As the U.S. can't seem to share one voice yet on policies and measures regarding gun control, a nonprofit group has started giving free firearms training and equipping single women and single moms with free shotguns.

The group, named Armed Citizen Project (ACP), describes itself as "dedicated to training and arming vulnerable women" and "fighting the war on women, one free shotgun at a time."

"We're empowering citizens and creating new and responsible gun owners," Kyle Coplen, ACP founder, told MSNBC on Monday. "Criminals have no intention of dying in your hallway. We think that society should use their fear to deter crime."

"We train and arm residents in high crime areas and let criminals know that they're at risk if they break into their house."

With an initial 50 residents from Houston's Oak Forest neighborhood, which has been experiencing driveway robberies and home burglaries recently, ACP trained the women residents on how to load and use a shotgun as well as when to use such weapon. Along with the free training, ACP gives them a shotgun they can keep in their homes for self-defense. The group also places signs around the neighborhood warning criminals that the neighborhood is armed.

"When we have a crime wave, we don't just say 'let's increase police' and that's all we do. We do multiple things. I see this as one aspect of what we can do," Mr Coplen said.

The free training for the entire neighborhood and free weapons cost the organisation about $20,000 and $300 per individual. Mr Coplen said all costs were shouldered through donations, but he did not reveal the figures ACP has raised so far.

"If you don't have a gun, you're just a walking victim. You're just waiting for somebody to take advantage of you and your property," said Sandra Keller, a participant who felt helpless after her furniture store was robbed a couple of years ago.

ACP plans to bring the free training and shotgun giveaway to Dallas, San Antonio, and Tucson, Arizona, as well as to New York and Chicago.

However, experts belie the perceived potential good effects of the cause.

"Mostly what guns seem to do is make situations more lethal because most crime has nothing to do with guns," David Hemenway, a professor of health policy and management at the Harvard School of Public Health, said. "When there is a gun in the mix, there is much more likely to be somebody dying or somebody incredibly hurt."