Last week, Lena Miculek hosted the second ROSE Retreat that has been open to the public. ROSE is Sig’s sub-brand focusing on gun-owning or gun-curious women. The retreats are multi-day events where Lena teaches the attendees how to shoot and maintain their guns.
Look at how the events are branded (example 1, example 2, example 3) and there’s one thing you won’t see much of: guns. The events are absolutely about guns, and there’s plenty of range time, but while similar events for men would lead with gun porn, these lead with community-building and relationships.
That has historically been a blind spot for the gun world. Men prioritize community-building and relationships too. That’s really what gun ownership is about — being of service to your loved ones and your community. But (to oversimplify) men and women don’t always build relationships in the same way, so it’s valuable to have events out there that are structured more like a vacation retreat or yoga workshop than a bootcamp. The world isn’t one-size-fits-all, so we’ll make more gun owners if everyone has an option out there that appeals to them.
The ROSE Retreats are a good guide. It’s impossible to get value out of an education if you’re not comfortable in the setting. These retreats do a good job knowing their audience.
It’s natural that this is happening now. Women bought forty percent of the guns in 2020. The rate of gun ownership among women climbed from 16% in 2007 to 22% in 2022, while the rate among men hovered around 43%. From 2019 to 2021, new gun owners were more likely to be female than male. Female gun owners are hungry for good content and good products that reflect their priorities. The people who figure this out will find an enthusiastic audience waiting for them.
— Open Source Defense in The arms of a woman