Gun ownership in the United States has been on the rise the last two years in a big way. The pages of Bearing Arms has explored this more than once. Left of center pundits might peg this rise as a one-off, or perhaps try to blame the uptick in violent crime on the newly minted gun owners, but the fact of the matter is that these numbers are troubling and damming to the “hell yes we’re going to take your AR-15” crowd. After all, why would someone with a brandy new firearm, just indoctrinated into the world of firearm ownership want to give up a newfound way of life? I’m not so quixotic to think that with the millions of new firearm owners we now have millions of new advocates running balls out, but this rise in legal and responsible gun ownership is a good thing. With that comes the rise in the number of females taking up arms.

Commie mommy groups must be cringing and shaking in corners as they learn they don’t actually have the market cornered on what all women want for the world and or their children. After sifting through the emotional arguments they make, right out of their playbook (don’t focus on the facts, exploit the emotions) many people, including women, including moms, have come to the realization that self-defense is their responsibility and have embraced that independent to the core rugged individualism that makes most of what America is today what it is. There are new momma bears out there and they’re committed to not being victims.

A recent study points to these numbers. From one report:

The number of women who own a gun is on the rise. A recent study from Harvard University shows that 42% of gun owners in the country are women. That’s a 14% rise over the last five years. The same study found nearly 3.5 million women became gun owners between January 2019 and April 2021.

“It’s a responsibility. It’s a huge responsibility,” said Amanda Suffecool.

Suffecool calls herself an “accidental activist.” A firearms instructor and radio host, Suffecool is also an advocate for gun rights in America.

“Unfortunately, the world is not the warm, fuzzy place it used to be,” said Candy Petticord.

Petticord is also a firearms instructor and a mom of 12. She started shooting five years ago.

Suffecool is more than an “accidental activist”. She’s taken the ball of civil liberties and self-reliance and has run with it, dedicated to go for a win. Beyond being an instructor, and the radio host of the nationally syndicated Eye on The Target Radio show, she also is the founder of REALIZE Firearms Awareness Coalition, a not-for-profit dedicated to educating citizens on the historical intent of the Second Amendment.

Suffecool also holds a leadership position with the DC Project, aka the Teal Team Two, a group of women with at least one from every state of the Union dedicated to engaging our legislators in the District. When people say not all heroes wear capes, the DC Project epitomizes that saying, as these heroes wear teal! How does Suffecool spend a Friday night? She’s now the host of the Women for Gun Rights show (broadcasted through OpsLens TV, live or on a week longs syndication ) which focuses specifically on what these amazing women are doing across the country.

In the Harvard study, a quarter of the woman who own a firearm said self-defense was the reason they wanted to buy a gun. In another study from the female gun ownership group A Girl and A Gun, the women they surveyed gave many reasons. The top included the cultural upheaval in the Summer of 2020, the 2020 elections, lack of law enforcement resources, and uncertainty because of the pandemic.

“You are a person who has a life and you deserve to live it safely,” Suffecool said. “I love my children. I love my family. I want to protect them. Somebody is going to take a stand and I think it’s going to be me, so show me. Give me the tools.”

Suffecool said she’s seen a change in how women approach guns.

“I’m not looking for trouble. I don’t want to have to hurt somebody,” she said about what goes through her mind when she is conceal-carrying. “That’s the very last thing – If I’m involved in something where I have to pull my gun it’s going to change my life, going to change my world in addition to theirs so I hope they don’t pick me. But, if for some reason they do, I want to go home.”

The ownership group is diversifying. So are concealed carry licensing classes.

“I say now the Second Amendment wears lipstick,” she said.

“It has gone from being what people typically classify as a good old boys club to being a good old boys, good young boys, good old girls, good young girls club,” Petticord said when asked about the classes she attends and teaches.

Given Suffecool’s bona fides, we can certainly take her at her word. She’s right in saying we deserve to live our lives safely, and that the Second Amendment  now wears lipstick. To different people self-defense means different things. Firearms and the Second Amendment are the great equalizers for all persons. In most of the country it’s a viable option.

Petticord, in talking about the “good old boys club” is also correct. The days of men that look like me (more than slightly overweight, bearded, and lover of plaid flannel) dominating gun stores and the industry, while spitting tobacco juice into wide mouth bottles, not able to use the pornographic magazine littered restroom because it looks as if it hadn’t been cleaned since the Bush administration (you pick the Bush), are coming to an end. We’ve entered a day when a woman walks into a gun shop, it’s no longer an assumption that she’s just there to get something for hubby. At lest that shouldn’t be the assumption.

Suffecool parroted that. I had the chance to chat with her on Saturday morning about the Second Amendment world and the role that women now play in it. In our conversation, what really stuck out to me was a parallel she drew about being an engineer, which the multi-patent holder Suffecool is by trade.

Thirty years ago as a junior engineer, I found the industry to be dominated by men. Much like that, fifteen years ago the firearm world was dominated by men. Well, that’s all changed now. The market will morph into whatever someone is spending a dollar on and women are showing up.

What’s becoming more and more clear, or at least should be, women entering into the world of firearm ownership are truly femme fatales to progressive messaging. Quite attractive, but they’re destructive to what narratives we’ve all been told for decades. The red shirted pinkos that push a false agenda now have a force to reckon with. Women have broken the mold on what or who a gun owner is, and we’re all the better for it.

No one is saying that all women or all people SHALL be armed, however it’s everyone’s right and should be an option. The ideological difference in these camps are that one group says everyone should have the option and the other group says no one should have the option. One of these groups want to force their ideals on everyone, while the other doesn’t.

At the end of the day, ask yourself what’s safer; A woman that’s trained, responsibly armed, and willing to defend herself and or her family (momma bear?), or a woman that’s been taught to try and urinate on a rapist as the act of self-defense to deter the impending assault?

If there’s trouble, I’d much rather have Teal Team Two having my six, rather than a red shirt wearing red-coat that’ll rather we all submit to being a victim. If there’s just a tiny drop of blood, one of these groups of women will dance in it, in a glorious celebration of their cause, and I don’t think I have to tell ya it’s not #mypeople, the Suffecools of America doing the dancing in the blood.