Why the NRA is more monstrous than you think

[spin]

87. That might be a false perception. Many women own and use firearms for hunting, target shooting ...

and self defense. The number that do is rapidly growing. Firearms are now quite popular with female buyers.

Valentine's Day sales of pink pistols and other handguns rise
As women's participation in shooting sports has increased, so have sales at gun shops leading up to February 14.
BY JENNIFER PALMER [e-mail] • Published: February 11, 2012

***snip***

A few years ago, Mike Blackwell, owner of Big Boy's Guns and Ammo in Oklahoma City, started noticing that his store's sales went up in the week before Valentine's Day.

“The Saturday before Valentine's Day is one of our best days of the year,” he said. “The last two years we've set sale records.”

The shop, at 8620 SW 74, carries a variety of handguns geared toward women in colors like pink, red, green and yellow. Also stocked are pink headphones and goggles for women to wear to the range.

Women's participation in target shooting has increased 46.5 percent from 2001 to 2010, according to the latest data available from the National Sporting Goods Association. And their participation in hunting rose 36.6 percent over the same time period.
http://newsok.com/valentines-day-sales-of-pink-pistols-and-other-handguns-rise/article/3647926

You state that " guns are an implicit assertion of male power" but many of the women I have introduced to the shooting sports have told me that they felt that owning a gun was "empowering." No longer were they as afraid of being attacked by a male in their home as they had the ability to defend themselves and their families. Some of the woman I took to the range went on to obtain a concealed weapons permit in Florida. (In passing I found it far easier to teach a woman to shoot a handgun accurately far easier than most men. They listen more carefully and don't feel that they already are experts on shooting because they have watched far too many violent movies and played too many first person shooter games.)

Often people who are strong gun control advocates tend to stereotype gun owners unfairly. It's all too easy to assume that most gun owners are male racist red necks with little education but the truth is far different. While some are, many have college degrees and hold well paying jobs or own their own businesses. If you went to a gun range and asked the shooters about their educational background and occupation, you would probably be amazed that they would represent a broad cross section of our society.

It is true that most gun owners vote Republican but that is hardly surprising as the Democratic Party has supported strong gun control laws for years. Even so, many gun owners are very liberal and support the Democratic Party. (What really bothers me is that I have had numerous political discussions on many different issues with shooters at the range and they often agree with my liberal views but they tell me that they could never vote for a Democrat as all Democrats wish to ban and confiscate guns. Gun owners also are often guilty of stereotyping.)

In passing, would it surprise you that in Florida 22% of those who have valid concealed weapons permits are female?http://www.freshfromflorida.com/content/download/7500/118857/cw_holders.pdf