Key Takeaways
- Many women had to be hunters, and proficiency was a valuable skill
- Local ordinances regarding firearms were applied equally
- Calamity Jane was well known for her marksmanship
The simple answer is yes, women were allowed to carry guns on the American frontier. In fact, they were often expected to keep a firearm.
Life on the frontier could be extremely dangerous, with threats from wild animals or bandits appearing out of nowhere, so women living on farms and ranches often knew how to use guns to protect themselves when the men were working or hunting.
Many women had to be hunters themselves, and guns were what they had to use to kill the game they were after. Proficiency was a valuable skill.
It was, however, different in more developed towns (or civilized towns as they were called). It was not as socially accepted for women to openly carry a gun in public. It wasn’t illegal; rather it was just less common.
Speaking of the gun laws back then, as you can imagine, they were sparse. There were often local ordinances within town limits that banned carrying firearms at certain times, but when they were in effect, they applied equally to men and women.
Calamity Jane was well known for her marksmanship and for carrying firearms. As was Annie Oakley, who once told a large crowd that “a woman who knows how to shoot is no longer afraid.”
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About the Author
Jay Coffin has worked in journalism, digital media, television, communications, and the media fields for the last three decades. Most of that time has been spent in the sports and golf industry, helping to raise the profile of two prominent golf websites, appearing regularly on television, creating two successful podcasts, and boosting numerous social media accounts to record engagement metrics. He lives in Orlando, Fla.
