Women and racial minorities have led a surge in first-time firearm ownership in America.
SO WHAT
Gun owners are looking less and less like the liberal stereotype every day.
THE CHART
After decades during which white men dominated American gun ownership, recent years have seen a spike in other demographics availing themselves of the right to bear arms.
WOMEN: The percentage of American women who own a firearm has roughly doubled since 2014, from about one in 10 to 22% last June.
- In 2020-2021, women made up nearly half of first-time gun buyers.
AFRICAN AMERICANS: Between 2013 and 2020-2021, the rate of gun ownership among black people more tripled, from 7% to 24%.
- In 2020-21, 21% of first-time buyers were black.
- Black women appeared to be the biggest drivers of the trend, representing most of the membership of the 40,000-strong National African American Gun Association, founded in 2015.
HISPANICS: From 6% in 2013, the percentage of Hispanics who owned a gun more also rose threefold to 18% last June.
- 19% of first-time first-time buyers were black in 2020-2021.
Between 2020 and 2021 alone, the proportion of Asian Americans among all gun buyers almost doubled from 3.8% in 2020 to 6.8% in 2021.
THE REACTION
The mainstream media, long a purveyor of stereotypes about gun owners as backwards white men, has evinced some confusion and anxiety about the group’s diversifying profile — even as gun rights advocates have set out the welcome mats.
- But press accounts have also noted that, amid a national spike in violent crime, many women and racial minorities cite growing safety concerns as a prime reason for arming themselves.
- “While research shows that possessing a gun raises the risk of violent death, some Black women are desperate for a way to feel safer,” read a recent Washington Post subheading.
FEARFUL STATISTICS: Last March, 58% of women were very worried about crime and violence, compared to 48% of men.
- In April, 77% of African Americans called violent crime is a major problem, versus half of whites, and in May 75% of African Americans feared they or someone they care about would be targeted in a violent racist attack.
- Gun violence and crime was the top concern of Hispanics in an Ipsos-Axios poll in June, ahead of inflation and immigration.
- 63% of Asian Americans in April said they believe violence against their group is increasing.
OK, BUT
Embracing the Second Amendment hasn’t automatically transformed new firearms owners into conservatives.
- About 20% of gun owners identified themselves as liberal, over a third described themselves as moderate and some 45% described themselves as conservative, according to surveys from 2014-2018.
- Anecdotal evidence from across the country has suggested more liberals are buying firearms, even as congressional Democrats have pushed for more gun control.
