LIFE

How women can look good while packing heat

Vic Ryckaert
vic.ryckaert@indystar.com

Pistol-packing women often feel they have to sacrifice fashion for firepower.

But more than two dozen vendors will be in Indianapolis on Saturday to offer an alternative — the latest in female-friendly guns, holsters, garments and accessories during Fashion & Firearms: A Concealed Carry Extravaganza.

"You may be wearing a skirt, a dress, sweat pants," explained organizer Cathy Brown, Indianapolis. "You need to get creative about how you can safely and securely hold a firearm."

About 300 women and men will pay $50 to attend the four-hour conference at The Crane Bay, organizers said.

Guests will see a fashion show and self-defense demonstrations. Guest speakers include the Chicks on the Right Amy Jo Clark and Miriam Weaver, The Well Armed Woman founder Carrie Lightfoot and Gabby Franco, a firearms instructor and contestant on History Channel's "Top Shot."

"We want to educate women about safety so that they can become their own defender," said Shelia Rosario, Franklin, a chapter leader of The Well Armed Woman.

"We want to show ways people can carry without anyone knowing," Rosario said.

Women have been a fast-growing segment of the gun market.

Gun permits issued to women in Indiana grew 53 percent from 2012 to 2014; compared to a 25 percent jump in permits issued to men. The Indiana State Police Firearms Licensing Division started tracking by gender in 2012.

In all, about one-in-five of Indiana's 585,438 gun permits were issued to women.

Firearm ownership among women appears to be rising just as quickly nationwide.

The number of women who shoot at target ranges jumped 60 percent and the number of women hunters jumped 85 percent from 2001 to 2013, according to a study released in January by the National Shooting Sports Foundation.

Despite the trend, many women say gun stores cater almost exclusively to men.

Frustrated with the limited selection of female shooting accessories in her local gun stores, Amy Seitz launched her own company last year.

Seitz said gun stores offer three purse styles, "all ugly."

So when her concealed carry purse broke, she told her husband, "I'm not going to another gun store to buy a purse."

"That's why I started this company," said Seitz, Marengo, Ohio.

Seitz and husband, Robin, own RA Securities, which sells holsters, purses and other products for self-defense minded women and men. The company is one of 26 vendors at Saturday's event and will have 11 products in the fashion show.

The show will feature 20 models wearing bra holsters, corset holsters, purses, brief cases and other gun-concealing accessories.

Models will walk the runway with concealed firearms — they use fake guns during the show — before revealing where they are hidden.

"A woman has to see it," Seitz said. "They've got to feel it, maneuver it and see if it's going to fit."

Every woman who carries a gun is different, she said. They have to find what works for them.

"I carry in a purse," Seitz said. "We have shirts that have hidden gun pockets. Having a range of items available makes it much more appealing to a woman."

The event comes about two months after a Michigan woman fatally shot herself while adjusting a .22-caliber handgun in her bra holster.

Women can avoid these kinds of accidents through education, Fashion & Firearms organizers say.

"We want to help women understand the right way and all the options available so they don't put themselves or anyone else in a harmful situation," said Brown, a co-leader of a local chapter of the Well Armed Woman, a national group that offers training and support for female gun owners.

"We are not encouraging women to carry firearms but if they choose to, we are adamant about teaching safely how to do it."

Call Star reporter Vic Ryckaert at (317) 444-2701. Follow him on Twitter: @VicRyc.

If you go

What: Fashion and Firearms: A Concealed Carry Extravaganza.

When: 1-5 p.m. Saturday.

Where: The Crane Bay, 551 W. Merrill St.

Tickets: $50, each entry includes chance to win one of five firearms.

Information:www.fashionandfirearmsindy.com

Details: Guests will see a fashion show, self-defense demonstrations and guest speakers including the Chicks on the Right Amy Jo Clark and Miriam Weaver, The Well Armed Woman founder Carrie Lightfoot and firearms instructor and reality TV contestant Gabby Franco.