There has been a lot of talk in the main stream media lately on self-defense and the use of guns to protect yourself. We can argue the justifications and merits of a particular case currently in the News, however it is clear that Law Enforcement Officers cannot be everywhere all the time to prevent attacks on people. The best statement to describe this is “When seconds count, the Police are only minutes away”.
Based on sales and ownership data, it appears women have embraced the concept that one must be able to defend themselves. “USA TODAY Snapshots” reports that in 2011, 23% of all gun owners are women, up from 13% in 2009. Calculating from the number of gun owners in the U.S. and the number of NICS (Instant Background) checks reported by the FBI that means that over 40% of purchases the past two years were by women.
I have seen this locally in the Conceal Pistol License classes where I teach. Each month 30%-40% of the students are women, and most have only recently become involved with shooting.
I recently participated in the annual “Women on Target” event sponsored by our Sportsmen’s Club. This year over half of the 70 women participating had never touched a gun previously and many were anxious when they arrived. They came for many reasons: urging of a spouse, parent, or friends, to try something new and exciting and others because they felt they should know how to take care of themselves in an emergency or dangerous situation.
Over 19000 rounds later at the conclusion of the day, the room was full of smiles and talk of additional firearms training and the shooting sports. One woman shared this story: She had called her friends early that morning to say she wasn’t going to come, she was anxious about the event and “didn’t feel well”. Her friends had signed up as a group and told her “they were already on the way and to be ready in 15 minutes”. She left the event that day with a list of the firearms she had enjoyed shooting and planned to purchase for herself!
These women had found out something we men had known for a long time, Shooting is Fun! It is not just about self-defense, there’s target shooting, clay pigeons (Trap) and hunting too. I continue to read reports about the increasing numbers of women attending Hunter Safety courses and taking part in hunting trips.
A demographics review of hunting licenses in several hunting oriented states revealed an 18% – 20% increase in women hunters over the past two years. This increase is good for the advancement of all shooting sports. And jokes about the male bastion of testosterone known as “Deer Camp” aside, If you teach a man to hunt and he goes hunting. If you teach a woman to hunt, the entire family goes hunting.
Women are increasingly active in competitive shooting events such as the International Defensive Pistol Association (IDPA), Skeet and Sporting Clays. This summer women shooters will participate in the summer Olympic Games. Ironically due to gun control laws, pistols are illegal in England, Wales and Scotland and the UK Government had to give special dispensation to allow the events to take place.
I have read of college students that have received rifle team scholarships, and last year at the NCAA championships an all-women’s rifle team from TCU took down an all men’s team from Fairbanks Alaska.
Homework Assignment:
Men Take a woman to the Range
Ladies Keep up the good work!
Next month: New Products
Until then …….Safe Shooting!