The Sharp Shooter store manager Danny Garcia (left) and owner Andy Benning in the store front at 5515 S. Staples in Corpus Christi. Besides offering an impressive inventory of guns, ammo and hunting equipment, The Sharp Shooter holds classes and has indoor rifle and handgun shooting ranges. Photo by Suzanne Freeman
“Lady shooters,” as they are known at The Sharp Shooter, are a growing market that this thriving gun shop and shooting range relishes in serving. Not in a patronizing way either. Owned by Debbie and Andy Benning, The Sharp Shooter and its team of sales and gun experts, show respect and understanding for the increasing interest of women in being gun owners.
“A large segment of the shooting population goes out of its way to alienate women,” Andy Benning said. “We pride ourselves on being a woman-friendly shop. We don’t talk down to women. That would be ludicrous. We have some world-class shotgun shooters who come in here that know more about that sport than I do.”
The Bennings have been welcoming female customers since they bought the shop 18 years ago.
“There was virtually no firearms for sale, no inventory to speak of other than a lot of cleaning stuff,” Benning said of the store he took over. “The customer base was people coming in to shoot. There’s no money in a gun range.”
The Bennings added an extensive inventory, but more importantly for the women, they added classes, starting with a weekly ladies’ day for those who don’t feel comfortable taking mixed classes. Other classes, which are open to both men and women, include new shooter orientation each Friday, hunter education training monthly (except during the summer) and concealed handgun classes every other Saturday.
Offering rental guns for classes makes it easier for women who are new shooters to get to know a weapon before purchasing it. Store manager Danny Garcia explained how this helps serve their female customers.
“Most of your men shooters have been shooters for a while,” he said. “They grew up with it. A lot of the lady shooters are just getting into it in their 20s, 30s and 40s. They may never have been exposed to it or have been a little scared of it, but now they feel like they can do it.”
Renting one of The Sharp Shooter’s loaners to take a class enables anyone wanting to buy a gun to find what works best for them before making the purchase.
“We have a ‘try it before you buy it’ policy here,” Benning said. “We will talk people out of buying guns if they are not ready. You don’t have to buy a gun just because you are taking the concealed handgun class. How do you know what gun you want before you’ve tried it? You don’t buy shoes before you try them on either.”
While the shop carries an extensive line of handguns, rifles, shotguns and accessories, the most popular guns are the Glock 19 handgun and the AR-15 rifles. The Glock remains popular because of its reliability and durability; the AR-15 because of its popularity among the military, both active and retired.
Hunters are a big part of the business as well. With hunting season in full swing and the holidays fast approaching, The Sharp Shooter is in its busiest time of the year.
“Half of our business comes in October, November and December,” Benning said. “It’s not all sales, either. We are a one-stop shop for anyone at any level of shooting. You can come in one morning, having never held a gun, and we can have you ready to go hunting that afternoon.”
Benning and Garcia stressed that hunters who have not taken their guns out of their cases since last season need to clean and oil them soon. Also, since ammunition availability has been so unstable, most hunters will be shooting with different ammo. Their guns will need to be sighted with what they’re shooting this year, not last year.
“[The ammo] makes a huge difference on where it impacts,” Benning said of sighting with the right ammunition. “You can sight it in with a Remington 150-grain Core-Lokt and it’s perfect, and then you change to the Power-Point Winchester 150-grain. The logical assumption is it’s going to be the same. It’s not.”
Hunters having to buy new ammo might find the caliber for which they are looking but probably not the load, Benning said. The Sharp Shooter promises to find the best ammunition available and sight the gun so it operates safely and accurately.
Both Benning and Garcia come to the gun industry with extensive experience. Both have hunted all their lives and shot competitively. Garcia shot in two junior Olympic competitions. He worked as an EMT over the weekends, spending his days as a customer in The Sharp Shooter even before Benning bought it. He finally took a job there, making a successful career change.
Benning worked 20 years in the oil fields before buying The Sharp Shooter when he and his wife decided they wanted to return to Corpus Christi to raise their children.
“It’s a really great business because everyone in the shop is here because they enjoy it,” Benning said. “All our customers are here because they want to be here, not because their car broke down and they have to be here.”
Despite his wife’s suggestions that he retire soon, Benning has no plans to do so.
“If I didn’t have a job, this is where I’d be having fun, so I might as well be getting a paycheck,” he said.
The Sharp Shooter is located at 5515 S. Staples St. in Corpus Christi. Call (361) 980-1190 for more information.
