The official record · 15th annual · July 25 and 26, 2026
2,454 women. One free weekend.
On July 25 and 26, 2026, 2,454 women took a free shooting lesson at Recoil Firearms in Taylor, Michigan. More than 50 volunteer instructors and range safety officers worked each day so that every woman got a coach to herself. Nobody paid anything.
Recoil Firearms, Taylor, Michigan
What the weekend looked like
2,454
women trained
Across two days, every one of them for free.
15
years running
Every summer since 2012, and free every time.
50+
volunteers each day
Certified instructors and range safety officers, all unpaid.
10,000+
reactions on the announcement
Across the three posts that told people it was happening.
Bought on the open market, a lesson like this runs about $75 a seat once you count range time, ammunition, targets, gear, and an instructor on the line. Sponsors and volunteers gave away more than $180,000 worth of training over two days, and not one woman paid for any of it.
How it went
Two days at Recoil Firearms
Recoil Firearms closed to the public for the whole weekend, so every lane in the building belonged to the event. The lanes ran full from the first session on Saturday to the last one on Sunday.
Saturday, before 9:00 AM
The line was already around the building. It stayed that way most of the day.
Every session
A classroom safety briefing first, then the range. One woman, one lane, one coach. Some fired a handful of rounds, some stayed and shot a box. Most of them had never held a pistol before that morning.
Sunday
They did it all again. Volunteers who had already given a full Saturday came back and worked a second day.
On the way out
Almost everyone took their first target home.
"From 12 to 112 years old, they are welcome."
"Rick Ector has changed the lives of tens of thousands of women."
In their own words
The women who came
"I'm a little bit nervous to be honest. I've never done anything like this before."
"I think women need to protect themselves and I think it's just a good thing to be safe."
"Good to see a bunch of women coming out to support each other doing the same thing."
"We want to give them the opportunity that a gun is simply a tool."
Quotes gathered on site by WDIV Local 4 Detroit.
The weekend in photos
Every photo here was taken at the 2026 weekend. If you shot others, send them over and we'll add them.
The reason it worked
The 2026 crew
Certified instructors, range safety officers, and support staff who gave up an entire summer weekend so that every woman on the line had a coach to herself. Several drove in from out of state. Nobody was paid.
- Tanisha Moner, Classroom Instructor
- Will Luker, Chief Range Safety Officer
- Spencer Johnson, Coordinator and Firearms Legal Protection rep
- Sue Sizemore, Manager, Recoil Firearms
- Dan Korzeniewski, Chief Range Safety Officer
- Rick Ector, Founder
- Adelaide Martin, Recoil Firearms staff
- Aimee M Garcia, Instructor and RSO
- Alycia Floyd, Instructor
- Amy Lucas, Instructor
- Anastasia Steiner-Birdsell, Instructor
- Andre Macon, Instructor and RSO
- Anthony Avington, Instructor
- Antonio Davis, Recoil Firearms staff
- Audrey Danielson, Instructor
- Barbara Anne Stockford
- Benjamin Bohannon, Instructor
- Bernardine Daniels, Instructor and RSO
- Bonnie Haaseth, Support
- Bradford Benzing, Range Safety Officer
- Brian Darlas, Instructor and RSO
- Bruce Handrinos, Instructor
- Bryon Hill, Instructor and RSO
- Candy Petticord, Instructor
- Michael Petticord, The Pettipeeps
- Abigail Petticord, The Pettipeeps
- Gabriel Petticord, The Pettipeeps
- Naomi Petticord, The Pettipeeps
- Carl Trombetta, Range Safety Officer
- Chad King, Instructor
- Chaim Simmons
- Charles LeBron Simmons, Instructor and RSO
- Chasefu R Jacobs, Instructor
- Christopher Zokal, Instructor
- Cliff Ingle, Range Safety Officer
- Dana Purifoy, Eye and ear check, Saturday
- Danisha Jones, Instructor and RSO
- Darnell Jones, Instructor
- Darwin Brooks Jr, Instructor
- Derrick Dewayne White, Instructor and RSO
- Diontaye Land, Instructor
- Doug Holloway, ATEi, provided every firearm on the line
- Dwayne DeCaires, Instructor and RSO
- Gavin M White
- Jacqueline Emslie, Instructor and RSO
- James Lemerand, Instructor
- Jermaine Hart, Instructor and RSO
- Jerry Lawson, Instructor and RSO
- Jerry Terrasi, Instructor
- John Mark Harrop, Instructor and RSO
- Johnny Osborne, Recoil Firearms staff
- Jon Luker, Instructor and RSO
- Karissa Pelletier, Instructor
- Kathy Mosher
- Kecia
- Lamont Peak, Instructor
- Lindsey Lawson
- Marisa C. Hildebrandt
- Mark Haaseth, Instructor
- Michael Charles Bays, Range Safety Officer
- Monique Brooks
- Myles Halstead, Instructor
- Nick Laurino, Instructor
- Pam Benzing
- Paul A. Schmuker, Range Safety Officer
- Paul Rybicki, Recoil Firearms staff
- Randy Wimbley, Instructor
- Samuel Brooks, Instructor and RSO
- Sandra A Reynolds, Instructor
- Stephen Sokol, Instructor
- Steven Taylor, Instructor
- Susan Baird, Instructor
- Tamika Tilley, Instructor
- Todd Ellis, Instructor and RSO
- Troy Wyckstandt, Recoil Firearms staff
- William Lee, Instructor and RSO
Plus the volunteers who worked the door, the parking lot, the check-in tables, and the classroom, and everyone who covered a shift that never made it onto a list.
