More women receiving gun permits in Tenn.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – More women are going through the proper training to obtain their gun carry permits in the state of Tennessee.

Retired Metro police officer Buford Tune runs the Academy of Personal Protection and Security and teaches a training course that allows gun owners to obtain a carry permit.

According to Tune in recent months he has seen an increase in the number of women going through the training to receive their permits.

"We've had a big increase in classes for the Tennessee gun permit as far as women go.  We get calls daily from women and men as well, but we've seen the classes go up big time," he said.

Tune told Nashville's News 2 he believes more people, particularly females, are turning to guns for personal protection largely due to crime and economic fears.

"People see this on the news, in the paper, on the web and they're concerned and want to be able to protect themselves," he said.

Women give reasons such as living alone, working late at night or having husbands who travel as some of the main reasons why they want to take the class.

Local gun dealers also said they've noticed a change too in what customers are buying. 

Instead of hunting guns, they're selling more handguns for home protection and many of their customers are women.

Tune tells Nashville's News 2, "It's kind of like the old saying, 'Seconds count when help is minutes away, so what are you doing in the meantime?' You've got to be able to protect yourself and your family while you are waiting for the police to get there."

Nationally, FBI background checks for gun sales are up. 

Statewide, the TBI reports the total number of background checks for individuals trying to buy guns has increased every year since 2002.

So far in 2011, gun sales have also increased over last year.