On July 21, 1919, a young Black woman named Carrie Johnson shot and killed a white detective. She was tried for murder in the first degree, but the charges were eventually dropped because the incident happened in the midst of one of the mobs of “Red Summer,” a series of extremely violent white supremacist mobs that struck 26 U.S. cities. As her attorney argued, Johnson’s use of a gun was not a random act of violence — it was an act of self-defense, and, some may argue, of feminist resistance.
The idea that gun ownership is inherently empowering for women is a common talking point of the National Rifle Association, as heard in a 2021 Florida Town Hall meeting following the Parkland Shooting. In said meeting, NRA spokesperson Dana Loesch maintained her position that the legal age to buy a gun should be 18, not 21. Her reasoning was that young women between the ages of 18 and 21 must be able to defend themselves from sexual assault and rape — weilding the power to physically fight off attackers.
The idea that guns empower women can be seen across the media. Even in a show as popular as “Stranger Things” where Nancy Wheeler, one of the main characters, uses guns throughout every season. Her weapon of choice evolves from a simple handgun in season 1 to a sawed-off shotgun by season 4. While reveling in how strong Wheeler seems in every scene where she uses a gun to fight off a monster, it’s easy to view her character as feminist. She’s empowered, taking on a stereotypically masculine role of fighting off predators. When watching “Stranger Things,” the NRA’s message that women need guns to defend themselves feels especially salient.
Even though “Stranger Things” is an entirely fictional show, it can influence how we think about political issues like gun ownership. The idea that women are more empowered with a gun assumes that the main perpetrators of violence against women are random, scary strangers — or monsters, as in “Stranger Things.” However, in the past 25 years, 92% of women who were killed by men knew their killers well. This changes the circumstances of self-defense. Having a gun in the house can increase the risk of an abuser killing someone in a domestic dispute by 400%, regardless of whether the gun is owned by the abuser or the abused.
The issue of gun ownership has become even more relevant after Vice President Kamala Harris described herself as a gun owner in a debate with former President Donald Trump. KamalaHQ, the official Harris campaign’s Tiktok account, even posted an edit of Harris mentioning she owns a gun, presenting her as tough and powerful. It can be argued Harris has become more pro-gun ownership in an attempt to win over Republicans in the upcoming election, but edits like the one above show her gun ownership as a symbol of girl power. Harris and her campaign have utilized guns as a signifier of female empowerment in spite of the fact that gun violence disproportionately impacts Black women. Not only are Black women murdered by men at a rate three times higher than their white counterparts, there is a 91% chance the murderer knew the victim prior to the murder, and a 72% chance that the murder weapon was a gun.
Guns don’t protect women, they kill them. Carrie Johnson was an example of a Black woman successfully using a gun as an act of resistance and self-defense, but individual stories do not elucidate a systemic issue. The truth is, gun violence is built into our governmental system. The NRA has indirectly poured money into politicians’ campaigns and obtained power over political decisions. Owning a gun as a woman is not an act of feminism, because you are not defying the system, you are working within it. By advocating for women to own guns, we are simultaneously allowing gun ownership to remain unregulated, as thousands of women each year continue to be the victim of gun violence. While guns may feel like a way to protect yourself against men who are naturally stronger than yourself, there is little evidence that owning a gun as a woman decreases risk of death, with some research showing that women who own a gun are two times more likely to die of firearm homicide than those who hadn’t.
As a student at Tufts, especially one living off-campus, the idea that you may need a gun for self-protection is understandable, but you should think before you make a purchase. Consider who or what has influenced this decision, and how much owning a gun would actually protect you. A true act of feminist resistance would not be encouraging gun ownership, but dismantling gun culture as a whole.
