Female Gun Ownership on the Rise

At one time in the United States, if you asked women whether or not they ever held a gun in their hands, the question would likely be met with laughter. It simply was considered “unladylike” in that day and age. However, that era has long since entered the rearview mirror. Today, more and more women are taking the leap of gun ownership.

The number of female gun owners is steadily on the incline. According to a National Shooting Sports survey, three out of five firearm retailers stated that they have seen a rise in the number of female customers. A Gallup poll revealed that 25 percent of American women own a firearm. Any way you look at it, odds are greater today than ever before that a woman you pass on the street is packing heat.

Many states, especially in the Midwest, have conceal and carry laws that allow women to protect themselves by having a weapon on their person in the event of a violent attack. Perhaps this is part of the reason that national statistics have seen a steady decline in terms of violent assaults over the past decade.

Of course, not all women who have made the choice to arm themselves are doing so out of fear. Some are certainly simply in the mood to let off some steam by shooting up targets at a practice range. In a safe and controlled environment, guns can easily lend themselves to helping to ease the stress of the person doing the blasting.

The sport of hunting is also a valid reason for an increase in female gun ownership. Just as the workplace used to have a glass ceiling, the world of the outdoor sportsman has also been almost exclusively male for many years. That is no longer the case as more and more women have begun to take part in the activity.

Not so coincidentally, the entertainment industry certainly reflects this increasing comfortableness with seeing women having a gun in their hands. Take a look at the television landscape and you will see no shortage of female figures of authority shouting for a criminal mastermind to “Freeze!” while pointing the barrel of a handgun at them, fully prepared to pull the trigger if compliance is not immediate.

From “Alcatraz” to “Fringe” to “Bones” to “CSI,” the concept of a woman holding a gun is commonplace in our culture. Whether that’s a reflection of a trend, or the reason for the trend is debatable, but either way the truth is the same. Women with guns have become the new normal.