Fear or Firepower: The Controversy of Women's Gun Ownership

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What is one of the most searched-for topics in relation to women’s rights? Concealed carry permits. You read that right. Women, professor Mary Stange of Skidmore College states, are generally seen as more “peace-loving” and “pacifistic,” which should make them as a group more averse to guns if logic is followed. How, then, can we account for the findings of the recent report by the Crime Prevention Research Center, which revealed that between 2012 and 2018, concealed carry permits for women grew 111% faster than for men? And is this a good thing or a dangerous one?

To start, we examine the reasons that gun owners say they own a firearm. 27% of women who own a gun say they do so for personal protection, while only 8% of male gun owners can say the same. At the same time, studies consistently show that domestic homicide is much more likely for gun owners, with 3 in 4 victims being women- and it doesn’t matter whether the woman or the man is the gun owner in these situations. We begin to see a problem with the validity of the “protection” philosophy develop when these numbers come into play. But there is also another reoccurring theme in these studies: women seem too comfortable accepting as fact that men are bigger and stronger than them, and relying on firearms to “solve” this issue or level the playing field in an attack situation. Almost every credible article on the topic quotes a woman (sometimes a powerful, influential woman) explaining that women need guns because their attackers will most likely be otherwise un-defeat-able men. Is this the truth or could we be focusing our efforts on the overall self-defense training and education provided to the women of our country?

Research consistently shows that women are actually better at surviving than men. Women have higher immune responses when ill or injured, women are more able to think logically under pressure and develop a way to escape a dangerous situation, and when we directly compare women’s and men’s musculature, the relative strength between sexes varies depending on the muscle (i.e. arm strength is lower for women than men, but women have more thigh strength). Overall, though, women can easily be 75% as strong as our male counterparts. And when you combine that level of strength with heightened logic and robust immune responses as well as the anti-inflammatory quality of oestrogens in many women’s bodies, there is no reason a woman can’t survive and/or escape a dangerous situation. But it’s pretty easy to imagine why you’d want to own a gun if you or someone you know has encountered an armed attacker without a weapon for themselves. So the decision is not one to be taken lightly.

Gun ownership has become such a popular trend with women consumers, companies developing fashionable “carry-wear” like leggings and handbags with specialized pockets for your gun, mace, and more. There’s even an NRA fashion show for this type of apparel. Manufacturing companies are developing more guns with lighter parts and less recoil, built and designed to fit a woman’s frame. But companies are beginning to use (and perhaps misuse) important feminist issues (like the #MeToo movement, for instance) to sell guns to women.

Following the Pulse massacre in Orlando in 2016, NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch claimed that calls to ban the most popular rifle among women, the AR-15, constituted a “war on women.” Loesch claimed such calls were aiming to “disarm women.” Countless women gun owners support the idea of women carrying weapons as an empowering act. And it’s certainly empowering for the women boasting success selling “carry-wear” and related merchandise. Alexo Athletics, for example, was founded by former NRATV host Amy Robbins. While Robbins won’t say how much the company generated in sales in 2018, she says last year’s inventory was sold out for five months and sales so far for 2019 are nearly triple last year’s rate.

In an interview with the Washington Post, Robbins says, “‘We literally launched right at the height of the #MeToo movement. It’s like, thank you.'” Some see a woman trying to empower others and keep them safe, but some see a woman taking advantage of the fear sparked by incidents of assault, rape, and murder, and using that fear to boost sales.

Alexo isn’t the only company in the retail space selling “tactical” products. At its worst, the industry presents companies like Tactical Baby Gear, which sells camouflage backpacks, harnesses and other accessories for parents who carry guns and infants at the same time. In fact, according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, in 2007 only ten registered sellers had “tactical” in their business names. By 2017, there were 128 such sellers. Why are these businesses seeing a surge in popularity and success? Simon van Zuylen-Wood, author of the above-mentioned Washington Post article, says it’s because they “[get close] to the heart of the tactical mission: to make gun ownership seem both sexy and urgent. To make it seem like it just might save your life.”

While it can provide empowerment to some, and validly so, it can also take a life- maybe your own. This is a reality that should be considered carefully and fully if embarking on the journey to owning a gun. And we should definitely be paying more attention to companies that need to use fear to sell themselves (not just gun-related companies, either).