An Advancement in Firearms Marketing.

[PPGMD]

We live in a world where emotional manipulation sells goods from cell phones to gum, and we have to play the game if we expect to see gun ownership grow in the years to come. For many folks their first point of contact with anything Second Amendment related is a gun store-and those folks are greeted with condescension, blatant sexism, and bullkitten. I wonder how many iPhones Apple would sell if every time a new customer visited a store, the staff cracked racist remarks and the decor looked like a 1970s Mafioso warehouse.

Except that those older gun shops are fewer and fewer these days.

Most gun shops I see these days, with exception of the goods they sell, resemble any other low end small retailer. And at those retailers I've been heard anything racist come from the person behind the counter.

I've been to these fancy gun shops, the quality of employees are not much different. And the range isn't much nicer than most other indoor ranges built in the last decade.

[MDS]

Now that I shoot in the woods, I don't see myself going to the range very much. Unless I want to take someone to try out a few rentals. But I'm all for it if it attracts a new kind of audience to shooting. By all means, have some focus groups and find ways to reduce the anxiety that new people feel when walking into a gun store! Make it glamorous, install a foosball table in the waiting room, put a friggin roller coaster in the parking lot if it will help! I can only wish all the best and huge success to this and every other semi-responsible gun store/range.

[JRB]

Not too long ago, a Type I FFL holder and long time friend of mine asked me what I'd do with a Type 1 FFL, and how I'd make that my bread-and-butter business and how I'd make it successful, against all the typical gunstores out there.

Now, I have no plans to apply for or ever hold an FFL, but I told him that I'd market it directly at people that'd never want to walk into a 'normal' gun store.

I'd call it something like 'Rainbow Guns' or 'Rainbow Personal Protection' and I'd get coordinated with the Pink Pistols, sponsor LBGT events, all that kind of stuff. I'd run ads in the local-free papers, have billboards near the college campuses, etc.
I'd stock it deep with all the less 'scary' firearm alternatives like pepper spray, stun guns, etc. I would seek to familiarize customers with the basics personal defense, firearm use, and the local & regional legalities of such things, and I'd strongly encourage seeking personal protection classes from vetted local instructors that were as free of derp as I could find that were also truly sympathetic to the cause, so to speak.

I would do my level best to be as welcoming to anyone that might feel uncomfortable in the normal, stereotypical 'gun store'. The entire concept behind it would be a personal-defense oriented storefront where anyone, regardless of their color, culture, identity, orientation, etc could come get real-world advice on personal defense on anything from keychain pepper spray all the way to a totin' permit with a firearm & holster selection as derpless as my imperfect, nowhere-near-the-best-guy abilities could possibly provide, and without duh war stories, or brash hostility or a dismissive attitude if someone asks a 'dumb' question. Yeah, I'd be talking a lot, and I'd have to be patient, but I think it'd be worth it.

I'd like to have an established clientele of local LBGT's, Sikhs, Muslims, or anyone else of any ethnicity or religion or appearance that'd subject them to cleetus's incessant and offensively ignorant gaze or heckling at a normal gun store - they'd be understood and absolutely welcomed at my store with a smile.
I know that kind of mixed clientele might not all really get along amongst themselves - I wouldn't expect traditional Muslims to be terribly comfortable around a linebacker-sized dude in full drag - but I'd hope that they'd be more comfortable in a place like mine than the one down the street with the mass of Cleetii that might viciously judge an honest person because that person dared to follow a faith that got twisted by a bunch of violent kittenholes on the other side of the planet.

I know that would face some static, I know that my target demographic in such a case doesn't sit well with a lot of folks for daring to exist at all. But those same demographics are victimized quite a bit in this country and I couldn't earnestly support the whole concept of the 2A to the fullest if I didn't believe in EVERYONE's right to be armed and defend themselves effectively, even if I personally might find their lifestyle or faith a bit too different for my own personal tastes and preferences.

Yeah, my friend and I had a laugh at the thought of watching some Huffpo reporter's head implode as they toured that hypothetical store.

It was just an inspired thought between old friends after a nice meal, but if the right person started such a place (probably not me) I could see it doing relatively well. Staffing and dealing with the politics from both sides of the naysayers would likely be the hardest part of it all.