MEQUON, Wis. — A female owned and operated gun range in Mequon is providing a welcoming space to encourage more women to safely and confidently own a gun for protection.
"I want to protect them all, but the fact is I can't," firearm instructor Eddie Silas said. "I can teach them how to protect themselves so it makes me feel great and accomplished."
Rebholz opened Bear Arms boutique gun range in Mequon with women in mind.
"I made it more aesthetically pleasing. I started out with 10 percent women (and) now up to 45 percent coming. I had zero female employees and I'm up to three NRA officer female employees," said owner, Rebholz.
Meanwhile, Eddie Silas is on a mission to empower women to feel more confident when it comes to possessing a firearm.
In the simulator room at Bear Arms Boutique, gun range student Tia Cannon responded to a home break in scenario. As a mother and business owner, she decided to learn fire arm safety from instructors Jieire Vance and Silas of Prolific Arms LLC .
"Women are underrepresented when it comes to firearm, Black women in particular, and the whole purpose was to get them firearm safety training to where they know how to respond in an emergency situation," Silas, co owner of Prolific Arms LLC, said.
That is one of the reasons Silas and his partner created S.T.R.A.P.P.E.D which stand for Safety Techniques Acquired and Required to Properly Perform Emergency Defense.
"Owning a firearm is a discipline just like martial arts. It takes practice it takes patience ," said Silas.
A June 2021 Pew Research poll reported 22 percent of women in America own a gun.
To sign up for the next class, click here.
