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Gun ownership boomed during the pandemic. Meet some of the reluctant firearm owners.

“As a single Black mother, in the area that I live in, I just want to protect my family,” said Tamika Murray, who purchased her first firearm in 2018.

A shopper, left, checks the feel of a new handgun for sale at a gun show in Pennsylvania in 2023. In 2021, the city of Philadelphia issued 52,230 new license-to-carry-permits, an increase of more than 600% from the year prior. But a significant group within this class of new gun owners are not gun enthusiasts, and they don’t fit the profile of a typical American gun owner.
A shopper, left, checks the feel of a new handgun for sale at a gun show in Pennsylvania in 2023. In 2021, the city of Philadelphia issued 52,230 new license-to-carry-permits, an increase of more than 600% from the year prior. But a significant group within this class of new gun owners are not gun enthusiasts, and they don’t fit the profile of a typical American gun owner.Read moreStaff Photographer