More and more women in the United States are taking their safety into their own hands in light of the series of mass shootings that took place this year.
According to a study commissioned by the National Shooting Sports Foundation, more than half of the women surveyed said they intended to buy at least one firearm.
Over a third of women who participated in the poll also identified themselves as new gun owners, having purchased their first firearm in the past three years.
The foundation's research and analysis director Jim Curcuruto acknowledges the fact that women have become a "force" in the gun industry.
"Manufacturers, retailers and shooting ranges are making changes to their products and services to satisfy women's tastes and needs," Curcuruto says in a statement on the foundation's website.
Why are there a growing number of women intending or actually buying guns? The single, most important reason for this trend is safety, both personal and home protection, analysts say.
Republican strategist Cheri Jacobus explains that as more women feel independent, they are also compelled to look after their personal protection.
"Gone are the days when women look to men to keep them safe. Female head of households and single professional women rely on themselves for economic security and now for physical security, as well," Jacobus says in an article published in The Daily Beast.
"Our new motto may just be 'If you see something, say something. But make sure you're packing heat and have good aim," she adds.
Bill Brassard, a spokesman for foundation, meanwhile said the growing celebrities in the sports shooting world such as Eva Shockey, Julie Golob, and Jessie Duff may have encouraged more women to purchase guns.
Gun control advocate Donna Dees Thomases, who led the "Million Mom March" in 2000 following the shooting of children in Grenada Hills, California, however, said women are still a potent force in the gun control movement.
"They threw a lot of rascals out of office," she told The Daily Beast. "People didn't leave the march and go home and do nothing. We left that march and got sweeping reform passed."
