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Yes. In RAND’s analysis of U.S. General Social Survey data, the share of adult women who reported personally owning a firearm rose from 9.95% in 2018 to 16.38% in 2024. That is a substantial increase in reported ownership—not evidence that women are more proficient with firearms, carry them in public more often, or are safer as a result.
What does “more women owning guns” mean?
There are several different measures behind claims about women and gun ownership. They answer different questions, so they should not be treated as interchangeable.
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| Measure | What it tells you | RAND’s reported figures |
|---|---|---|
| Personal ownership among adult women | The percentage of adult women who say they personally own a firearm | 9.95% in 2018; 16.38% in 2024 |
| Women’s share of all gun owners | The percentage of gun owners who are women | 22% in 2018; 32% in 2024 |
| Household firearm prevalence | Whether a respondent’s household has a firearm; it does not establish that the respondent personally owns it | Not stated as a comparable figure in the cited RAND analysis |
The first two figures describe different denominators. Women’s share of gun owners can rise even while many gun owners remain men; it is not the same as saying that 32% of women own guns. RAND’s figures come from its 2026 analysis of General Social Survey (GSS) data collected by NORC at the University of Chicago.
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RAND’s plotted estimates put personal ownership among adult women at 9.95% in 2018 and 16.38% in 2024—an increase of 6.43 percentage points. RAND rounds those estimates to about 10% and 16%. Over a longer period, the gender gap in personal ownership narrowed from 29 percentage points in 2004 to 19 percentage points in 2024.
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These are survey estimates, not a count of registered firearms or a complete tally of owners. RAND describes the GSS as a nationally representative survey that has asked about personal and household gun ownership roughly every two years for about five decades. Estimates from other national surveys can differ, in part because their question wording and sampling methods differ. Any ownership percentage therefore needs its survey, year, population, and definition attached.
Did ownership rise for all groups of women?
RAND reports increases since 2018 in nearly every race, age, marital-status, education, and income category it examined. The increase was not uniform: Hispanic women and women in parts of the Upper Midwest had large relative increases from historically low baselines.
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A relative increase can sound dramatic even when the absolute change is modest. For example, a rate that doubles from a low starting point has a 100% relative increase, but that does not necessarily mean a large percentage-point gain. The subgroup findings establish broad variation in the trend; they do not justify assuming that every group had the same ownership rate or change.
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The GSS relies on people reporting whether they personally or within their household own a firearm. Responses may be inaccurate if someone does not know about a firearm or chooses not to disclose ownership. RAND notes that administrative datasets do not capture gun ownership or sales, so surveys remain the best available source for estimating prevalence.
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A separate Rutgers study discussed in Reason examined possible underreporting using probability-based estimates. Its “likely” owners were not individually confirmed as people who had falsely denied ownership. That work is a reason to treat self-reported estimates cautiously, not a basis for adding a precise number of hidden owners to RAND’s figures.
Does the increase mean women are safer?
That conclusion is not established. Ownership data show that more women reported personally owning firearms; they do not measure training, proficiency, whether an owner carries a gun, or whether a firearm was used successfully in self-defense. Nor do they show that a change in ownership caused a change in victimization.
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RAND’s Smart and Morral write that “available evidence doesn’t clearly support or refute the idea that more women owning guns has reduced fatal or nonfatal victimization of women.” The trend is descriptive; determining its safety effects would require evidence that can separate ownership from other factors affecting victimization.
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What might explain the increase?
Personal protection, changing attitudes, and safety concerns are plausible reasons some women choose to own firearms. The ownership trend alone cannot establish why each person acquired a gun or how much any one motivation explains the national change. It also cannot show that a new owner has received training or is prepared to use a firearm safely.
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