Wednesday, January 30, 2019

4 Reasons to Shoot

Over the last few months, we have found that people are intrigued by the term "shooting sports" when we explain why we are opening this store. When we say that the store will cater more to the female shooter than the average gun store does, the most common reaction is "well, sure - self defense is a must these days!" It is so much more than self defense, and even if your only reason IS self defense, you still need to go to the range and practice shooting the firearm that you keep by your bedside, carry on your person, in your vehicle, in your purse, etc. Practice is KEY to good self defense, and there are many other reasons to shoot, too. Here are a few reasons we shoot:

1) Fun - yes, we said it, we shoot for FUN! While Marty is great at just about every sport he tries, Dawn has to work a little harder at it. Well, the day she realized she was halfway decent at target shooting, the fun they have together with this sport escalated! Marty never thought he would hear Dawn ask to go to the shooting range or be excited to go when he asked if she wanted to. Now, they have fun together "plinking brass". It makes for a fun day date or family outing if you bring the kids along.

2) Education - speaking of kids, target shooting is a great opportunity to teach children the basics of shooting and the safety aspects of shooting. You can teach them and implement the four safety rules of shooting while there:
        1) Treat all guns as if they are always loaded
        2) Never point a gun at anything you are not willing to destroy
        3) Keep your finger off the trigger until you're ready to shoot
        4) Always be aware of your target and what's behind it

3) Self Defense - this is what most individuals naturally think of when we talk firearms with them. It is a major reason to have a firearm. If you plan to use firearms for self defense, it is important that you go to the range often and shoot with the firearm or firearms that you carry for self defense. Most ranges will not allow you to pull from a holster and shoot, but some will. If the ranges do not allow this, and you want to practice drawing from your holster, there are molded firearms that replicate a large number of firearms that you can purchase and use for this practice.

4) Competition - who doesn't love a great competition, right? As with any sport, shooting sports are competitive, too. There are so many shooting competitions - 3 gun, Conventional Pistol, High Power Rifle, Smallbore Rifle, Skeet Shooting, and many more. All of these encourage practice with a firearm, safety, and unconventional situations which could help in - wait for it - everyone's favorite reasons to say firearms are necessary - self defense!

These are just a few reasons to go out to the shooting range, or family farm, and have some good, safe fun with target shooting. There are many other reasons we haven't mentioned (like hunting!) but we will save those for another day. Until then...

Shoot On!
The Shooting Diva

Saturday, January 26, 2019

SHOT Show was awesome!

SHOT Show was awesome! Dawn attended SHOT University, which was full of timely and useful information regarding e-Commerce, marketing, and compliance. There were so many vendors, and we were not able to see all of them. Most vendors were helpful and supportive of our new startup, some not so much. 

We have some vendors we are looking to carry in our store and are excited about offering their products to you, our consumers! The Shooting Diva is not just about firearms; we realize there is so much more to it. We will offer range gear, concealed carry gear, non-lethal options (think pepper spray and stun guns), scopes, and much more. The offerings will grow as we do. 

Check out the vendors we have our eyes on in the pictures below. We have also shared some "fun" pictures from the SHOT Show. Dawn realized she watches too much reality TV when she got super excited to see these folks. Gabby Franco was on Top Shot, Season 4. She had a lot of great advice she shared with Dawn. The best piece of advice being "whatever you are, be the best at it". Dawn also met Missy and Godwin, from Duck Dynasty. She got a little TOO excited when talking with Missy, and we don't think Missy was able to get a word in edgewise (so sorry, Missy!) Godwin was great to chat with. They are all very down to earth and fantastic people.





Sunday, January 20, 2019

It's Time For SHOT Show 2019!

We are headed to NSSF's SHOT Show 2019 this week! This is a huge win for us, since we are just starting up. One of the first things we did when organizing and developing our start-up was join NSSF - National Shooting Sports Foundation; The Firearms Industry Trade Association. This is probably the smartest move we made. Not everyone gets to attend SHOT Show. You have to be approved by NSSF to attend, and it's a pretty big deal in the firearms industry. 

