As extremist threat rises, Latino Texans say gun ownership is ‘matter of survival’

Julian Longoria teaches Brenda Leal, a Brownsville schoolteacher, at a gun range in Los Fresnos, Texas. Photograph: Sabrina Toppa/The Guardian

On a crisp Sunday afternoon in Royse City, Texas, 32-year-old Cesar Hurtado unzipped a hardshell case to reveal a custom-built AR-15-style rifle in his living room. Emblazoned on the side of the gun is the tagline “no war, no gods, no masters”.

Hurtado’s interest in firearms started with hunting, but after the 2019 Walmart shooting in El Paso that targeted Latinos, Hurtado felt he had to embrace firearms for his own protection. “For white gun owners, they feel they have a right to a gun,” Hurtado said, “but for Latino gun owners, it’s a matter of survival and safety.”