Report From Behind The Counter: Women Are Buying!

Editor’s Note: The following is a response to Jim Curcuruto’s “Sending A Strong & Clear Message” feature that appeared in the Feb. 2025 issue. In this powerful article, Curcuruto suggests how the industry can improve cultural acceptance of gun ownership, hunting and target shooting among the general population. It can be found online here.
We invite additional feedback! editor@shootingindustry.com

I work part-time as a firearms sales associate at a big-box retailer in Southeast Texas. I’m also a member of the Indian-American Rifle Club, an organization I joined to help encourage immigrants from India to take up shooting and hunting and to vote pro-gun. I am also an immigrant from a country where gun ownership was encouraged when I was a boy but later came to be wiped out by successive authoritarian governments.

During the past eight months I have been selling guns, I have noticed some trends that likely spread across the U.S. — the overwhelming majority of handguns are bought by women. When it comes to hunting though, the trend is completely reversed.

In Texas, women are targeted by criminals for both carjackings and violent theft. The bad guys usually like to focus on young mothers with children because their natural instinct is to grab their children and ignore their property. The other target is older women who might go somewhere alone — they are considered wealthy and incapable of defending themselves.

At our store, a lot of parents are bringing their daughters in to get me to convince them to buy guns. (Husbands and boyfriends do the same thing.) Many women are nervous about buying guns and at the range, they’re usually difficult to get started shooting.

That said, however, once they get into the spirit of it, women are far more enthusiastic than men. This is a good thing, as a mother who likes guns, shoots and possibly hunts, will always teach her children discipline, safe firearms operation and more to keep the Second Amendment alive.

I agree with the point about making firearms easier to operate — the Smith & Wesson EZ semi-autos are popular because the slides are very easy to rack. The .380-caliber is especially popular because of its light recoil and its effectiveness without sacrificing too much at the 20’ and under ranges that most encounters might take place.

An especially popular semi-auto — even though it is relatively large — is the Ruger Security-380 because of its especially light slide and the superb reliability that comes with it.

Wealthier women have been buying the SIG SAUER P365 ROSE, as they like the grip and the compensator that helps reduce flip and recoil. That said, I have found even younger women can easily shoot my little GLOCK 43X even with heavy loads without difficulty.

We sell handbags with carry pouches inside for women’s handguns, but I usually try to talk my customers out of buying these because a snatched handbag would result in belongings and a gun lost to a criminal.

There are certain things that would help increase comfort for women gun owners and these are a few random suggestions:

1. More compact, easy-to-operate handguns — the Smith & Wesson BODYGUARD 2.0 is beautifully proportioned, but its slide is too tight to rack compared to say, the Ruger Security-380.

2. Carry holsters that are designed for women and, possibly, by women. As a man, I have suggestions to offer, of course. I’m a father to daughters. But I do think holsters and carry options designed for women’s bodies by women would be a much better option.

3. I know there are hunting rifles and shotguns designed for women, but by whom? The women hunters whom I have sold guns to (in small numbers compared to the huge number of women handgun buyers) prefer bolt actions or occasionally AR-15s in 5.56, .350 Legend
or similar. Others like bolt guns in .243 and other soft-kicking calibers; the 6.5 Creedmoor was popular until ranches started banning it for hunting for some reason.

Thank you and I always enjoy reading your magazine. I came to work part-time in this industry after working in the technology licensing industry because I love guns and shooting and hunting. Your magazine always helps with new ideas I use while assisting customers. Hopefully, my thoughts will resonate in a small way.

— Mehul Kamdar, Big-Box Sales Associate
Southeast Texas