Stop Telling Women They Aren’t Interested in Guns

Apparently, women aren’t interested in guns, and those of us who spend our time educating them should just stop bothering.

At least, that’s the opinion of one gentleman on X who recently responded to a conversation about women and firearms with this little gem:

“Most women aren’t interested in guns, no need to force guns upon them.”  Really, because the numbers tell a vastly different story. Now, technically speaking, he’s mathematically correct that most American women don’t personally own firearms. But there’s a significant difference between not owning a gun and having absolutely no interest in learning about one. Strangely, the suggestion that educating women about firearms somehow equates to forcing guns upon them is ridiculous.

As someone who has spent years teaching women about firearms, personal protection, and their Second Amendment rights, I find this attitude particularly frustrating. Not because everyone needs to agree with me about gun ownership, but because this kind of thinking is precisely what discourages women from exploring their options in the first place.

The Numbers Don’t Support the Narrative

According to the 2026 National Firearms Survey conducted by researcher William English, women now account for 45.7 percent of American gun owners. That’s approximately 40 million women who personally own firearms. The study surveyed 51,398 American adults between July and August 2026 and found that approximately 32.7 percent of American adults personally own firearms. Women represent nearly half of those owners. Even more interesting, the percentage of gun owners who are women increased from 42.2 percent in the 2021 survey to 45.7 percent in 2026.

Those aren’t exactly the numbers I’d expect to see if women were overwhelmingly uninterested in firearms. These figures only account for women who own guns. They don’t tell us how many women are considering purchasing one, are interested in taking a class, or simply want to understand how firearms work.That distinction matters. Ownership isn’t the only measure of interest, and suggesting otherwise ignores an entire population of women who may be curious but haven’t yet taken that first step.

There’s another important distinction worth making. Saying that most women don’t own guns is a statement about ownership. Saying most women aren’t interested in guns is a statement about their attitudes and intentions. Those are two entirely different claims, and you can’t use statistics about one to automatically prove the other. A woman might be interested in firearms but unable to afford one. She might live somewhere that makes buying or carrying a firearm particularly difficult. She might be waiting until she feels comfortable handling one or simply hasn’t found an opportunity to gain experience. None of those circumstances means she lacks interest.

Not Owning a Gun Doesn’t Mean She Doesn’t Want to Learn

Over the past five years, I’ve personally taught more than a thousand women about firearms and self-defense. Some arrived knowing exactly what they wanted. Others had never handled a firearm in their lives. Some were nervous, some were skeptical, and some simply wanted to learn enough to decide whether gun ownership was right for them. And guess what? Not every woman who attends a firearms class ends up buying a gun.That’s perfectly fine. The purpose of education isn’t to pressure someone into making a purchase. It’s to provide them with knowledge, build their confidence, and allow them to make informed decisions about their own safety.

In my previous Bearing Arms article, Stop Telling Women Their Guns Will Be Used Against Them, I addressed another ridiculous claim about women and firearms: that 99 percent of women who attempt to defend themselves with a weapon will have it turned against them. That claim wasn’t supported by credible evidence either. But both arguments share something in common. They discourage women from considering firearms as a legitimate choice for personal protection.

One tells women they’re incapable of defending themselves. The other suggests they’re not interested enough to bother educating. Neither attitude does women any favors. I think that’s what bothers me most about these conversations. We’re so quick to make sweeping assumptions about what women want, what they’re capable of, and what they should or shouldn’t be interested in, rather than simply giving them the opportunity to decide for themselves. I’ve watched women walk into my classes intimidated by firearms and leave feeling confident enough to continue their education. I’ve also instructed women who were already gun owners but realized they needed more training. Both groups benefitted from education, and neither needed someone else to decide whether they were interested enough to deserve it.

Why Are We Discouraging the Very People We Should Be Reaching?

For years, Second Amendment advocates have talked about the importance of introducing more Americans to responsible gun ownership. We encourage people to take friends to the range, support firearms education, and help new shooters become comfortable with something they may have previously found intimidating. So why would we suddenly decide that educating women isn’t worth the effort? Especially when women already represent nearly half of American gun owners.

There’s another issue with the argument that women shouldn’t be encouraged to learn about firearms because most don’t own them. How exactly do people become interested in something they’ve never had an opportunity to experience? Interest doesn’t always come before education. Sometimes education is what creates that interest. A woman who has never considered owning a firearm might attend a safety class simply because she’s curious. She may discover that shooting is something she enjoys, or she may decide firearms aren’t for her. Either outcome is perfectly reasonable. What matters is that she had the opportunity to make an informed decision rather than having someone make assumptions on her behalf.

There’s also a difference between encouraging someone to learn and pressuring them to participate. Inviting a woman to a firearms class isn’t forcing a gun upon her. Neither is explaining her Second Amendment rights, answering her questions, or helping her understand the responsibilities that come with gun ownership. Education is an invitation, not an obligation. And frankly, if someone believes women aren’t interested in firearms, perhaps they should spend a little time talking to the women who are showing up for training. They might be surprised by what they learn.

The firearms community has an opportunity to reach women who might otherwise never consider stepping inside a gun store or shooting range. Dismissing them because they don’t already own firearms accomplishes absolutely nothing. We should be removing unnecessary barriers to education, not inventing new reasons to keep people away.

Forty million American women already own firearms. Millions more may be curious about learning; and whether those women ultimately choose to own a gun or not, their interest in understanding firearms shouldn’t be dismissed.

The Second Amendment belongs to women just as much as it belongs to men. Since we’re all genuinely interested in preserving that right for future generations, encouraging more women to understand and exercise it seems like a reasonable  place to start. Because the only thing more ridiculous than claiming women aren’t interested in guns is suggesting we shouldn’t bother educating them because of it.

Editor’s Note: The radical Left will stop at nothing to enact their extreme gun control agenda and strip us of our Second Amendment rights.

Help us continue to report on and expose the Democrats’ gun-grabbing schemes. Join Bearing Arms VIP and use promo code FIGHT to receive 60% off your membership.