STAR TRIBUNE
Erin Belfry celebrated her 28th birthday with a couple of shots. A couple dozen shots, actually -- from a .22 pistol, a .357 revolver and a 9mm semiautomatic.
As a present, her mom, Mary Belfry, had taken the two of them to a "Girls With Guns" women-only firearm training class held recently at Bill's Gun Shop in Robbinsdale, culminating in some practice rounds at the attached shooting range.
"I didn't grow up in a house with guns," said Erin, barely audible amid the high-decibel bangs of other firearm newbies blasting away at their paper targets. "But after some friends took me here to shoot, I was talking about how fun it was and my mom wanted to try it, too."
While women are nowhere close to catching up with the number of male gun enthusiasts in the United States, more are showing an interest in guns, some for target-shooting sport, some for safety. And gun sellers and shooting instructors are finding creative ways to draw them in, such as Old West themes or couples dating nights at the range.
After the mass shooting in Tucson, calls for more gun control increased nationwide, but so did gun sales. This kind of mixed response is typical after any such incident, including the Columbine and Virginia Tech massacres. Tucson was on the minds of some of the women in the class.
'You think about what happened in a parking lot, and you want to protect yourself," said Karin Pflug, a sales rep from Minnetonka.
At Bill's, overall sales for 2010 were up only 5 percent from the previous year. But sales to women were up 30 percent, said Chelaine Palmgren, a store manager who has tried to draw more women to the store. For example, every other Wednesday at Bill's is ladies' night on the range.
Instructor Theresa Reiter, who also leads courses for the National Rifle Association (NRA) and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, estimates the number of women she's taught in the past year rose by 50 percent, with "well over 200" in beginners' courses. Most seem interested in safety in the home, she said: "A lot of them are mothers who want to defend their kids."
Heather Martens of Citizens for a Safer Minnesota, which advocates for stricter gun control laws, said that buying a handgun as a way to be safer is buying a false sense of security. "The person most likely to harm a woman is her intimate partner and data shows the presence of a gun raises the risk of a bad outcome," she said, citing several examples of domestic violence that ended in firearm deaths.
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I think that is great that more females are getting interested in firearms/shooting. I feel that everyone needs to know how to use a gun safely. Many organizations, such as the NRA, are promoting women in the shooting sports. I shoot against many different age groups and a mix of male and female. By having a mix of shooter it brings a different feel to the sport. Buy a gun their fun to shoot!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Mr. Krueger on the subject. It is great that more women are getting into gun safety and things like that. It's good that more women are wanting to know how to fire a weapon. It's even better to know that a good portion of them are doing it to try to be wary of troubles that might occur in the future. That is just smart thinking
ReplyDeleteI agree with both women getting in to gun is a great thing. there are many different things that you can do for sports and compition. With women now interested in guns the sales will go up but I think that the violence will not go up as much as they think. Many people, I think should learn how to use a gun if they wont no matter the gender.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with all of you. I think it is a really good thing because now that women are using guns they are capable of doing more things. Also if they are in trouble like someone trying to hurt them they can use a gun for self defence and just anything. I just think its a really good thing, and i agree with what Ben said everyone should go through fire arm saftety first so they dont get hurt by using the guns.
ReplyDeleteI am a big gun supporter. So when women start getting into them I say go for it. It's always nice to see more people taking intrest intrest into fire arms. So I hope they have fun shooting there new instuments.
ReplyDeleteI agree with everybody, I think that its cool more women are using firearms. Women can use guns to protect themselves or thier families, if thier single. But just as Everyone else said, they should be properly trained to use them so they arent harming themselves or others.
ReplyDeleteI think women having intrests in firearms is a good thing as it is for men. If women want to participate in activities involving guns let them. Just because there women doesnt mean they cant be a good shot with a gun, im sure there are many women that have a better shot then a lot of the men out there.
ReplyDeleteI see everybody agrees, I don't.
ReplyDeleteI know that some people say that they feel safer with guns in their house but I don't think thats really the case. I'm not used to a society where almost everybody or every household has a firearm and it doesn't make me feel any safer. Honestly it makes me more uncomfortable. I think it is more dangerous if so many people have guns.Even if you have a gun, conflicts occur and it is much easier to kill people with a gun in your hand even if thats not your purpose. What if that argument or fight wasn't that serious? If you kill somebody you can't bring him back to life, if you just give him a blck eye that will be gone within a few days or weeks. One false move and somebody is dead. I don't think firearms are bad in general, e.g. I don't think that it is bad that policemen (or women) have a gun but I don't think that everybody should have a gun. And the picture of a housewife with a gun is really weird.
I think that it is a good thing that women are getting more involved with guns. I also agree with bhansen when he says many women have better shots than men, I mean they have all the right to do stuff with a gun, just like men do. I also think that if women get more active in deer hunting, then it might lower the chances for diseases in the deer.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, I think it is a great thing that women are becoming more interested in guns. The main reason I am for this is because now they would be able to defend themselves or their families when needed rather than being completely defenseless. Even though I agree with this, I also agree with everybody else when they say that these women should be trained properly rather than have no clue of how to use a gun. I also don't see why is it such a big deal that a lot of women are becoming interested in guns because they have just as many rights as the men so they should be able to do everything a man can.
ReplyDelete