We’re winning
The number of women getting carry permits in Tennessee is growing:
6 News looked at the fastest growing group of people getting gun carry permits in Tennessee and discovered they’re packing in their purses.
Debbie Reynolds is a travel agent. When you ask her what she likes to do, she’s quick to tell you she loves seeing new places, being a mother and decorating.
She also gets her gun carry permit in a couple weeks. She plans to carry a nine millimeter handgun. “I never expected that I would be carrying any type of gun with me.”
But Reynolds said that she changed her mind after North Dakota college student Dru Sjodin was kidnapped from a mall parking lot. Her body is still missing. “If that poor little girl had some way to defend herself, she wouldn’t be in the situation she’s in now,” Reynolds explained.
When asked if she believes she would use her gun when threatened, Reynolds said, “I hope I never have to. But I will.”
6 News obtained a list of people with gun carry permits in Tennessee. It shows a growing number of women are carrying guns.
According to the Tennessee Department of Safety, in 2000 about 2,500 women were issued handgun carry permits. In 2002, that number jumped four fold, to 8,314 new permits. And in 2003, another 6,256 permits were issued to women. Each permit is good for four years.
Firearms instructor Bob Weist said he sees mostly women in his basic handgun course. Some are single mothers looking to protect themselves. Others have husbands who carry handguns.
“Some of them have had a problem in the past with a stalker or an ex,” Weist said. “And sometimes it’s been a next door neighbor or a relative who’s had the problem. They just realize that it could be them…and they’ve got to do something about it.”
Not only are women signing up for Weist’s gun classes, but more women are coming into his gun store.
