Shooting sports are in the middle of a renaissance thanks to a previously untapped block of Americans who haven’t yet discovered the joy and skill of target shooting.
CBS reported today that just in the last decade alone, the number of women target shooters have rocketed up to 70 percent. Now more than 6 million women have taken up the sport. Hunting has also grown in that time; there are now 3 million women patrolling the wilderness.
Gun owners stress responsible gun ownership and the shooters interviewed in the piece look to share both their education and experience with other Americans.
Conley Crimmins saw the gun given to her by her father at Christmas as the start of a special bond that they would share.
"I think I started crying. I started crying when I opened it up," Crimmins said. "It was kind of like my dad giving me a permanent present or permanent invitation to come join him hunting. And that has been true since I got that gun."
Conley's mother wants people to at least keep an open mind when it comes to gun owners.
"I would like more of that image to be what takes the place of the images people have when they think guns," Boofie Crimmins said. "It's just enjoyable and it might be out of some people's comfort zone but I would just encourage them to try it."