HOT SPRINGS, Arkansas — According to The Firearm Industry Trade Association (NSSF) more women are buying guns. In fact, their data shows that 1-in-3 first-time gun buyers were women.
A gun shop in Hot Springs is noticing this trend.
Erin and her husband Roger Latsha have owned Arego's Guns in Hot Springs since 2015. In that time, they've seen a change in who's coming in to buy firearms.
In 2015, Arego's had almost 20,000 total customers and 6% of them were women.
In 2021, not only did the business sell more guns, but there were three times more women purchasing firearms than six years ago.
"If anybody gets mugged, or raped, or murdered, or anything that happens, you know immediately as soon as it happens; because it's all over your phone, it's all over the TV, it's all over your computer," Erin said. "That's scary."
There are several reasons why women are buying guns now from self-protection with smaller revolvers to hunting with larger rifles.
"We have a lot more women hunters than we did in the past," Erin said. "We have a lot more women getting into competition shootings."
Roger said that he's noticed a rise in women's groups that are teaching other women how to use a gun. He also credited the uptick to manufacturers changing their target audience to include more women.
"There are a lot more women groups that are teaching women," Roger said. "The manufacturers are making more guns geared towards women."
First-time gun buyers are recommended to research what type of gun will be best suited for them and get training on how to shoot it.
So far this year, the FBI has conducted more than 28 million firearms background checks, and about 40% of gun sales in recent years were women.