Firearms Training Is the New ‘Therapy Session’ for Female Crime Victims

While women are one of the fastest-growing gun-buying demographics in the country, their numbers in Detroit are growing so fast that a gun instructor in the city describes firearms training as the new “therapy session” for women who have been targets of crime.

The Detroit News reports that “self-defense” is the driving force behind the surge in female gun buyers. Firearms instructor Nneka Lawrence says some of the women who come in still have tears in their eyes from an attack or assault they suffered while unarmed.

Lawrence is a black woman who has been teaching firearms training courses for ten years. She teaches at Action Impact and says:

Our gun classes are like therapy session for these women. Some of them come in crying because they have been attacked before, raped, or robbed. Others want to simply protect themselves. The two things that come up in our classes is home invasion or being carjacked.

One of Lawrence’s recent students was 63-year-old Nita Brown, who lives on the Northwest side of Detroit. Brown said, “I lost my husband last year after we were married for 36 years. Because I’m home now by myself and we see a lot of seniors who are being targeted in home invasions, I do want to take it upon myself to learn how to use a gun.”

Another recent student said: