While I took in the many sights and sounds of SHOT Show, I encountered engineers, designers, competition shooters, PR/media reps, sales reps, company executives, and so on. Among them were quite a few women, and among these women were a select few who were young, knowledgeable, and capable. After meeting a number of women like this, I decided to write an article about the cream of this crop – the women who stood on their own merits and did not have to ask anyone else at their company in order to answer my product questions, for example, or were otherwise thoroughly involved in the shooting world.
I kept this criteria pretty strict, and there were a few young women who were fairly knowledgeable about products – but not knowledeable enough to make this list. I also cannot say that I met every such woman at SHOT – perhaps they number in the dozens or even hundreds. I met a few more that would have been perfect for this article, but for whom I was unable to catch up with for an “interview” and photo shoot. What I can say is that the women you see here are successful, skilled, intelligent, and definitely going places in the firearm world.
Amy Sowash of the USA Shooting Team
Amy Sowash was the last such woman I encountered at the show, but is first on this list because she’s probably going to win a gold medal at the 2012 Olympics next year. I saw her at the Eley booth, where she was sitting in front of a poster of herself with her name and “Olympic Team USA” printed on it; not noticing this, I asked if she was a shooter. After she politely responded that she was, in fact, a shooter, and I removed my foot from my mouth, we talked about her past, present, and future in the shooting world.
She was born into a hunting family, first started shooting at age 3, and had a strong desire to become an Olympic athlete as she grew up. When she started college, she decided that she was going to focus on shooting, throwing herself into the sport wholeheartedly. It was a long and tough road, but since graduating, she has been living in Colorado Springs, where the USA Shooting Team is located. She travels quite a lot, and has competed in – and placed in – a number of international shooting competitions. Most recently, she took the silver medal at the 2011 World Cup in Sydney, Australia. She’s also a multiple-time National Champion in several shooting events.
I was relieved to find out that she shoots more than I do, because she’s definitely a more accomplished shooter than I, and it would be embarrassing to find out that all my practice wasn’t amounting to anything. She will sometimes fire 200 shots per day, and is at the range almost every day. Her sport involves slow fire competition, and she often spends five or six hours at the range in order to put those 200 shots through the bullseye.
Although she was obviously a very pleasant young lady, I wondered aloud how much friction and/or competition there was between members of the shooting team involved in the same disciplines. She responded with the simple answer that only one person from the team will shoot in her events at the 2012 Olympics. So, underneath that friendly demeanor and pleasant appearance, a fierce competitor lurks.
Lisa Looper of Looper Law Enforcement
I first met Mrs. Looper while waiting for our mutual friend Natalie of Girl’s Guide to Guns. As with Ms. Sowash, I asked, perhaps impolitely, if she was “someone” in the industry, to which Natalie immediately responded that Lisa had invented the Flashbang holster. I was impressed with the simplicity and ingenuity of this design, although I have no plans to ever utilize this device myself.
Lisa is the mother of three children and a remarkably intelligent (34 on the ACT, another factoid from Natalie) – as well as hard working – woman. This year, she’s expanded her holster line to include leather and kydex belt-mounted holsters. I commented that the kydex molding patterns used for her holsters had the appearance of a “Bladetech mindset.” She responded that she and her husband had taught BladeTech what they knew about leather – the Looper family has been in the leather business for over 70 years – while BladeTech taught them about kydex and kydex molding.
Through the introduction of the Flashbang holster, Lisa has not only given women a great carry alternative, but has done so in a way that has attracted a lot of (positive) attention to concealed carry, and, for lack of a better term, “exposed” concealed carry to women who may never have considered it before. As an example, her products have even been featured on Wired Magazine’s website.
Annie of Colt Competition Rifles
Arriving at the Colt booth for an appointment I subsequently missed, I found a young woman standing at a podium near several competition-oriented rifles. In what you may recognize to be a growing trend, I started out, shall we say, incorrectly, by asking a question that basically related to whether she was at the booth because she knew anything about the products there, or if she was there because she was attractive. Modesty prevented her from answering with the truth, which I eventually found out from a conversation with her and her boss.
