Concealed Carry Skyrockets Among Philadelphia Women as the City’s Gun Crime Rages

In this Aug. 29, 2016 photo, Marilyn Smolenski uses a mock gun to demonstrate how to pull
Tae-Gyun Kim/AP

Concealed carry is skyrocketing among Philadelphia women as the city’s crime wave continues to surge.

CBS Philly reports, “Philadelphia gun violence … is leading to a sharp increase in female gun owners.”

They noted that women began flooding into concealed carry classes as crime rose last year. As a result, concealed carry permit applications from women outpaced men “51 percent to 49 percent.”

One group of Philadelphia women call themselves “Terry’s Angels” after their gun instructor, Terrance Lappe, a former police firearms instructor.

One member of Terry’s Angels cited Philadelphia “carjackings” and “murder” as a motivator for learning to shoot.

She said, “I’ve been living in Philadelphia for almost 64 years and have never seen anything like this.”

She added, “That’s why I carry a gun.”

BOCA RATON, FL - OCTOBER 21: Susan Kushlin poses with a concealed-carry handbag that her company, Gun Girls, Inc., created for women that enjoy guns on October 21, 2013 in Boca Raton, Florida. Her line includes bullet jewelry, handbags, belts and custom logo apparel with some of the items priced at $35 gold-toned bullet belts, $20 dangling gun earrings, $76 pink concealed-carry handbags and $21 rhinestone-studded tank tops. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Susan Kushlin poses with a concealed-carry handbag that her company, Gun Girls, Inc., created for women in Boca Raton, Florida (Joe Raedle/Getty Images).

For 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020, the highest annual number of concealed carry permit applications the city received was 11,814.

In 2021, the number of concealed carry permits skyrocketed to 70,790.

KYW Newsradio notes that “nearly 53,000 [permits]” were granted out of the 70,000+ applications.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkinsa weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and a Turning Point USA Ambassador. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. Reach him at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.

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