Women are nearly half of new gun buyers, study finds

# · 🔥 348 · 💬 1160 · 2 years ago · www.wsj.com · bookofjoe · 📷
SAN DIEGO-Close to half of all new U.S. gun buyers since the beginning of 2019 have been women, a shift for a market long dominated by men, according to a new study. The preliminary results from the 2021 National Firearms Survey, designed by Deborah Azrael of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Matthew Miller of Northeastern University, show an estimated 3.5 million women became new gun owners from January 2019 through April of this year. In addition to its findings on gender, the survey found that new gun buyers were more racially diverse than existing owners who bought more. After seeing women coming forward with stories of sexual assault and harassment as part of the #MeToo movement, Wendy Hauffen, chief executive of the gun-rights advocacy group San Diego Gun Owners, said she decided to found NotMeSD in 2019 to combat sexual assault and domestic violence through more women carrying firearms. About 400 women have gone through the program which pairs them with women mentors who guide them in purchasing a gun and training. The fear of getting caught in a riot was so frequently stated by new gun owners at the San Diego chapter of A Girl and A Gun, another shooting club for women, that chapter founder Judi Wells said she recorded a radio show on how to survive such a situation. Studies show gun-ownership is associated with higher suicide rates and that domestic abuse against women is more likely to turn deadly when the abuser has access to a gun.
Women are nearly half of new gun buyers, study finds



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