2. They are knowledge hubs for gun education
Let’s say you want to take up hunting. Or perhaps the idea of hitting some targets down at your local shooting range appeals to you. Where do you start on your mission to learn more about these sports? In modern life, the internet is often our first stop-off on the quest to learn new information. However, with something like shooting, getting first-hand explanation from a human being with real-life experience is far more useful. This is where gun dealers come in.
The owners of licensed gun dealers and their staff are often incredibly passionate about hunting, shooting sports, and firearms, so they are the perfect place to learn more about a specific topic within shooting – if you're selling firearms, it helps to know a lot about them. This service is not only for newcomers, but also for more advanced shooters who are looking to hone their skills, try a new product, or experiment with a different discipline.
Many retailers offer this kind of education on tap; however, many also put on special events to help educate people about different aspects of firearms. Examples include range shooting days when a new product drops, beginner shooting days for novices, and even firearm handling taster sessions for young shooters. This kind of educational hub doesn't exist in many other places across the industry besides speciality gun dealers.
3. They build community among gun owners
Events like the ones mentioned above aren’t just for newcomers to shooting – seasoned shooters can often be a social bunch, so they enjoy these kinds of meetups too. Many gun dealers are actually the headquarters for things like local hunting clubs or even shooting tournaments. They are the perfect place for like-minded people to meet and discuss the finer points of their passion.
It's easy to imagine a hunting store that puts photos on the wall of its customers’ best tags, or an airgun retailer that keeps a weekly updated scoreboard of its customers’ performances at the local range. Even shops that sell airsoft guns may become bases for organising competitions or creating teams to compete at a national level.
A gun dealer can become the hub of a community without organising any specific social events, too. Simply by offering a warm welcome, it can become a place where gun enthusiasts meet while browsing for a new gun or restocking on their ammunition. In many ways, physical retailers take people back to a time when this kind of social connection was a big part of visiting a store.
