More Women Than Ever Are Buying Guns for Self-Defense

Range photo from Athena Gun Club in Houston, TX. Athena has 26-lane indoor shooting range.

A Girl & A Gun (AG&AG) is a club by women shooters for women shooters. With a network of instructors and affiliated ranges, AG&AG operates training clinics and competition events throughout the country. AG&AG recently sponsored a nationwide survey of 6000 club members. This survey revealed interesting trends in gun purchases by females. By way of background, a previous survey by the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) estimated that about 40% of 2020 gun sales are to first-time buyers, and that roughly 40% of those first-time gun buyers were women.

AG&AG did a follow-up survey of club members who were first-time gun buyers. This showed that the leading motivator in gun acquisition were concerns over riots and civil unrest. This was followed by worries over the upcoming election and possible future gun bans.

» READ MORE HERE — AG&AG Survey Results

There were some very interesting comments by AG&AG members, who expressed their personal reasons for buying guns and seeking firearms training:

Kathryn in Texas: “I’m a trauma surgeon and have treated a fair share of gunshot victims in Chicago and Houston. I have been pretty ‘anti-gun’ as a result up until COVID. At that point, I figured I might as well get comfortable with at least handling firearms in case I had to use one.”

Theresa in Nevada: “I’ve never felt the need to own a gun or want a one. However, with the extreme levels of crime, every individual should learn to protect themselves. With our political leaders allowing the police to be torn apart, this made me feel the need to step up and take measures for my protection.”

Jan in Michigan: “As a history teacher with 35 years of teaching experience I know that the first thing revolutionaries and tyrants do upon seizing power is to take away the public’s guns. As a child my family lived in inner city Detroit in the heart of the 1967 riots….More recently, the rioters came down my street after their burning and looting rampage downtown in my city of Kalamazoo, Michigan. I decided that I have to defend myself and not allow myself to be a sitting duck. “

Anonymous in Connecticut: “I [was] interested in joining A Girl & A Gun Club for a while and in the wake of the protests and defunding of police I thought this was extremely important. Being from the Northeast it is difficult to find others with the same ideals so I thought this would be the best place to start.”

About A Girl & A Gun
AG&AG is now moving into its 10th year of educating women on the safe use and storage of firearms, and promoting women’s interest and participation in training and competitive and recreational shooting sports. The club’s mission is especially relevant today and the organization is stronger than ever.