Visual Representations of Women's Gun Ownership.

There is increasing interest in the issue of womens gun ownership but research in the area has received little specific attention (Sheley et al., 1994; Smith and Smith, 1995; Bugg and Yang, 2004). One important limitation of these existing studies is found in the fact that they have relied almost exclusively on the General Social Survey (GSS). Two common explanations for womens gun ownership exist: 1) ownership due to fear of crime and 2) the ownership due to a larger gun use lifestyle. The purpose of this study is to explore the two explanations via a qualitative analysis of the images of womens gun ownership. Our study examines this topic through the use of visual images from Women & Guns magazine. Using this visual data allows for examination of a publication for women gun owners published by women gun owners and its representation of female gun ownership to readers. Findings suggest the presence of images associated with both explanations for womens gun ownership. Frequency counts of the two image types suggest that the majority of the images are depictions of lifestyle gun usage. We conclude that women's gun ownership is presented in lifestyle terms to both current and potential readers. Further research must be conducted into this topic with an emphasis on women's motivations for gun ownership. Emphasis should be given to interviewing women who have purchased a firearm for personal use as opposed to previous studies that have focused on a woman's access to a firearm in the household. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]