The face of the gun owner is changing. As you’ve no doubt heard and seen over the past several years, women are buying guns and learning to shoot at record rates. Since 2007, there’s been a remarkable 270 percent increase in women seeking concealed-carry permits, and a recent Harvard/Northeastern survey shows that 43 percent of today’s handgun owners are women.

Nearly a quarter of female firearm owners live in urban areas, where the increasingly hostile environment has led many to seek means of self-protection. And while a firearm can be a source of empowerment for women, many are finding it can also be a source of enjoyment. The proof can be found in the rapid-fire growth of ladies-only shooting clubs like The Well Armed Woman and A Girl and A Gun. 

For the anti-gunners who like to claim that firearms don’t make women safer, try telling that to these ladies. They’re locked, loaded and taking safety into their own hands.

While Hillary Clinton this week called for “more second chance programs” to put convicted offenders back on the streets, Second Amendment activists were discussing yet more evidence of her anti-gun bigotry: her support for “sin taxes” on firearms. 

In testimony before the U.S. Senate in 1993, when Clinton was asked whether she supports placing a punitive 25 percent tax on handgun sales, as well as raising Federal Firearms License (FFL) fees to $2,500 for “the purveyors of violence,” Clinton said, ”I’m all for that,” enthusiastically adding, “I feel very strongly about that.”

So: Clinton vows to ban semi-automatic rifles. She says the 1996 Australian gun confiscation is “worth considering on the national level.” She says “the Supreme Court was wrong” to rule that the Second Amendment is your individual right. And she supports tax schemes that would make firearms unaffordable to those who need them the most for protection. Add it up for yourself.

While anti-gunners try to characterize AR-type modern sporting rifles as “assault weapons” that serve no purpose other than killing, the FBI’s 2015 Uniform Crime Report shows that rifles are far from the murder weapon of choice. They aren’t even in the top five—and they haven’t been at any point from 2011 to 2015. 

In 2015, the number of homicides committed with knives or cutting instruments (1,544) was more than six times the number committed with rifles of any type (252)—with so-called “assault rifles” making up only a subset of that number. Criminals were 73 percent more likely to reach for a blunt object such as a hammer, and roughly two-and-a-half times more likely to use “personal weapons,” like fists or feet. Moreover, during that same time period, the number of rifles sold has skyrocketed, while the number of murders committed with rifles has dropped consistently—even in years when the overall murder rate was up—and never comprised more than three percent of the total. 

Anti-gunners may say their proposed “assault-weapons” bans are necessary for reducing crime, but a look at the numbers shows their motivation for pushing such bans is far more political than preventative.

More details are emerging about Keith Scott, the man shot by police in Charlotte, N.C., which triggered days of riots. Reports now say Scott was carrying a stolen gun—and that Scott’s wife, who filmed the shooting from her cell phone, had filed a domestic violence protective order against him last year, stating that he carried a gun and had threatened to kill her.

A breaking-and-entering suspect, now in custody, told ATF agents that he sold the gun to Scott, while Scott’s wife, Rakeyia, said in the restraining order that he hit her, struck her 8-year-old child, and said they should know he’s a “killer.” Rakeyia checked the “yes” box on the form asking whether police should consider him a potential threat, specifying, “He carries a 9 mm black.” According to TWC News, Scott also served more than eight years in a Texas prison for evading arrest and assault with a deadly weapon.

On Saturday, two dozen anti-gun activists with the ironically named “Peaceful Communities” group stormed merchants in the Chicago suburb of Glencoe in an attempt to bully them into posting “No Guns” stickers.

"If they came in here one-on-one, we might have had a longer conversation," Stephanie Macakanja, proprietor of the Blacksheep General Store, told the Chicago Tribune. "But when they came in here en masse—just give me the sticker." 

Activists said six stores posted the stickers after being confronted. However, at least one of those stickers was quickly peeled off. Louis Buitron, dining room manager at Marcello’s Father and Son, removed his after a pro-gun activist explained the benefits of having lawfully armed citizens present. “One good guy could save the rest of the people,” Buitron said. “I agree with that.” 

Illinois State Rifle Association board member Mike Weisman said of the tactic, “If they think it will stop crime, they’re sadly mistaken.”

In an apparent case of “looking for love in all the wrong places,” police say a man seeking a relationship online wound up being the target of two robbers. After the man—who had spoken with a woman online and arranged to meet her in person—arrived at the agreed-upon location last Thursday, he was surprised to see the woman show up with another man. The two then attempted to rob the victim, who opened fire on the woman’s accomplice in self-defense, Fox 5 Vegas reports. 

The wounded robber was later treated for non-life threatening injuries.

Both the wounded robber and the woman involved in the scam were charged with conspiracy to commit robbery. Additionally, the would-be robber was booked on one count of robbery with a deadly weapon.