At the Largest Gun Show in the U.S., the Focus Is Women, First-Time Buyers Some states relax laws on concealed weapons, creating more demand for small firearms Tactica Defense Fashion offers this concealable holster for women. Photo: Patrick T. Fallon for The Wall Street Journal By Cameron McWhirter Jan. 23, 2020 10:34 am ET LAS VEGAS—At the nation’s largest gun trade show this week, gun makers made a big pitch for women and first-time buyers interested in carrying concealed guns, groups they say are growing. In past years, many manufacturers at the annual Shooting, Hunting, Outdoor Trade show often highlighted rifles, shotguns and larger firearms. This year many showcased new versions of small, lightweight and concealable guns. Number of Americans with concealed-carrypermitsSource: Crime Prevention Research Center.million2015’16’17’18’1905101520 2016x14.533 million The number of Americans with concealed-carry permits has risen, reaching almost 18.7 million in 2019, up from 12.8 million in 2015, according to the Crime Prevention Research Center, a gun-rights group. That growth was fueled by states like Oklahoma and Kentucky, which legalized carrying a concealed firearm without a permit last year. Other states have reduced permit fees or simplified the test to get a permit. An increase in women and others buying their first firearms for personal protection has contributed to the uptick in concealable guns, said Jeffrey Duenk, owner of a firearms training center in Oostburg, Wis., who attended the show. His business, opened three years ago, was designed to be inviting to new gun owners with clean, bright rooms and no dead animals on the wall, he said, and his conceal-carry classes draw a lot of women. Sales have taken off for Post Falls, Idaho-based Tactica Defense Fashion, a line of clothing and accessories for women to hide their handguns that launched last year, President Sandi Little said. Tactica Defense Fashion makes clothing and accessories for women to hide their handguns. Sales have taken off, says company president Sandi Little, above. Photo: Patrick T. Fallon for The Wall Street Journal “We’re after the professional modern woman today,” said Ms. Little as she stood near a display showing a sweater with a special opening for a handgun. “She has a job, she has kids.... But she also wants to feel safe.” The U.S. Concealed Carry Association, a West Bend, Wis.-based company that offers training, legal protection and other services for concealed-carry gun owners, has a paid membership of about 350,000, up from 48,000 in 2012, said spokesman Kevin Michalowski. SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS Would more easily concealed firearms affect the number of concealed-carry permissions? Why or why not? Join the conversation below. FBI gun background check by typeSource: FBI National Instant Criminal BackgroundCheck System.millionHandgun Longgun2000’05’10’150123456789 Though exact sales figures aren’t available, data on gun-purchase background checks by the Federal Bureau of Investigation show increased handgun sales in recent years. In 2019, the FBI conducted background checks for the purchase of 6.8 million handguns and about 4.7 million long guns. This is a reverse from 2010, when the FBI handled background checks on 3.7 million handguns and 4.8 million long guns. Many of the handgun sales were for the concealed carry market, said Larry Keane, senior vice president for government and public affairs at the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the show’s host. At least 15 states allow people to carry concealed weapons without a permit in most cases, according to the San Francisco-based Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, a gun-control advocacy group. All other states require most gun owners to get a concealed-carry permit, though rules for those permits differ by jurisdiction. Related Video Are More Women Buying Guns? Depends on Who You Ask You may also like Up Next Are More Women Buying Guns? Depends on Who You Ask For decades, reports have been saying that more women than ever are buying guns. But a researcher who's been collecting data about gun ownership for just as long is telling a different story. Photo: Clara Ritger for The Wall Street Journal In previous years, laws restricting people from carrying concealed weapons were much more common. Second Amendment rights advocates have pressed the issue in court cases and with legislatures. Gun-control proponents say allowing concealed-carry makes communities less safe by flooding areas with guns and making use and theft of guns more likely. “Concealed carry doesn’t mean responsible carry,” said David Chipman, a senior policy adviser for the Giffords Center. Gun-rights advocates say concealed-carry makes communities safer because criminals don’t know whether their targets or bystanders are armed. They point to examples where gun owners prevented crimes or stopped shootings, including a parishioner shooting a man who opened fire at a Texas church in December. An attendee of the SHOT show looks down the sights of a micro-compact 9mm pistol. Photo: Patrick T. Fallon for The Wall Street Journal Marc Rohrenbacher, a firearms instructor from Luther, Okla., attending the show, said his classes are much more diverse than they were when he started seven years ago, with many more women, younger people and people of different races and ethnicities. When he started “mostly middle-class, beer-belly, white guys came to the class,” he said. “Now we have all types, including wives, daughters and college students.” Write to Cameron McWhirter at cameron.mcwhirter@wsj.com https://www.wsj.com/articles/at-the...-focus-is-women-first-time-buyers-11579793661
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