Over the years, there has been a change in the main reason why people own guns. Recently, the Pew Research Center reported that about half of gun owners said they own a gun for protection.

The Pearl River County Sheriff’s Department has taken the initiative to provide firearm safety classes for local women in order to teach them how to handle a gun.

Last Thursday, Maj. Kelvin Stanford taught the Women’s Firearms Safety and Familiarization Class to show women the proper use of a firearm. The class included a lecture on the proper use of firearms. On Saturday, Stanford along with other officers showed participants how to operate a gun at the range.

Stanford said the department has received numerous requests over the years to start a program like this.

“We want to make sure people in the county know how to handle a gun properly,” he said.

So far, Stanford has received 70 applications for the next firearm safety class, which will be scheduled sometime in the near future.

He also said that a couple of men have inquired about the class.

“We may want to change later on, where we do more for the general public. But we are mainly trying to concentrate on women in the county, until we get them to be comfortable with using a firearm,” he said.

Stanford encourages any man interested to send in an application.

Interested applicants can request an application from Robin Smith at (601) 403-2340 or Stanford at kstanford@pearlrivercounty.net.

Currently, Stanford said the next class is booked. But he encourages residents to apply for the next one and asked applicants to be patient with the application process.