This is not your average girls night out. At a shooting range in a suburb of Baltimore on the East Coast of America, a group of women meet up twice a month - the aim, to hone their gun skills. The face of gun ownership is changing in the US. Over the past 10 years, the share of gun owners among American women more than doubled, from 12 to 25 percent. The women gathered at this session are all African-American - a growing demographic amongst gun buyers. For these women, shooting is a source of fun and empowerment; but the reason why they carry a weapon is synonymous: self defense. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES ARRANGED IN SEQUENCES