A new article in Glamour explores the marketing efforts of the National Rifle Association that are specifically aimed at turning American women into gun owners. Is it working? Aimee Huff, an Oregon State University who studies the industry’s marketing, says yes.
“More women are buying more guns, and more of them are buying guns for self-protection,” she told Glamour, explaining: “Ten years ago the industry realized, OK, we need to keep growing” to make up for lost market share [driven by men]. Women were a logical next step.”
There’s also a political element to why the NRA wants, and needs, to recruit women.
“The demographics of the country threaten the NRA,” Adam Winkler, a UCLA law professor who’s an expert in gun law, told Glamour. “The NRA had to target women” if it meant to legitimately protect the gun lobby.
That being said, Glamour reports that women are still “the strongest gun-safety advocates,” including those who own one.
“A full 60 percent of Republican women gun owners favor banning assault weapons. Nearly as many favor a government-backed national gun registry, the NRA’s ultimate red line,” according to Pew.
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