It isn鈥檛 every day three women in their seventies walk into a gun store.

Stephanie Nugent is the rookie, a first-time shooter who before today had never held more than a water gun.

Mary Knox is proficient: Two years ago she was 鈥減etrified,鈥� but overcame arthritic hands and bought her own pistol for self-defense.

Then there鈥檚 Karen Corum, who has long had an interest in shooting and says she has 鈥渁lways been fairly good at it.鈥� She got Knox into the shooting sports and the duo now shoots together almost every week.

Customers like Corum, Knox and Nugent are what Bren and Mike Brown had in mind when they opened Frontier Justice three years ago in Lee鈥檚 Summit, Missouri.

鈥淭here鈥檚 nothing like this across the United States,鈥� Bren Brown says, as she walks around the 33,000-square-foot facility.

With a women鈥檚 fashion boutique, small cafe and concierge-style service for VIP members, Frontier Justice offers women and families a shopping experience more tailored to their needs than most gun stores and shooting ranges, Brown says.

The concept could be an important development for the $11 billion retail gun industry, which is increasing efforts to target women amid sluggish gun sales that have prevailed ever since the 2016 election.

Frontier Justice regularly hosts events, such as book signings or date night. For $50, each couple gets a gun and shooting lane rental, two boxes of ammunition, dinner for two and a keepsake photo.

Chris Haxel / KCUR

鈥榁ery Small And Very Powerless鈥�

Gun stores typically fall into one of two categories: big-box retailers that cater to hunters or small shops packed with row after row of rifles.

Brown says she noticed husbands and wives would sometimes walk together into a sporting goods store like Cabela鈥檚 with their children, only for the wife and kids to return outside and wait in their car while the husband finished shopping.

And smaller stores, which sometimes have low ceilings, dingy floors and little natural light, seem too unwelcoming for some women to even consider, she says.

鈥淥ften you find a male sales associate who stands behind the counter that鈥檚 full of guns.

And then there are guns behind them as well 鈥� I hate that. It really makes a person feel very small and very powerless.鈥�

Brown designed Frontier Justice to be more inviting and instructs workers stationed in the women鈥檚 boutique to greet customers when they walk in the door.

It鈥檚 鈥渇ashion-oriented destination shopping,鈥� she says. 鈥淪o things that you can鈥檛 find ordinarily in [the Kansas City area], really upper-end fashion.鈥�

Toward the back of the store, guns are kept in cases like those found in jewelry stores.

Brown says she wants customers to see the firearms 鈥渦p close and personal.鈥� The cases also allow salespeople to approach customers from the side, which she hopes gives customers a sense that 鈥渋t鈥檚 not them against you or you against them.鈥�

Cases modeled after those found in jewelry stores are positioned throughout Frontier Justice. The idea is to let customers view the guns from different angles.

Chris Haxel / KCUR

鈥淭he big-box stores are great for people who have hunted and fished their whole lives,鈥� she says. 鈥淎nd the mom and pop is really great for a guy who knows a lot about guns.鈥�

鈥淏ut somebody who鈥檚 brand new to [guns], who maybe shot once with her grandfather but hasn鈥檛 shot again since then or has never shot before ever in their lives, they really don鈥檛 have a place to go,鈥� Brown says. 鈥淎nd we feel like that鈥檚 the majority of the population at this point in America.鈥�

鈥楾he Trump Slump Is A Real Thing鈥�

It鈥檚 tough to pin down specific numbers, but Brown says since 2016 when Donald Trump was elected president, in part because, by then, many people had purchased firearms in anticipation of possible anti-gun legislation had Hillary Clinton won the election.

Brown says some retailers have reported a 30 percent drop in sales since Trump was elected.

Statistics from the FBI鈥檚 show more background checks for gun purchases were run in 2016 than in any other year on record. In 2017 they dropped by about 8 percent. And while they are on pace for slight increase in 2018, the total will almost certainly stay below 2016鈥檚 record levels.

But such data is at best a proxy for gun sales because not every background check results in a purchase, and some background checks are for purchases made online. Plus, the states have their own background check system for some or all firearm sales.

鈥淭he Trump slump is a real thing,鈥� Brown says. 鈥淚 voted for Trump and I鈥檇 vote for him again because I think he鈥檚 the best thing for our country right now, given the choices at hand in the last election. But it certainly has not been good for business.鈥�

More Than The 鈥楶ink Gun Offering鈥�

When the Browns first contacted Jeff Tesch in 2014 with the idea for Frontier Justice, it was unlike anything he鈥檇 heard before.

