Guns ‘N’ Heels
A ladies-only day on the range, and no experience required
Guns ‘N’ Heels is the club’s annual ladies-only event. It has run every summer since 2021, usually at the end of July, and it exists for one reason: to give women a safe, friendly, unhurried setting to pick up a firearm — many of them for the first time — and find out what it is actually like.
Most of the women who come have limited shooting experience. A good number have none at all. That is the point. Nobody is expected to arrive knowing anything, and there is an instructor at every station whose whole job is to get you comfortable and shooting well.
The next Guns ‘N’ Heels is Saturday, July 31, 2027.
What the day looks like
Everyone is put into a group at the start, and your group stays together all day, moving from station to station. You shoot alongside the same people from morning to afternoon, which is how a lot of the friendships that come out of this event get made — you spend the day cheering each other on.
There are three circuits, and you shoot all.
The handgun circuit starts you on .22 pistols, moves to .38 Special revolvers on steel, then 9mm pistols shooting at balloons, and finishes with .45 pistols back on steel.
The long gun circuit begins with .22 rifles on the club’s own pink and purple Guns ‘N’ Heels targets, and finishes on centrefire rifles at the 300m — .223, 9mm and .308 — shot on the ShotMarker electronic target system, so you see exactly where every round lands.
The shotgun circuit – shooting shotguns on both balloons and a high and low house skeet thrower.
At noon everyone stops and sits down together under the tents for a hot lunch, then the last sessions run through the afternoon.
For a lot of attendees, that list is the appeal on its own. There are very few places where someone brand new can try a revolver, a shotgun, a clay thrower and a .308 in the same day, with somebody knowledgeable standing beside them for every shot.
Six years, and still growing
Guns ‘N’ Heels has run every year since 2021, and it keeps getting bigger:
| Year | Ladies attending |
|---|---|
| 2023 | 80 |
| 2024 | 69 |
| 2025 | 88 |
| 2026 | 96 |
It is a real operation
Guns ‘N’ Heels is not a handful of members opening the gate for the day.
It took 33 volunteers to run this year’s event. Every one of them is a club member giving up a full Saturday to coach, run a station, keep things safe and keep the day moving.
That is the same size of crew that ran the event in 2023, when eighty women attended. Since then the number of ladies has grown by twenty per cent and the crew has not. Which is a polite way of saying: if you have ever thought about helping out, we could use you.
The event has drawn support well beyond the club. The Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights and The Gun Dealer have partnered with us, with donations from the Royal New Brunswick Rifle Association, Brennon’s Home Hardware and Currie’s. In 2023 the CCFR sent Vice President for Public Relations Tracey Wilson and Provincial Director Jason Gallen, who spent the day working alongside our own volunteers.
Who runs it
Guns ‘N’ Heels was co-founded in 2021 by Maridel Farrell and Jamie Williams. Maridel chaired it until 2024; Jamie took over as chair that year and has run it since.
What the two of them started has now run six years straight, grown every year but one, and put several hundred women on a range who had never been near one.
Why the club runs it
Firearms carry a lot of assumptions for people who have never been near one. The most effective answer to that is not an argument — it is a day on a range with a patient instructor, fun targets and no pressure.
Guns ‘N’ Heels gives women that day. It replaces guesswork with experience, and it does it in a setting where nobody is being judged for what they do not know yet. A fair number of attendees come back the following year. Some of them join the club.
Coming to the next one
- How to register: [form, email, Facebook, first come first served?]
- Cost: $80
- Is it members only? No, open to all ladies
- Do you need a firearms license? No, each station has a trained and licensed firearms coach.
- What to bring / wear: Comfortable and waterproof footwear, eye and ear protection if you have it, we provide it if you don’t
- Lunch: included in the registration fee
- Sponsorship: contact Jamie for details.
Volunteers
This event does not happen without a large crew. If you are a member and want to help — coaching, running a station, setup, teardown, catering, parking — you would be genuinely welcome, and you do not need to be an instructor to be useful. Speak to Jamie Williams.
Save the date
Saturday, July 31, 2027. Registration details will be posted here and on the club calendar closer to the day.