The truth was that not only did she “know something” about the products, but she was a part of the Colt Competition Rifle Development Team. Unsure if my leg was being pulled, I asked technical questions about the rifles, every one of which she answered promptly and confidently. Â Impressive, to say the least. As an aside, she also mentioned that she had had an idea for a holster similar to the Flashbang.
She started out in the industry as a shipping/receiving employee for Warne Scope Mounts, where her talents were recognized by Dave Wilcox, VP of Operations for Warne. After getting approval and a licensing agreement from Colt for the rifle, Mr. Wilcox tasked her with being part of the team which created a Colt competition rifle. She clearly did well at her job, because one of these rifles, in the hands of Clint Upchurch, has had no problems winning major matches.
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As mentioned previously, this is not meant to be an all-inclusive list; these were the three women I was able to speak with and photograph who were most obviously very knowledgeable, skilled, or ingenuous. Maybe I’ll have a chance to expand the list next year.
geez dude. whats going on? first you hit us with an article talking about getting women into the shooting sports, then you give a post at SHOT SHOW where you’re talking about all the females you met and now this?
is this a corporate thing to raise awareness of the shooting sports? is it a personal crusade? i mean seriously your blog your rules but maybe this would be better in a woman’s magazine.
It’s my blog, and I’ll write what I want. If you don’t like it, stop reading what I write.
Nice…… you know there for a minute I thought Steve was the Federal Gubment all telling you what to do and stuff…….too funny. Oh great post Natalie is way cool and the flashbang is so sweet……
Im encouraged by the trend of more female involvement in the shooting sports that you have noted. Its about time women graduated from the mindless “booth girl” or advertising model stereo type and take part in a sport that many, if not most, have a natural proclivity toward. I’ve found, much to my chagrin that my wife, who shoots very infrequently, actually shoots better than I do and I tend to shoot 200-500 rounds a month of various calibers. In my mind, a woman who knows her stuff and actually has a skill set of her own, is far more attractive than the most gorgeous supermodel who has let herself be defined by her physical appearance and lacks any skills or knowledge beyond looking good. Im far from a feminist, but I hate to see women viewed as somehow less effective when it comes to shooting.
Back 500 years ago the majority of the warriors were men because they fought with swords, spears etc and there was a premium placed on physical size. Now, with modern firearms, the tables are turned and anyone can use them with near equal effectiveness and there may even be an advantage to being small (a smaller target) now. Women are perfectly able to shoot as well and defend themselves as well as men are, but I don’t think most of the training and firearms are geared toward them. Most women do not respond well to the R.Lee Ermey style of training and im encouraged that that trend seems to be changing with the uptick in instruction geared toward women specifically. Even in my backwoods state of South Dakota, we have a special class at our LE academy just for female shooters, acknowledging that they learn differently than men is a key step in the right direction.
your wife shoots infrequently and you shoot 200-500 rounds a month and she shoots better than you? you need better practice techniques. that shouldn’t be possible. oh and you sound exactly like a feminist.
you make a bunch of assumptions and arguments that have no bearing on my statement. i could careless about women being able to shoot well. that wasn’t my point. but if you read back over this blog, our host has had 3 articles in about 5 days concentrating on women and shooting. its probably just me noticing and most are probably cool about it but i cringe at elevating any group over another. replace women with any race or nationality and would you still feel great about it? i don’t know what your answer is but at least i’m consistent. no one should be elevated. including women.
Your previous comment had not yet been approved when Micah wrote his. His comment was in response to my blog article only, for no one could have seen your comment.
You sound really worked up about this, maybe you should go do something relaxing for a while.
You sound like “The Other Steve,” who seems to spend half of every day commenting on The Firearm Blog. That’s not a compliment, by the way.
I think it is good that someone finally talks about women in a shooting sport. Most of my friends that are girls say that shooting is a manly thing (some points it is but most things it isn’t). Now I can show them this article and go “Ha! See women can shoot just as or better then men so lets go to the range.”
One word: class. You have it and we like to see that reflected in a blog. And, guess what? To your readers that appear annoyed by your latest postings about women and shooting? Women in the marketplace and shooting world are burgeoning. Manufacturers realize this and so do ranges, the NRA, the NSSF, and many other fine organizations. Finally. And, it’s thanks to the support of our husbands, our dads, our boyfriends, as well.
