Republished with permission from nssfblog.com:
Ordinarily, we do not respond raceo quasi-journalistic electronic emanations from The Trace, which, as we have previously noted, is the wholly owned propaganda megaphone of the Michael Bloomberg funded anti-gun politburo of organizations. Be assured, we do not plan to make this a regular practice. However, after we finally stopped laughing at the headline and the prose that followed, we decided that a response was warranted to “The Myth of the Rise in Female Gun Ownership.” Here’s why . . .
It is a staple of gun control politics to work to diminish both the size and the ever increasing diversity of the firearm-owning American citizenry. The Trace provides just the latest example.
Their tactic is transparent and their preferred go-to source is the same General Social Survey that, as we pointed out last, year chronically, undercounts guns owners due to its own methodological limitations in contradiction to other research sources from Gallup polls to FBI background checks to NSSF-commissioned studies. All provide evidence that law-abiding Americans are embracing gun ownership at a much higher rate than the suspect GSS indicates.
But that wouldn’t serve the collective political agenda of the Bloomberg groups, would it? So for good measure The Trace also assails NSSF’s “Women Gun Owners: Purchasing Perceptions and Participation,” for citing a report asking firearms retailers to whom they are selling. Surprise, there are more women coming in as customers.
So, we would like to thank The Trace for linking to our report and hope that it gets a wider reading as a result, because if the currently confirmation biased can get beyond their confirmed biases they may learn some inconvenient truths. Whether they can or can’t, or will or won’t, however, we will stand by the well-explained findings in our report that The Trace so clearly cannot and will not accept.
Finally, in addition to having to believe a flawed data source and attacking NSSF for a survey with clear and generally accepted methodology but unwanted results, The Trace also asks its readers to discount CBS News, Fox News, Ad Age and dozens of local reporters nationwide (collectively, a “credulous press”) who have actually gone to firearms retailers and ranges to report that they see evidence of more and more women buying guns and taking up target shooting as a recreational activity.
In effect, The Trace is asking anyone who will actually do the legwork, or the research, the famous Marx Brothers question from the movie “Duck Soup” when Chico disguised as Groucho asks, “Who are you going to believe, me or your own eyes?
Merely more propaganda meant to push the idea that only OFWGs are tooled-up and it is therefore “okay” to strip your rights away as “it doesn’t affect the average person”.
*In reference to the Trace article, not the CBS follow-up, to clarify.
If the “biased” can get beyond being “biased”? My experience is that when faced with “inconvenient truth”, the response from demoncrats, liberals and lefties is, “Well, if that is true, it shouldn’t be because….”. Or, “If that is true, things are worse than we thought. We need more….”. About the hardest thing a person can do is dump a “bias”. We need to understand that when we face someone with facts that belie their favorite belief, we are asking/telling them they are wrong, they are ignorant, they are stupid, they are uninformed, they are bad. Changing a “bias” means having the strength to recognize error and not view it as a character flaw, a source of embarrassment.
I guess the idea is to make it seem unpopular for women to like guns. “Ah, mah, gahd, BECKY! LOOK AT HER GUN!” It’s literally the “mean girls” strategy to reduce female gun ownership.
I like that gat, and I cannot lie…
It’s really called “shaming”, one of the Left’s favorite ways to “move the conversation”. But god forbid anyone else from doing so…
I see a lot of young women at the ranges in the liberal bay area. And have seen a number out hunting on the public lands I hunt.
I think I’ll believe my eyes…..
+1
Whenever I’m at the range, there is a fair percentage of female shooters there. From now on, I’ll try to remember to get an idea of the mix.
Well over 50% of my CCW class was female, and that was a while ago.
Same with my local trap/skeet club. The manager is female, and I always see at least one or two out killing defenseless clays.
Wemon getting their guns is a good thing.
Do the people working for the trace really believe the crap they produce? Or are they selling out their journalistic values for money? I don’t know what is worse.
What are these “journalistic values” of which you speak?
It’s both. You have true believers who just don’t know any better and have been conditioned not to ask questions or challenge their beliefs. And you also have those who know the truth and don’t care, these are people who are deliberately lying in a bald effort at the taking of power.
The trace would never lie to us. sarc/
A few weeks ago I took the NC CCW class (have a VA non-resident but I expect if the Hildebeast is elected, non-resident permits will be attacked at the federal level through abuse of the commerce clause). The class was a proverbial rainbow coalition. About 40% women, a large number of black, Latino, and Asian people, and even a Muslim guy (how do I know? — the instructor called out each of us by first name to get our certificates, and his was Mohammed.) The women ranged from a young hottie and boyfriend with his and hers Glock 17’s to an old lady who needed a quad cane to hobble up to the target to do her shooting with a .22. Yes, she hit the target. She was there with her equally elderly husband, who must have shot his target with an old .357 snub nose, because from the 3 yard line the flames that came out of the gun practically hit the target along with the bullets, and the sound was loud even with ear protection on. This was at an outdoor range, so everyone else could see and everyone lost it laughing. But yes, young and old, men and women, all racial and ethnic backgrounds, all paying a heck of lot of money to get their permits. The Trace’s worst nightmare.
The last few years, about 80% of my students have been women – of all ages. These people are generally novices, or simply wanting to improve their skills, since we have no mandatory “permit” in Wyoming. Many want to go ahead and get the permit because they travel, of course. Real freedom is coming slowly with the growing number of states eliminating their mandatory “permit.”
Low cost training, offered frequently, is a great incentive for people of all ages and ethnicity to become both safe and proficient with their self defense tools. It is not difficult or expensive to become an NRA certified instructor. Get a “basic pistol” rating and you can offer classes to those who need it the most.
No, the NRA is not perfect, and theirs IS a very “basic” level of training, but if people don’t start at that point, most will likely never get started at all. The NRA program is the only one that is offered nation wide, without the problems, expenses and control of government mandated classes.
You can significantly increase the number of women, minorities and everyone else prepare to increase freedom and safety. Don’t wait around for “George” to do it.
The Biden Militia? I like it!
Just as I am sure that the same people who state that there is no increase in female gun use and ownership are the same people that promote women in combat, I also know that exposing more women in the military to front line service will hugely increase the acceptance and promotion of the use of service rifle type weapons by the general population.
Ahhh. Studies based on surveys. I love those. They’re the richest source of selection bias in the Universe.
Not counting my own children, the last four people who I took out to shoot for the first time were women. Three have since become owners and they all left with huge smiles. All of the guys that have gone had shot before and also left with huge smiles. Anecdotal in the big scheme of things I know but it certainly shapes my opinion.