Boca Raton resident Susan Kushlin wants women to be proud of being gun enthusiasts, but above all, she wants them to be fashionable. That's why she's founded Gun Girls Inc.
Guns and fashion shouldn't be mutually exclusive, Boca Raton entrepreneur Susan Kushlin says.
Kushlin loves shooting guns — and loves looking good — and she got tired of leaving gun trade shows empty-handed. She wanted to be able to purchase something feminine to show off that she's a shooter, but never saw anything to buy.
Susan Kushlin decided to take matters into her own hands.
She created Gun Girls, Inc., a fashion line offering an array of apparel and accessories designed exclusively for women. Her assortment includes $35 gold-toned bullet belts, $20 dangling gun earrings, $76 pink concealed-carry handbags and $21 rhinestone-studded tank tops bearing her company's logo, a gun in a holster belt.
"There's always things for guys. They can find anything they want there (at gun shows), anything from parts to shirts," Kushlin said. "They have women's things, but in my opinion they're men's shirts with women's logos.
"It's not the same thing."
Kushlin's Gun Girls collection is for sale now at Gun World of South Florida in Deerfield Beach, K&W Gun Works in Delray Beach and Okeechobee Shooting Sports in Okeechobee.
The number of women participating in shooting and hunting sports has grown significantly in recent years, said Bill Brassard Jr., spokesman for the National Shooting Sports Foundation. Businesses are taking notice.
"Companies are responding to the marketplace," Brassard said. "Existing companies are adding product lines specifically for women and new companies have launched."
The foundation released a survey in August pointing out that the "face of America's target shooters is changing." New target shooters, classified as those who have taken up the sport in the past five years, are younger, female and urban compared to those who have been shooting for more than five years, the NSSF survey found.
More specifically, 66 percent of the new shooters are 18 to 34 years old, 37 percent are women and 47 percent live in urban or suburban areas.
Debbie Donahue, facilitator of the Fort Lauderdale chapter of A Girl & A Gun Women's Shooting League, said women in her organization look forward to finding feminine, stylish clothing and bags that they can take to the shooting range. The chapter launched this summer and most of its members are in their mid-30s, she said.
"They want the fashion side, the pink, the purple, the colors," said Donahue. "What's been out there is the male blue, black, gray … The holster or concealed-carry purses that are out there are pretty generic. Women are looking for bags that are also trendy, not just basic."
The Plantation resident says she's pleased to see that more companies, like Kushlin's, are focusing on women shooters.
Kushlin, who by day owns a pool maintenance company and mobile notary service, said she invested about $12,000 to create her product prototypes. She wants women wearing her products to feel not just lady-like but also empowered, whether at the range or elsewhere.
"I want women to feel proud and say, 'yes, I shoot'," Kushlin said. "And look fashionable."
mvalverde@tribune.com, 954-356-4526, Twitter @MiriamValverde
For more information:
Call 561-213-7898 or visit gun-girls.com
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