As any business owner will tell you, “if you build it, they will come” isn’t necessarily the case. Having a product or service that people want is criticial, but creative marketing is also pretty important in terms of getting folks through the door.
One range in the Chicago suburbs appears to have hit the bullseye with one of its offerings. New York Post reporter Georgia Worrell recently wrote about her first-hand experience at a “Pistols and Pilates” class at Eagle Sports Range in Oak Forest, Illinois, where two dozen women spent an hour on their Pilates mats before stepping up to the firing line.
It was the kind of workout class where the instructor cheerfully chirps, “Small movements!” and, “Just a few more reps!” while every muscle in your body feels personally attacked.
We were encouraged to maintain the breathing and body control we’d just practiced while transitioning into a two-hour gun-safety course from tough-as-nails range trainer Nora Elkhatib.
“Our objective here isn’t to shoot anybody,” Elkhatib said. “It’s to protect ourselves. Us women are victims all the time.”
About half the class raised their hands when Elkhatib asked who already held Illinois concealed-carry permits, but only a couple of the women said they owned their own firearms.
A few had never shot a gun before.
Worrell writes that her dad had taken her shooting a couple of times before, but she was still nervous when Elkhatib brought out the .22 pistols used in the class. She surprised herself with how well she shot, and says she left the class with the “refreshing realization that anyone can belong on a Pilates mat and at the firing range.”
At first blush this might seem like an odd pairing, but it appears to be pretty popular. That got me thinking about what other kinds of events ranges could host to get the gun-curious through their doors.
How about Dungeons and Dragons and Defensive Gun Uses, where attendees can take part in an ongoing campaign and then hit the range to shoot at targets featuring kobolds, orcs, gelatinous cubes, and other monsters?
What about High Caliber Cooking, featuring a culinary lesson on cooking wild game paired with an hour or two of range time?
A Girl and a Gun already has their Book Club, but that concept could easily be broadened by a local range to encompass both men and women, with varying focuses (classic literature, action novels, science fiction, etc).
There’s been a lot of concern in recent years about the decline of “third spaces”, those locations outside of home and work where individuals can make community connections and find friendship. Sociologist Ray Oldenburg, who coined the term in the late 1980s, says a good third space should (among other things) be open and inviting, be unpretentious, have regulars who are familiar faces, feature good conversation, and be filled with laughter.
Ranges can check a lot of those boxes, especially when they’re hosting events that can bring in like-minded individuals. A Girl and a Gun is a great example of this, but so to is the Pilates and Pistols class that Worrell attended. I think it’s fantastic news that Eagle Sports Range’s course is as popular as it is, and I hope other ranges across the country will be as creative in coming up with events that can generate the same amount of buzz and excitement.
Editor’s Note: President Trump and Republicans across the country are doing everything they can to protect our Second Amendment rights and right to self-defense.
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