Worked the weekend, or shot photos?
There were a lot of faces over those two days, and sign-in at the door moved fast, so this roster may well be missing people. If your name isn't here, or it's spelled wrong, tell us and we'll fix it the same day. That's on us, not on you. Photos from the weekend are welcome too.
Send a correction or photosPaid for by these people
The weekend was free for every woman who walked in because these sponsors covered it.
With a special shout out to Metro Detroit News. A Legally Armed In Detroit event, founded by Rick Ector. Hosted by Recoil Firearms, which closed its doors to the public for the whole weekend.
Help cover what the weekend cost
It was free to attend. It was not free to put on.
Sponsors and volunteers covered a weekend that would have cost about $75 a seat to buy. If you were there, or you just think more women should get the chance, you can still chip in toward what it took to run.
Chip inCovered by
- WDIV Local 4 Detroit · July 26, 2026Hundreds of women learn gun safety at free Taylor firearms event
- NRA Cam & Company · July 2026Instructor Jackie Emslie joins Cam Edwards to talk through the sold-out weekend
- National Rifle Association · July 20, 2026The NRA posts about the upcoming weekend on Facebook and Instagram
- 94.7 WCSX · July 21, 2026Free Firearm Safety Training for Women Returns to Metro Detroit for 15th Year
- 101 WRIF Detroit · July 21, 2026Free Firearm Safety Training for Women Returns to Metro Detroit for 15th Year
- The Detroit (syndicated from WDIV) · July 26, 2026Hundreds of women learn gun safety at free Taylor firearms event
- Metro Detroit News · July 18, 2026Free Gun Training Being Offered to 2,000 Women in Metro Detroit
How far the announcement travelled
Metro Detroit News
- 5.9K
- reactions
- 763
- comments
- 3.6K
- shares
National Rifle Association
- 2.5K
- reactions
- 377
- comments
- 184
- shares
National Rifle Association
- 2.3K
- reactions
- 33
- comments
Counted on July 28, 2026. Figures are for these posts only, not a total across every outlet.
Fox & Friends, NRA Women, America's 1st Freedom, The Outdoor Wire, Gun Owners of America, and BridgeDetroit have covered the event in past years.
For the press
Facts and figures
Everything on this page is free to quote and reproduce with credit. These are the numbers of record for the 2026 event.
- Event
- Free Shooting Lesson for Women (15th annual)
- Dates
- Saturday July 25 and Sunday July 26, 2026
- Location
- Recoil Firearms, 22509 Ecorse Rd, Taylor, MI 48180
- Attendance
- 2,454 women over the two days
- Demand
- Every session filled, and 833 more people joined the waitlist
- Cost to attend
- Free, including the pistol, ammunition, and eye and ear protection
- Volunteers
- More than 50 instructors, range safety officers, and support staff each day
- Founded
- 2012, by Detroit firearms instructor Rick Ector
- Host organization
- Legally Armed In Detroit
- Registration platform
- CCW Hub
Media contact
Will, CCW Hub, will@usgunclasses.com. Photos, interviews, and additional figures available on request.
What happens now
This page stays put as the record of the 2026 weekend.
What comes next
Be the first to know
Leave your email and when the organizers announce what's next, we'll send it straight to you.
Announcements also post first on the event page, if you'd rather just check back.
Ready for the next step?
If your first rounds downrange left you wanting more, a Michigan CPL class is one Saturday, and you already did the hard part.
Find a CPL classFor ranges, clubs, and instructors
Want to run a weekend like this? We have the technology to set it up.
A free event is only free for the people attending. Somebody still has to take thousands of registrations, schedule sessions across two days, chase waivers, and move a line of people through a door on time without anybody standing around. All of that ran on CCW Hub, for every one of the 2,454 women who came.
- emails sent in the weeks around the event
- 68,000+emails sent in the weeks around the event
- text messages sent over the same period
- 34,000+text messages sent over the same period
- people on the waitlist once sessions filled
- 833people on the waitlist once sessions filled
- sessions scheduled across two days
- 13sessions scheduled across two days
Email and text volume from Resend and Twilio billing for June 1 to July 28, 2026.
- Registration pages with session capacity and waitlists
- E-tickets by email and text
- Online waivers tracked per attendee, not per booking
- Day-of check-in that works on a volunteer's phone
- Automated reminders before the event
- Invite links for sold-out sessions
If your range, club, or training organization is planning a community shoot or a free clinic, we'll set it up with you.
For instructors
The coaches on this line teach for a living
Most of the volunteers who worked this weekend run their own training businesses the rest of the year. Several of them list their classes on CCW Hub, where students searching for concealed carry training in their area can find and book them directly.
If you teach, putting your classes in front of those students costs you nothing to start. If you run a training organization with multiple instructors, you can register the whole operation and manage schedules, rosters, waivers, and payments in one place.
Tanisha Moner
Classroom instructor
Taught the classroom sessions across both days. NRA Women's 2026 Woman of the Year.
Will Luker
Chief Range Safety Officer
Kept the firing line and the sessions running safely across both days. Teaches Michigan CPL and concealed carry courses the rest of the year.
Spencer Johnson
Event coordinator
Coordinated the weekend and represented Firearms Legal Protection, one of the sponsors that covered it.
Rick Ector
Founder, Legally Armed In Detroit
Firearms instructor and NRA board member. Started the free lesson in 2012 and has trained more than 14,000 women since.