In Wyoming, as well as across the country, more women are buying guns and taking courses to learn how to shoot them proficiently.
Patricia Angel, co-owner of Wild Wyoming Outfitters in Afton, told Cowboy State Daily that she was never “anti-gun” but didn’t get into shooting until about seven years ago.
“The first time I picked up a gun, I was shaking like a leaf on a tree. I understood the consequences of this piece of equipment,” she said. “Societally, you’ve been groomed to have a fear of them (guns).”
At first it was awkward learning to shoot, until she found a pistol that fit her hands properly – a Smith & Wesson M&P Shield 380 EZ, chambered in .380 ACP.
“Those guns are specifically designed for women, older people or people with hand mobility issues,” she said. “It’s just a lovely gun.”
After learning to shoot it well, “the grin on my face was ear-to-ear. The confidence it gave me, it was just amazing,” she said.
Jason Crotteau, who runs the Riverton-based Wyoming Tactical shooters’ training company, said students in defensive shooting classes have tipped toward a majority female in recent years.
“Right now, I would say 60% of my students are women. Many of them are newer gun owners. They want to know how to shoot, and to become proficient,” he said.
And they aren’t waiting for men to buy guns for them, Crotteau added.
“There aren’t firearms that are being bought by a dad, or a husband or a boyfriend. These are firearms that women are buying for themselves,” he said.
Dynamic Of Firearms Ownership Shifts
Firearms ownership has been shifting toward women for decades, according to study results published on Ammo.com.
One study indicates that between 1980 and 2024, firearms ownership nationwide declined among men by roughly 25% but rose among women by 177% during that same period.
Crotteau said that according to what he’s seen, he wonders whether a 177% increase in gun ownership among women “is a low estimate.”
Among his students, women are citing self-protection as the top reason for buying guns, and they seem primarily interested in handguns, he said.
“Mid-sized” handguns, such as the Springfield Hellcat Pro – usually chambered in .380 or 9mm, are popular among women shooters, Crotteau said.
Tiny “pocket pistols” seem to be falling out of favor, he said.
“Those are too snappy (having a sharp recoil) in 9mm because they’re such small-framed pistols,” he said.
A Feeling Of Security
Wyoming Legislator Rep. Nina Webber, R-Cody, said she was first introduced by firearms as a child, through hunting with her grandfather.
But she agreed that self-protection is also a motive for more women buying firearms and taking up shooting. Particularly in places like Wyoming – where women frequently travel vast distances by themselves.
“I like that they’re honoring their Constitutional right to self-defense,” Webber said.
“When I go to the range, I do see a lot more women getting into shooting, especially with handguns,” she added.
Angel juxtaposed two sketchy encounters with strangers at her house in her home state of Florida.
In one instance, before she owned a gun, two suspicious men showed up and knocked at her door. They eventually left on their own accord, but she said the incident left her feeling nervous for days afterward.
In the second incident, after she owned a gun, she made eye contact with a suspicious-looking man hanging out near her neighbor’s front door.
She said she went back into her house, locked her door, retrieved her pistol and called police. And sure enough, it turned out the man had a warrant out for his arrest.
But that time she kept a sense of calm, both before and after the encounter, Angel said.
Now she and her husband co-own a gun shop and indoor shooting range as part of their business.
Crotteau said he’s noticed many “women in their 20s and 30s” purchasing firearms and seeking training.
Angel said she also sees a fair number of older women come into her and her husband’s shop, looking to buy guns and get training.
Distrust Of The Government
Politics and shifts in government policy could be driving increased gun ownership among women and minorities, Mark Jones of Buffalo, national director for Gun Owners of America, told Cowboy State Daily.
“I think there are many reasons for this, including increased awareness about the Second Amendment as governments have become less trusted in recent years. Many of these trends started during Obama's term as people begin to see the Second Amendment under threat,” Jones said.
“It made for increased awareness. Further, ‘defund the police’ efforts and rioting and lawlessness that was allowed in Blue States during the end of Trump's first term showed many people that the government might not protect them against criminals,” he added.
The Right Caliber For The Job
Angel said that when men come into the shop to buy handguns for the women in their lives, “they love these women so much, they want to over-caliber them.”
In other words, the well-meaning men apparently think that bigger is better when it comes to firearms for the women they care about, she said.
But shooting too much gun early on can sour a new shooter, she said.
“We like to train new shooters up through the calibers,” she said.
The relatively mild-recoiling .380 is good for personal defense and great for beginning shooters, Angel said.
Women who want to carry handguns in the backcountry for defense against bears can work their way up to something with a bigger punch, from pistols chambered into .40-caliber Smith & Wesson shells all the way up to big-bore revolvers, such as .41 and .44 magnums, she said.
Contact Mark Heinz at mark@cowboystatedaily.com
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