What is SHOT Show? It is the annual Shooting Hunting Outdoor Tradeshow. There are over 1,600 exhibitors and 12 miles of floorspace - whoa! Companies, like ours, can attend and meet with manufacturers and distributors directly. There are also lots of new and cool gadgets, gear, and products that we get to see.

SHOT University is part of SHOT Show. It is a one day event, where businesses can attend seminars on topics related to their niche in the market, as well as ATF Compliance, First Shots Range Development, and many other fantastic topics related to the firearm business industry. Dawn will be attending SHOT University this year and she is stoked!

Be sure to follow us on Instagram - @theshootingdiva, and on Facebook - The Shooting Diva LLC. We'll be sure to post pictures of our adventures this week!

Shoot On!
The Shooting Diva

Saturday, January 12, 2019

Exciting News!

We have some exciting news this week! Dawn completed the NRA Basics of Pistol Shooting course and qualified at Level 4 during the target shooting portion. Level 4 must be achieved in order to be considered for NRA certified instructor, so she is well on her way!

We have also been approved to attend Shot Show in Las Vegas this year! This is an annual tradeshow for the shooting, hunting, and firearms industry. We are looking forward to seeing all the new products this year and build our inventory for our March opening.

Shoot On!
The Shooting Diva

Thursday, January 10, 2019

Our website is live!

Our website is live! We are still working on gathering inventory and building the e-Commerce side of it for the March 2019 opening, but when you visit www.shootingdiva.com, you will see the list of items that we plan to sell, and can link to our Facebook, Blog, Instagram, and YouTube channel from the website (videos to come soon, too!). This is a huge step and we are ecstatic about it! Our web designer has done a fantastic job; we cannot thank him enough.

Check it out: www.shootingdiva.com

Shoot On!
The Shooting Diva

Monday, January 7, 2019

We Received our Sales and Use Tax Permit!

Woohoo! We received our Texas Sales and Use Tax Permit today! This means we can plan on a March 1, 2019 Grand Opening! Things are moving along and we are so excited!

Shoot On!
The Shooting Diva

Saturday, January 5, 2019

NRA Basics of Pistol Shooting Course

Hello Shooting Diva followers! We have had a great week this week! I had the awesome experience of attending the NRA Basics of Pistol Shooting Course today. I took this course back in 2011, but I have a goal to become a NRA Certified Instructor this year and wanted to take this course again as a refresher. I am so glad I took it. It has changed in the last 7 years - for the better! There are multiple lessons within the course as well as time at the shooting range to implement what you have learned. It takes roughly 8 hours, so if you are interested in taking the course make sure you block your entire day for just this course. I not only got a refresh of information I already knew, but I learned many new things, too. I am a complete nerd, so I was not upset that I had to "go to class" today. I have some shooting skills that were great, and some shooting skills that I need to work on. All the more reason to go back to the range, right? ;)

We also signed up for Shot Show 2019 this week. Fingers crossed we are approved to attend. I cannot wait to meet with multiple vendors and check out the new firearms, gadgets, gear, and more at the venue to start building our inventory! 

Our website is in the process of being built and we should be receiving our Texas Sales Tax Permit soon. Once all the legalities are in place and the website is up and running (hopefully in February) we will have our "Grand Opening".

Stay Tuned and Shoot On!
The Shooting Diva

Tuesday, January 1, 2019

We are on our way!

Happy New Year! We are excited to get The Shooting Diva up and running as soon as possible! We are working all of the necessary background tasks as fast as we can. Our "Coming Soon" website is being built as we speak and we will be up and running as soon as we have all the legalities taken care of and inventory to sell. In the meantime, we will be providing information a few times a week, so stay tuned and subscribe to the blog so you don't miss out on great information and store updates!