More and more people are seeing the benefits of owning firearms, whether for recreational shooting or personal protection. Interestingly, women now make up a huge percentage of new gun owners in America.
The Firearm Blog made this assertion, citing data from a study conducted by Harvard University's T.H. Chan School of Public Health. The study noted that women now make up 42 percent of new gun owners, accounting for nearly half of all new gun owners over the past five years years.
Around 3.5 million women joined the ranks of new gun owners between January 2019 and April 2021. A separate study by the National Shooting Sports Foundation backed up the Harvard study's findings, stating that more than a third of first-time gun owners were women.
The Harvard study also found that 25 percent of the women surveyed cited self-defense as their main reason for buying a gun for the first time. Many of them mentioned the uptick in civil unrest and reduction of law enforcement assets – through Black Lives Matter's "defund the police" agenda – during the summer of 2020. The women respondents also cited the fact that they are now living alone as a reason for buying guns, adding that they feel more comfortable having a firearm in their residence for self-defense.
Regardless of the reasons for an increase in gun ownership among women, this is a net positive for the firearms industry as a whole and the women that the industry is trying to serve.
Firearm industry observers have noticed a distinct shift in how gun makers are promoting their products, with many now making and marketing products aimed toward female buyers. Companies such as Shoot Like A Girl, which feature female firearms instructors, have also emerged. These firms seek to involve more women into shooting sports and provide them with a more comfortable environment to train in.
Self-defense driving American women to exercise their Second Amendment rights
Gun owner Kylie Tyler said some of the people who initially expressed shock over her ownership of firearms are now expressing interest in purchasing their own. (Related: Guess who's arming up in self-defense? Women and blacks now acquiring concealed carry permits in record numbers.)
"In the Northwest, there has been a lot of civil unrest. That, specifically, has caused a lot of people that I've talked to to rethink that initial evaluation," she said. Tyler, who is based in Washington state, grew up hunting with her father and had many family members as avid hunters.. Thus, she also encouraged her mother to learn how to handle firearms.
According to Tyler, she sleeps better at night whenever her husband is away knowing that a firearm is in the house. "Being a 5-foot-4 woman, I'm extremely uncomfortable being by myself," she quipped.
Beth Privette, another gun owner, also confirmed the "uptick" of women arming themselves over the last year and a half. A major reason for gun ownership among women, she said, is the fact that more of them are living alone regardless of their age.
"A recurring thing that we see here is, 'My husband has passed away and I have this gun. He kind of showed me how to use it, but now I'm by myself."
Privette, who helps run the Women Arm Yourselves Safely program in Brevard, North Carolina, noted that many of her new clients are in their 60s and 70s. She added two classes to her calendar in 2020 "because there was such a need for it."
According to Privette, her primary focus when training women is to ensure their safety.
Visit SecondAmendment.news for more updates about gun ownership among women in the United States.
Watch the video below for more information about female gun ownership.
This video is from The Rogue Banshee channel on Brighteon.com.
More related stories:
Beverly Hills residents flocking to buy guns for self-defense as violent crime soars in L.A.
Beverly Hills residents arm themselves and form self-defense groups to counter rising violence.
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