Trending Data Among Women as First-Time Gun Owners

Trending Data Among Women as First-Time Gun Owners

A Girl & A Gun Women’s Shooting League (AG & AG) polled new members who were new gun owners to learn more about them. This article provides trending data among this demographic.

AG & AG offered the same survey to new members over the past two years. If a woman indicated she was a new shooter (acquiring a firearm within the past year), she was asked additional follow-up questions. The responses for the new-shooter specific questions totaled 1,176 women responses in 2020 and 1,706 in 2021, providing a good glimpse into general trends of this specific demographic.

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Individual vs Household

The questions also tried to determine if a gun was new to just this individual or new to her household. In 2021, there was an increase in AG & AG members who were brand new to firearms — they did not have guns in their households, nor did they shoot as children.

Experience 2020 2021
Brand New to Firearms 53% 60%
Guns were in the home, but I didn’t shoot. 29% 29%
I shot as a kid/teen, but not as an adult. 17% 11%

Reasons for Gun Ownership

When asked why these women were spurred to purchase a firearm and get firearms training, the responses were relatively consistent year-to-year.

Reason 2020 2021 Change
Riots/fear of mobs and civil unrest 16% 13% -3%
Elections/legislation/concern of bans 12% 12%
Just learned about training opportunities 10% 11% +1%
Urged by family member/friend 9% 12% +3%
New firearm in household 9% 9%
Pandemic/uncertainty of access to essentials 9% 8% -1%
Rising unemployment/fear of crime 8% 8%
Fear of targeted violence/discrimination 7% 7%
Ammo shortage/concern of waiting 6% 6%
Lack of law enforcement resources 6% 6%
Quarantine boredom/try something fun 5% 4% -1%
Recent safety/crime experience 3% 4% +1%
Stimulus check provided opportunity 1% 1%

When 2021 was reviewed quarterly, some trends became more apparent throughout the year. Not surprising, the concern of riots and the concern of the pandemic consistently trended down as more areas of the country opened up and life tried to resume to “normal” for most Americans.

Reasons for New Gun Ownership in 2021 1Q 2Q 3Q 4Q
Urged by family member/friend 13% 9% 12% 14%
Just learned about training opportunities 10% 12% 11% 12%
New firearm in household 8% 11% 9% 11%
Riots/fear of mobs and civil unrest 14% 14% 12% 11%
Elections/legislation/concern of bans 11% 12% 13% 11%
Fear of targeted violence/discrimination 7% 6% 6% 9%
Rising unemployment/fear of crime 8% 9% 9% 8%
Pandemic/uncertainty of access to essentials 9% 8% 7% 6%
Recent safety/crime experience 4% 4% 5% 5%
Ammo shortage/concern of waiting 6% 6% 5% 5%
Quarantine boredom/try something fun 4% 3% 3% 4%
Lack of law enforcement resources 5% 6% 6% 4%
Stimulus check provided opportunity 1% 1% 1% 0%

Reasons for Joining a Shooting Club

The previous questions asked why the individual was motivated to purchase a firearm, so AG & AG also asked why she chose to join a women’s shooting organization. The answers were consistent year to year:

I attend AG & AG events… 2020 2021
to practice defensive skills 48% 48%
for the social aspect 30% 31%
because I like to compete 9% 9%
Other entries 13% 13%

These answers are consistent with responses about concealed or open carry permits. Responses indicated that — even though these women had only been shooting for one year or less — more than one-third had already acquired a carry permit or license and about half of them plan to in the near future.

Carry Permit 2020 2021
Yes 33% 39%
No 15% 16%
Not Yet 53% 46%

Diversity of New Gun Owners in AG & AG

AG & AG also looked at individual demographics of new gun owners to see if the organization was becoming more inclusive and diverse, which has been a high-priority initiative for the past several years.

Age 2020 2021
18-24 years old 1% 1%
25-34 years old 6% 7%
35-44 years old 16% 15%
45-54 years old 32% 30%
55-64 years old 25% 30%
65-74 years old 16% 15%
75 years or older 1% 2%
Ethnicity 2020 2021
White 78% 77%
Latina 8% 7%
Black 6% 7%
Prefer Not to Answer 4% 4%
Multi-Racial 2% 1%
Asian/Pacific Islander 1% 2%
Bi-Racial 1% 1%
Native American 0% 0%
Ideology 2020 2021
Conservative 66% 61%
Independent 14% 16%
Libertarian 5% 6%
Liberal 4% 4%
Progressive 2% 2%
Other 9% 11%

Complete Survey Results

Surveys include additional information about shooting sports and new shooters’ purchasing preferences. All of the results can be downloaded at https://www.agirlandagun.org/trending-data-among-women-first-time-gun-owners/

About A Girl & A Gun

A Girl & A Gun (AG & AG) is a membership organization whose events are successful stepping stones for thousands of women entering the shooting community by fostering their love of shooting with caring and qualified instructors who coach them. AG & AG breaks barriers for women and girls in self-defense, and in pistol, rifle, and shotgun shooting sports by welcoming beginners to learn the basics of safe and accurate shooting and providing experienced shooters with advanced-level opportunities. The club has thousands of members in all 50 states and hosts recurring Girl’s Nights Out at hundreds of ranges throughout the United States.

For more information about A Girl And A Gun Women’s Shooting League, or to learn how to join, please visit AGirlandAGun.org. Follow AG & AG on FacebookInstagramTwitterYouTube, and Pinterest for social media and corporate news.

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