Armed and Fabulous
CREATED May. 15, 2013 – UPDATED: May. 17, 2013
TUCSON (KGUN9-TV) – Armed and fabulous. Females are flocking to firearms and the industry is trying to keep up, bra holsters and all.
“It’s so much harder for a women to carry a gun concealed than it is for a man.” Carrie Lightfoot knows best. In the kingdom of well armed women, she’s the queen.
Lightfoot started The Well Armed Woman to give women a place to learn about guns with other women.
“We’re seeing huge numbers of women come together, realize that they’re part of a huge community,” said Lightfoot.
The National Riffle Association says women are the new frontier.
Women are definitely out at the range these days, but as far as hard numbers go, there’s little proof that women are flocking to buy guns.
There is a Gallup Poll a lot of people point to. They found almost one in four women now say the own a gun, but that was just a three day survey.
A long-term study at the University of Chicago shows a much lower number.
“What they found is that female gun ownership has remained fairly consistent at about 10 percent,” said Josh Sugarmann, Executive Director at The Violence Policy Center.
One in ten? That’s lower than Gallup’s 23 percent and significantly lower than say the number of U.S. voters that believe in UFOs.
The local gun range in Tucson has seen an increase in women coming out lately.
We found some women here just like the sport. Others, many of them moms are all about being ready.
“I feel confident and capable that at any time I can defend myself and my family.”
No matter which study you point to, they all show that most moms do not own a gun, and plenty worry about all the guns already floating around. Many of them feel having a gun in the house is more likely to hurt their kids than save them.
Other say it’s all about being safe and smart with your gun.
“People talk about magazine capacity. As a mom I need one more. And if you’re not going to limit how much that criminal has, I need to have as many as it takes,” said Lightfoot.
So the gun makers turn them pink, size them smaller and come up with bra holsters. All to support the idea that more and more women want and need guns.
It could be mother bears preparing to protect their young.
“I felt the need to learn hot to handle a gun to protect us,” says Kelly Cheeseman, Tucson gun range regular.
Or gun companies trying to create a buzz.
The only thing we know for sure is women are well armed on both sides of this fight.