And, the fact that one of your friends is Natalie Foster … that just elevates you even higher in our eyes! Keep up the good work. Thanks for keeping your finger on the pulse and for not being afraid to report the heartbeat rate.
Will be following you and already, I figure you are a fellow shooter worthy of trust.
Thank you ma’am.
I too noticed the increased frequency of women-focused posting in the last couple weeks, but I think it speaks to the changing demographics and the maturation of the market in response to this growing segment. I don’t see any post as “elevating” women. In one month Andrew also wrote 2 articles on military matters. Was he elevating them above anyone else? No. Andrew just spoke his mind on news items or observations he had, and in both subjects they were well reasoned and insightful. I think the perspective is refreshing and unique among the other gear/gun blogs out there.
Andrew: you’re spot-on, brother. Keep the good stuff coming.
Steve: You are way off base, sir. Andrew is covering a topic that could potentially DOUBLE the number of people who actively participate in the shooting sports. He’s not elevating anybody. He’s simply recognizing a little talked about issue within our community. Nobody started talking about race issues until you brought it up. That is a useless distraction. It is beneficial for the shooting sports community to welcome all participants, and to actively encourage new ones.
Steve, I’m calling you out; WHAT IS YOUR POINT?
point was made. re-read my post if you don’t get it. the author is making a point to “get more women” into the shooting sports. that’s not inclusive. if he said we need to get more hispanics into the shooting sports. we need to get more blacks into the shooting sports. we need to get more asians into the shooting sports. etc… then eye brows would have been raised. i also pointed out that this was the third post in the past week in which he chose to focus on this subject. he chose to make the statement that its his blog and if i don’t like then i don’t need to read it. well i made the very same statement (in a different way) in my original post. i just voiced my issues and now a bunch of folks with fingers in the air, following the herd are attempting to “call me out”….wow. i’m shaking.
Look dude, men and women are different. There are no barriers (mental or physical) for asians, blacks or hispanics as far as shooting goes. They won’t (shouldn’t) be treated any differently at a range or a gun store – I haven’t observed it, anyway. Women are treated differently, a degree of which I agree to, but not in the manner I saw at SHOT or see at the range or gun store. Women are used as marketing tools in ways that black people are not. The way women are looked down upon by many in the shooting industry is a wrong I wish to address. You are clearly not aware of these facts – but facts they remain.
I do not know which third post you are referring to – there was only one other female-centered blog post this week. I posted several SHOT-related articles on GearScout, as mentioned prior to SHOT.
Again, you are not welcome to be the arbiter of what is or is not to be posted on this blog. I reiterate my desire for you to find another blog upon which to spill your poorly stated opinions.
The comments in these posts….wow.
I find this post most excellent. Too much of coverage, especially that from SHOT, is men talking to men or booth-babes showing off their…well, you know. Now, I like t&a (both “test & evaluation” and….once again you know) as much as the next guy bit most of the coverage is surpricingly neanderthal. I’ve shot with women ever since I joined up (we’re completely co-ed over here) and I’m surpriced so much of firearms “culture” is almost exclusivly male.
Most of all, everyone should learn how to shoot. I wouldn’t mind if Andrew made a couple of posts about getting Asians, African-Americans, Hispanics, Gays, Disabled* or anyone else into this wonderful sport. However, it is Andrews’ blog (that he provides free of charge and in great style) and he calls the shots.
*This would be especially interesting for me. I have friends with disabilities that wouldn’t mind some info about competitions, equipment and other things that could make them get back to the shooting life they had before their injuries.
Lew – thanks, and check out this post from last year
I’ve also been talking with a gay friend of mine about writing an article on “the gays” and shooting. I think he sent me a rough draft a month or so back, but it wasn’t long enough.
Thank you very much Andrew, that was very inspirational. I’ll make sure to forwards that video!
More power to ’em, and to the whole spectrum of Americans. Isn’t that what the 2nd amendment is all about?
Women should be taken seriously. It was refreshing to see this article in the midst of all the “after parties” and the Adult Entertainment convention that seemed to get more coverage throughout the firearm industry facebook pages and blogs of sorts.
Andrew,
Thank you again for your support.
Best Regards,
Annie
Great article. Thanks for sharing your experiences at the Shot Show, and telling us about some outstanding women shooters.
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