GUN PERMIT APPLICANTS ARE INCREASINGLY WOMEN, according to this report from the Nashville Tennessean:

Since 2000, the percentage of gun-carry permits issued in the state to women has risen steadily from about 10% to almost 20% of those issued so far this year.

No one is exactly sure why. The reasons given vary from a growing interest in sports shooting among women to the belief that men — who are the majority of gun owners — rushed in to get gun-carry permits when they became more easily available in 1996, while women gradually gained interest. . . .

While the number of women getting permits may be slowly leveling off after rising for a couple of years, several women contacted said they had recommended getting handguns to their female friends.

I don’t find this particularly surprising.

UPDATE: Regional differences remain, and some women are unhappy with the more restrictive laws in some states.