BlueEagle Blog
US Firearm Purchases
Why Are Women Buying Guns?
2021 National Firearms Survey The Wall Street Journal found that an estimated 3.5 million women in the U.S. became gun owners between January 2019 and April 2021. In that same period, 4 million men became gun owners. Past surveys have found only about 10 to 20 percent of gun owners were women.
The National Firearms Survey polled more than 19,000 adults, one of the largest national population-based surveys about gun purchasing ever conducted, according to the Journal.
Researchers and gun store owners say the demographic changes in gun owners may be driven by fears driven by the COVID-19 pandemic and various protests across the country that at times turned violent.
The survey also found that new gun buyers were more racially diverse than previous owners who purchased additional firearms, the news outlet reported. Of all new gun buyers, 55 percent were Caucasian, 21 percent were African-American and 19 percent were Hispanic. Among women, 28 percent were African-American. In contrast, existing gun owners who bought more firearms during that time were 71 percent male and 74 percent Caucasian.
Previous efforts by the gun industry to market to women have had little success. The primary strategy to sell to women was known in the industry as "Shrink it and Pink it," producing smaller guns with brighter colors, the Journal reported. Now, some companies are beginning to scrap the gendered and sexualized marketing in favor of designing guns that are easier to use.
BlueEagle Marketing10-22-21 – Source: The Hill
