The demographic data from the 2020 TWAW survey is in. Let’s look at who the woman gun owner is! The Well Armed Woman Survey was an anonymous survey that was open to women all over the United States. We were able to collect answers from 5,500 women! The below breakdown looks at the demographic information such as age, marital status, salary, and information about their experience with guns.

*Click on the graphs to increase the size while reading through.

The Woman Gun Owner

Looking at this year’s data on the woman gun owner, once again the majority of women are mature, ranging from age 46-65.  The graphics below tell an important story, one I have been telling the industry for years. You can see how all of the age groups play out in the graph below.

The Current Gun Narrative and Its Impact

The lower numbers for younger-aged women are not surprising. Sadly, the negative message on guns and the gun-owning community are being pushed aggressively to the younger generations. The more mature age group was raised in a time when guns were more accepted by society in most cases. In addition, I also believe that the more mature women have more discretionary funds and more time and are less influenced by swaying public opinion. This is where education and proper training can help educate and introduce guns to the younger generations. Not to necessarily put a gun in every woman’s hand – but to help them to understand that there is much more to gun ownership than what the media is describing.

We also see most women gun owners are either married or in a domestic relationship with a joint income of over 100,000.

These women may have more discretionary income that they can devote to gun ownership and training. Although, across all income levels, the majority of women who spent money in the gun industry spent between $1-$500. We all know 2020 was a very different year and a lot of women noted they had other areas that had to be prioritized.

Interestingly, the years of gun ownership among women are pretty even across the board.  This indicates that women are finding support and encouragement upon their initial introduction to guns and are committed to their self-protection.  We are seeing a steady growth in the 10+ years group so it looks like we have women coming into the industry and staying! Check out the current data on women gun owners who are concealed carrying in the article Top Holster and Carry locations of 2020.

The Number of Handguns Purchased

Let’s get into the gun data. What percentage of women purchased a handgun (or multiple handguns) in 2020? Very interestingly 38% of the women did not buy a handgun that year. I have no doubt that COVID-19 and the financial strain it has placed on so many Americans is the main cause. With a mere percentage point difference, 37% of respondents purchased at least 1 handgun. With the increased threat of sweeping gun control legislation gun sales skyrocketed in 2020.

Do you want to know what guns women purchased? Read my article Most Popular Guns Women Purchased in 2020

Handguns vs. Long Guns

We also compared what women gun owners spent on handguns and long guns. What we found was interesting.

Overall, the number of women who purchased handguns increased by 3% compared to 2019 but the number of women who purchased long guns remained the same as 2019 at 22%.

• Percentage of women who purchased handguns – 62% in 2020 vs 59% in 2019
• Percentage of women who purchased long guns 22% in 2020 vs 22% in 2019

Of these women who purchased handguns or long guns, you can see below that no matter the salary range the majority of women spent $1-$500 on gun purchases.

The Average Number of Guns Women Own

As far as the total number of guns women own, most have 1-2 guns coming in a combined 46%. Then as you may expect, the larger the number of guns, the more it tapers off. Interestingly, however, we do have a spike at 10+ guns (5%)!

Final Thoughts

The woman gun owner is not just one type of woman, we are so diverse! I love that about this space, women of all walks of life can come together around this common interest and bring us all together.

There are trends that make me excited for the future for women in the gun industry and some trends we need to work on as a group. As always I will do my best to educate and enlighten all people about the truth of gun ownership. Responsibility and confidence to live our lives are a big part of it. Trying to make people who don’t understand or are swayed by the media is an important role we gun owners must take on.

Securing gun ownership for future generations is at a very pivotal point right now and what we do now can change the outcome.