So who is the woman gun owner of 2022? The Well Armed Woman gets asked this question by gun industry-leading companies. One thing I know from doing this for so long is that women gun owners cannot be described as any one type of woman – we are incredibly diverse!
Take a look at the different aspects of the woman gun owner, and you will agree- we are as diverse as they come!
The Woman Gun Owner
First, let’s look at the average age of the woman gun owner in 2022. Over recent years we have consistently seen the majority of women gun owners fall between the ages 56-65. For the first time in 3 years, we have seen a shift! The majority of the respondents in 2022 are younger, 46-55 years olds.
I have always thought that the industry wrongly believed the average woman gun owner to be younger than she actually was and I have encouraged them to adjust their marketing toward or at a minimum include the more mature women in their design and marketing campaigns. Even with the majority age range dropping 10 years, I still believe this to be true.
How Long Have They Been Gun Owners
This data is pretty close to what we have seen in previous years. The majority of respondents have been gun owners for a very long time, more than 20 years! I find this fascinating. I can’t help but wonder that given the fact that “women and guns” have been a hot topic really just in just the last decade, so many women gun owners had been living in the shadows and little or no attention.
Income and Marital Status
This year we see that the majority of women are married or in a partnership and bring in over $100,000 a year in annual income. This makes sense given the majority age ranges and that a couple would bring in more together creating a higher income and likely providing more discretionary dollars.
Region
Let’s look now at where the woman gun owner lives. We can see the majority of them live in the south and the midwest. I”m pleased to see such encouraging numbers in states/regions that tend to have incredibly restrictive gun laws. As self-defense is the main driver of gun ownership for women, this need is universal and even with cumbersome and infringing laws, women are pushing through.
Political Stance and Ethnicity
Why do we ask these questions in the survey? We want to prove to the gun industry that women gun owners are diverse! Women of all ages, ethnicities and political stances are gun owners. As I said above, the driving force is self-protection, not politics. There is not one mold we all fit into. It’s imperative to appeal to all women and not to typecast or assume their political leanings.
Interestingly, the number of women last year who stated their political leaning as “Progressive” was much higher, 13%. This year it is only 1%. Not sure I understand why this huge drop but perhaps the view of what being progressive is has changed. Also, more women this year “preferred not to say”.
The ethnicity numbers again clearly say the majority of women gun owners are white. I was disappointed to not see any significant change in these numbers. I, of course, LOVE every woman, regardless of ethnicity to be taking charge of her self-protection and hope we all take on the task of sharing the life-changing and protecting benefits of gun ownership with women of all ethnicities.
Final Thoughts
The independence, confidence, and freedom that come with our ability to protect ourselves and our loved ones are not only life-changing but life-saving. Age, ethnicity, income, and political leanings are all meaningless and insignificant. What matters is that all women have access to the tools and training to become responsible and safe life protectors. The purpose of collecting and sharing this data is two-fold. One is to better inform the firearms industry on who exactly their female customers are and what their needs are. Two, to inform society, politicians, and the media that women gun owners are not a particular type of woman or a single voting block that they can cast all into the same bucket only to discount and minimize. We are and could be any given woman standing next to you, at the grocery store, PTA meeting, in the office, and in the voting precinct.
As a long-time musician (decades), and gun owner (also decades), I play for primarily black congregations and this demographic gets much of their information from pastors and television. They’re lied to a lot. I never share that I carry, due to the bully ethic being promulgated just about everywhere. The writer of this article seems surprised that there’s so many ‘quiet’ women gun owners. Why is that?
Hi Grace,
not surprised at all, gun ownership has changed to a much more “keep quiet” aspect of our lives, especially in the last few years.
I personally take it upon myself to carry extra targets to the range that are in rose pink and white. I share them with every woman I see on the range to encourage them to make this sport their own. The smiles and thanks I receive are priceless. Let’s keep encouraging other women to get out there and own their own sporting equipment.
All women need to have protection! ALL!!!!!!