sherlock Holmes, but all indicators show it’s a hate crime,” Shin told the Morning News.