PART ONE OF TWO PARTS
02/08 By MITCHELL LANDSBERG, AP National Writer
   CARTERET, N.J. (AP) -- For a long time, Maury Mangan hated even
the sight of guns. The men in her life had them, but she firmly
believed that firearms were one of society's problems, not a
solution.
   After she was accosted three times by threatening men, her
resolve began to crumble. Then, when a New Jersey woman was killed
in a carjacking at a suburban mall, the last threads of opposition
snapped.
   On a recent Sunday, Ms. Mangan stood on the firing line at the
Lake Island Rifle and Pistol Club, clutching a revolver and slowly
blasting away at a paper target 50 feet away. When the chamber was
empty and she turned around, she was smiling.
   Ms. Mangan, a nurse from Oceanport, N.J., is one of an increasing
number of women who have turned to firearms for protection. Although
there are no reliable statistics, gun sellers and advocates agree
that women are a rapidly expanding segment of the gun-buying market.
   "A lot more women are buying firearms," said Mark Campbell of
Shooting Systems Inc., a gun dealer in St. Louis. "More women are
living by themselves and say they want protection."
  The National Rifle Association has seen the number of women
members increase by about 100,000 a year recently, according to
Elizabeth Swasey, the NRA's director of women's issues and
information. Her office, established in 1990, is one indication of
women's newfound clout.
   Five years ago, Ms. Swasey said, only 5 percent or fewer of those
taking the NRA's introductory personal protection course were women.
More recently, she said, instructors across the country have told
her that 50 percent to 75 percent of their students are women.
   Women are still less fond of guns than men. In a recent Gallup
Poll taken for Life magazine, 68 percent of the women responding
said gun laws should be stricter; only 52 percent of men agreed. But
the differences in attitude may be eroding.
   "In many ways, it's an extension of the women's movement," Ms.
Swasey said. "The same way we've decided we're perfectly capable of
taking care of our economic well-being ... now we're deciding that
we're also capable of taking care of something that's much more
important, which is our personal and physical well-being."
   While many men buy guns for sport, Ms. Swasey said there was a
one-word explanation for women's newfound interest: "Fear."
   Gun-control advocates accuse the NRA and gun manufacturers of
exploiting that fear of violent crime with advertising, much of it
aimed at women, that portrays handguns as an essential form of self
protection.
   "While we don't have a problem with law-abiding people owning
weapons for legitimate purposes, what we really don't like is people
preying on fear," said Susan Whitmore, a spokeswoman for Handgun
Control Inc.