Tesch, who is director of business development for Guns.com, has years of experience helping firearm retailers plan and design their stores.

The industry at the time was mostly focused on tactical retail stores and ranges, he says. And while there was an emerging trend of high-end gun stores 鈥� so-called 鈥済untry clubs鈥� 鈥� Tesch says the Frontier Justice concept was in its own lane.

The women鈥檚 boutique aims for a 鈥渂oho-chic鈥� sensibility.

Chris Haxel / KCUR

The store has some high-end elements, like personal lockers and a swank VIP room for people who buy a membership to the store鈥檚 on-site shooting range.

But there鈥檚 more for women than the traditional 鈥減ink gun offering鈥� sometimes found in other gun stores, Tesch says.

鈥淚t became clear that this was not just another indoor shooting range [and] firearms store. This was something different, something unique.鈥�

As the industry works through the current 鈥渉eadwinds,鈥� Tesch says, the retailers remaining profitable are the ones that market well and work to create a 鈥渢ribe effect鈥� with their customers.

鈥楩aith, Family, Freedom鈥�

With subtle touches such as a scent machine that wafts grapefruit and vanilla fragrances through the air, Brown hopes to elicit the feel of a luxury department store like Nordstrom, which has in its own wobbly retail sector.

But other aspects of the Frontier Justice shopping experience speak more overtly to the Browns鈥� values.

The unofficial Frontier Justice motto of 鈥渇aith, family, freedom鈥� receives prominent placement in signage and marketing materials. A sticker on the front door informs customers that the store donates a portion of revenues to Christian charities.

Brown believes attracting more families to the firearms community will lead to stronger Second Amendment protections for future generations.

鈥淐hildren are the key to that,鈥� she says. 鈥淐reating this environment where women feel comfortable coming in is crucial. Because no woman is letting her child go somewhere she doesn鈥檛 feel comfortable.鈥�

The concept of 鈥渇aith, family, freedom鈥� is central to the Frontier Justice message.

Chris Haxel / KCUR

鈥楴asty And Dirty鈥�

For years there have been scattered reports of more women purchasing guns but the trend is difficult to prove.

In 2017, the Pew Research Center estimated that 22 percent of women personally own a firearm compared to 39 percent of men.

Screenshot from 鈥淪pirit of the Huntress,鈥� one in a series of short videos produced by NRATV under its 鈥淎rmed & Fabulous鈥� banner. It tells the story of a woman鈥檚 hunting trip to South Africa. Her face was smeared with the blood of an ostrich to celebrate her first kill.

Chris Haxel / KCUR

Polling from the , a longstanding project run by the University of Chicago鈥檚 National Opinion Research Center, between 1980 and 2014, the number of women who own guns has fluctuated no more than a couple points above or below the average of 11.2 percent.

But the National Shooting Sports Foundation 鈥� a firearm industry trade association 鈥� that many gun owners won鈥檛 tell a stranger whether they own a gun, and that 鈥渢he political climate鈥� is further driving down self-reporting.

The industry has much to gain by enticing more women to buy firearms.

Women control about 30 percent of the world鈥檚 wealth, according to research released in 2016 by the . That鈥檚 up from 25 percent in 2011, and the rate is expected to keep growing about 7 percent annually.

In 2014, firearms manufacturer Ruger and retailer Cabela鈥檚 partnered to create the 鈥�,鈥� featuring multi-day firearms training on an Arizona range, a Ruger compact pistol and a spa gift card.

NRATV, the National Rifle Association鈥檚 online television networks, has a collection of , including a video series called 鈥溾€� that features girls and women who shoot firearms.

The fashion boutique is located near the entrance of Frontier Justice.

Chris Haxel / KCUR

Back at Frontier Justice, their approach appears to be paying off.

Year over year sales at the Lee鈥檚 Summit location are up 10 percent, according to Brown. And last year, Frontier Justice opened a second store in Kansas City, Kansas.

Brown says they鈥檝e been approached by other developers about opening more locations across the country, but for now she and her husband are focused on expanding online sales.

Nugent, Knox and Corum, the trio of septuagenarian shooters, say they drove more than an hour from their respective homes to visit Frontier Justice even though there鈥檚 another shooting range much closer.

The women don鈥檛 like the other, closer range, Knox says, because it鈥檚 鈥渘asty and dirty.鈥�

Nugent, the first time shooter, doesn鈥檛 have much interest in returning to the Frontier Justice shooting range. It was more of a bucket list item than a new hobby, she admits.

But her friends come every week, and Nugent likes 鈥渢he little boutique,鈥� so she says she might tag along anyway.

is a public media reporting project on the role of guns in American life.

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