Women and Guns

Feel-Good Story: More Women Buying Firearms
BY Mary Katharine Ham

It does make me all warm and fuzzy:

A 2009 study found 70 percent of shop owners reported more female buyers.

The study, conducted by the National Shooting Sports Foundation and Southwick Associates, also found 80 percent of the female gun-buyers who responded said they purchased a gun for self-defense, followed by 35 percent for target practice and 24 percent for hunting.

Despite this study, another long-term study, conducted from 1980-2008 found that the demographics of gun ownership had stayed rather static. But if women made up a larger proportion of the post-election uptick in gun sales than in the past, as some shop owners suggest, it would put a different face on those sales, which are routinely characterized as a white, male trend of redneck paranoia.

Might I posit that this study combined with a recent Quinippiac poll, which showed that the Tea Party movement is majority female, suggests no one should try to physically attack a group of Tea Party moms on a dark night. (Disclaimer for Democrats: This is not to be construed as an incitement to violence, or a euphemism for political violence, or a glorification of violence. It is rather a celebration of the idea of women who are prepared to defend themselves should someone try to hurt them, which is always something that makes me smile.)