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When you step onto any shooting range, the first words you’ll hear from the Range Safety Officer (RSO) are, “Put on your eyes and ears.” This rule is universal, and for good reason—having reliable eye and ear protection is critical for every shooter, from the casual range-goer to the seasoned competitor.

As an 8-year Marine Corps veteran and regular range shooter, I know the importance of safeguarding what hearing I have left. Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to test out the Shell Shock Electronic Hearing and Eye Protection Combo, and I’m excited to share my thoughts.

First Impressions: Familiarity Meets Comfort

At first glance, the Shell Shock ear protection setup felt familiar. This wasn’t a drawback—in fact, it was an advantage. As someone who thrives on consistency with gear, I appreciated how intuitive the design was. Adjusting them was

Leave a Legacy of Pride

We’ve covered a lot in these articles, and now you have a wide range of options to help increase the visibility of your gun store, bring in more customers and ultimately make more money. Here’s a recap of some of the most important tips:

• Develop a community in & around your business
• Offer unique products and services
• Bundle!
• Integrate digital and traditional marketing
• Build something you can be proud of for a lifetime

Take the time to build the best gun store or range that you can, something that leaves a lasting impression and is a place where people want to spend time. Facing the challenges of

Increasing Profits with In-Store Rentals

If you operate a range, then you already know how beneficial it is to have a captive audience there to purchase ammunitions, targets, ear & eye protection and all sorts of other accessories and gear from you. However, if you’re not currently renting firearms at your range, then you’re missing out on a lot of potential profit.

First & foremost, you should have a membership program at your range, with several different tiers, and this will bring in recurring revenue throughout the year. Setting up this membership system requires you to determine a monthly cost that you want to charge for these different levels. 

The basic membership could include the following:

• Unlimited range use
• Access

You want to increase revenue, right?

We’ve gone over some things that cause gun stores to fail, and we’ve talked about building culture and community in your business. Now we’re going to spend some time on some direct ways you can attract more customers into your business and create some additional streams of income.

Concealed Carry License Course

This is the course that every person living in a state that requires a permit to carry a concealed firearm has to take. Most people in this class are going to be relatively new to firearms, concealed carry and defensive handguns, so this is a great time to make them a customer for life.

This will take some training on your part from a training organization such as the USCCA. The USCCA provides not only a solid training program but also a toolkit that will help improve the quality

Local Stores Struggle to Survive - What does the future hold for gun shops?

With the advent of the Internet and retail behemoths such as Amazon taking over the online marketplace, physical retail locations have seen a marked decrease in profitability.

The same is true for the firearms industry, with everything from training to accessories being available online, and consumers can buy and sell weapons online as well; they just need an FFL to transfer to and from.

Obviously, the traditional retail method has changed and it would behoove the local gun store owner to adapt to this style of business as well.

How does the local gun store differentiate itself in these times of digital deals? Well, there are several ways. 

First and foremost