More US Women Arming Themselves And Being Trained

It’s a sign of the times that women are growing in numbers as gun owners and occupying spots at ranges. Violence is becoming more random, and all too often the victim was a woman who was not prepared to defend themselves.

No more, if members of the female-only A Girl & A Gun club have their way. Firearms instructor Charneta Samms teaches women the art of shooting and self-defense at a shooting range near Baltimore.

As she noted, “the world’s getting a little bit crazy…And so I think it’s important for women to be able to defend themselves.”

According to the National Shooting Sports Foundation, one-third of the first-time gun buyers in 2021 were women. From 2005 through 2020, there was a dramatic 77% rise in female gun ownership.

And the 2021 National Firearms Survey found that almost 30% of new gun owners in the U.S. are Black women. 

One of the women Samms instructed recently was high school geometry teacher Kenya Watkins. Working in Baltimore, she is keenly aware of the city’s well deserved reputation as a mecca for violence and wanted to be prepared.

The 49-year-old Watkins has a daughter and said that prompted her to seek firearms training. “I didn’t want her to be anybody’s victim, being a young African-American woman living alone in Baltimore city.”

A safety officer at the range, 68-year-old retiree Russ Leith, expressed his satisfaction at seeing more women take advantage of the service. He said they are “easier to work with than men, they want to learn. Guys can be more macho about it.”

Overall, the past ten years saw a surge in female gun ownership that more than doubled, from 12% to 25%, according to the Pew Research Center. 

Meanwhile, men who own firearms only registered a slight increase, from 37% to 40%.

Much of the rise in women owning firearms came during the COVID-19 pandemic and accompanying civil unrest. It is only logical that as citizens feel more threatened, they take advantage of their Second Amendment rights and arm themselves.

There is a stereotype of gun owners that is dramatically shifting in Joe Biden’s America. Much of that change is due to the preponderance of radical leftist prosecutors who function solely to keep criminals out of the prison system.

Unfortunately, this results in more bad guys out on the streets looking for victims, and far too many times those targeted are women who are defenseless. But that narrative is fading.