Changes in firearms ownership among women, 1980-1994.

• Author: Smith, Tom W.
• Position: Guns and Violence Symposium

1. INTRODUCTION

   Since the mid-1980s, pro-gun groups, especially the National Rifle Association and Smith & Wesson, have promoted gun ownership among women. They claim that the purchase and ownership of firearms by women has greatly increased. This claim has been accepted by most journalists and repeated in dozens of stories about the feminization of gunnery. The main themes of these stories are that: (1) the ownership of guns by women has been and is continuing to increase notably; (2) the number of women owning guns is now quite high; (3) the traditional gender gap regarding firearms is closing; (4) the acquisition of handguns is heavily stressed as a reaction to a rise in crime in general and the violent victimization of women in particular; and (5) the women arming themselves tend to be unmarried women living in metropolitan areas.

   This Article examines: (1) what pro-gun groups and the mass media report about the ownership of firearms by women; (2) the reliability of the figures used by pro-gun groups and the mass media; and (3) the best available information on how the ownership of firear-ms by women has changed since 1980. The Article concludes that pro-gun groups and the media have exaggerated the rate of gun ownership among women.

2. THE OWNERSHIP OF FIREARMS BY WOMEN ACCORDING TO PRO-GUN GROUPS AND THE MASS MEDIA

   Pro-gun groups have touted twin themes: (1) that women should arm themselves for self-protection; and (2) that many women have already armed themselves and many more are planning to do so. The mass media have debated the wisdom of the first theme but, with few exceptions, have accepted the truth of the second. The typical news story describes women who buy handguns and take firearms training courses because they have been the victims of crime or are afraid of becoming victims.(1) Most of these women are unmarried and live in large cities.(2) The typical artide asserts that the level of ownership among women is already high, that their ownership is rapidly increasing, that women account for a large number of trainees, gun sales, and new permit holders.

   To help fulfill this supposed surge in demand, the stories also frequently mention that guns especially designed for women are being marketed and advertised in women's magazines and that a wide range of gun accessories for women are available. This standard story has been repeated dozens of times in virtually every women's magazine, the major newsmagazines, most leading newspapers, and in many other prominent news sources.(3)

   The NRA and virtually every article in the media assett that gun ownership in general and handgun ownership in particular is rapidly increasing. Time magazine called the change a "gender revolution"; others describe these developments as "a boom," "soaring," and a "surge."(4)

   In support of media claims that the number of women owning guns is increasing is a frequently cited Smith & Wesson survey which found that gun ownership among women increased by 53% from 1983 to 1986.(5) Media claims that many more women are planning to buy guns and that this group of potential gun owners has greatly expanded is also supported by the Smith & Wesson/Gallup surveys. In particular, the Smith & Wesson/Gallup surveys found that there were 15.6 million potential female gun purchasers in 1989 and that this figure was 100% higher than in 1983.

   These central claims are bolstered by supporting assertions that: (1) more NRA members are women; (2) more women are taking training courses; (3) the success of the magazine Women and Guns indicates greater female interest in guns; (4) retail sales to women are up; and (5) gun permits issued to women have increased.(6)

   Pro-gun groups are, as expected, doing all that they can to further this supposed development. For example, Smith & Wesson and other manufacturers have developed guns especially designed for women and have widely advertised these products in women's magazines. The NRA targeted women in their membership drives in the 1980s, set up an Office on Women's Issues and Infonnadon in 1990, and launched a massive public relations and recruitment campaign in October 1993 called "Refuse to Be a Victim." It urged women to take self-protection and and-crime measures and equated owning a gun to female empowerment. Female gun ownership has been characterized as the "last frontier of feminism."(7)

3. THE RELIABILITY AND ACCURACY OF FIGURES ON THE OWNERSHIP OF FIREARMS BY WOMEN ACCORDING TO PRO-GUN Groups AND THE MASS MEDIA

   Statistics on gun ownership, gun sales, potential sales, and other matters related to women and firearms presented by pro-gun groups and widely cited in the mass media are often based on unreliable data, miscalculations, and otherwise misused figures. This Article reviews the claims as to the level of gun ownership by women and the trends in same, and then considers problems with specific statistics and claims.

   1. HOW MANY WOMEN OWN GUNS?

      Table 1 summarizes estimates from thirty-three sources, mostly newspapers and magazines, of the level of female gun ownership. Most, at least twenty-eight, cite the NRA and/or Smith & Wesson as their source. Two aspects of the estimates of the proportion of women owning guns are particularly interesting. First, there is a large range in the estimates. For example, in 1994, the estimates went from a low of 15% to a high of 34%, and in 1993, they covered an even greater span of 12% to 43%. Second, from 1986 on, even the low estimates have exceeded the best available estimates on female ownership levels." Before examining the basis for the standard NRA estimate that currently 17 to 20% of women own guns, this Article looks at estimates that exceed the most reliable figure that 11 to 12% of women own guns.

      1. The 25% Estimate

         Ellen Hopkins, a Mirabella journalist, in her headline lead asserts "one in four American women ... have chosen to pack a pistol."(9) In the body of the article the claim is scaled down from handguns to guns in general, and the contradictory statement is made that "at least twenty million of these women--that's one in four adult women-own a gun."(10) At the time the article was written, the twenty million figure would convert into 20.3% of women--one in five, not one in four--owning a gun.(11) Hopkins cites as her source "a Smith & Wesson-sponsored Gallup Poll."(12) This apparently refers to the oft-cited 1986 survey which is usually used to support claims that twelve, not twenty, million women own guns. The twenty million figure is actually the typical upper estimate cited in recent years by the NRA.

         Hopkins then immediately adds, "in other words there's a decent chance that the woman across the aisle in the movie theater, the woman next door, your friend the woman doctor/lawyer/actress/journalist could be armed and at the ready."(13) This passage (along with the headline lead that about one in four women are packing a pistol) implies that the twenty million women are typically armed and carry their weapons with them. However, few gun owners regularly carry weapons on their person away from home.(14)

         In an article apparently based on the Hopkins article, Maureen Harrington, a Denver Post reporter, makes the same contradictory assertion that "at least 20 million--one in four females--own a gun."(15)

         This figure is also cited by Cheryl Laird, a reporter for the Houston Chronicle, without any source or elaboration.(16) Laird is unclear on whether the figure refers to guns owned by women or guns in the household.

      2. The 34% Estimate

         While we find this estimate to be incorrect, it is the most credible of all the high-side estimates, since it seems to be based on representative data and a question that, on its face, appears to measure personal gun ownership. EDK Associates, a survey research firm...