‘This is what REAL feminism looks like’: how women’s rights are being used to sell guns Nevertheless, it would be wrong to ignore the fact that an increasing number of women do find guns empowering; women are the fastest-growing gun ownership demographic. According to a study from Harvard and Northeastern University, gun ownership among American men dropped from 42% in 1994 to 32% in 2015, while female ownership increased from 9% to 12%.