Today we’d like to introduce you to Sherra Scott.
Hi Sherra, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Firearms were not foreign to me growing up, there were firearms in the household, but my family wasn’t “into” firearms. In my twenties, I was a corrections officer in Kansas. I eventually made it onto SORT (Special Operations Response Team). We practiced more often and were required to qualify with multiple firearm platforms, but I didn’t own one myself. I had no problem with the rifles, but the pistols were a struggle for me. The instructors at the facility weren’t the greatest and didn’t have a lot of patience with women.
Shortly after my husband retired from the Army at Fort Jackson, he became a law enforcement officer. Having worked with felons previously, I knew I needed to be able to protect myself and my children, so I got my concealed carry permit. The two instructors for that class worked in the same department as my husband. They worked with me and I soon realized that after having received PROPER instruction I COULD shoot well and I actually enjoyed it. Those same two instructors encouraged me to become a certified firearms instructor to help out with their classes.
After becoming an instructor I started a local chapter of a national women’s shooting group. It was a struggle to find a place to meet and shoot as the only shooting range within a half-hour drive at that point was a shotgun-only range. At the first meeting, I met the woman who would quickly become a very good friend and my business partner and we began looking for a property that would be suitable for an outdoor shooting range.
A few months later I happened across some property that was suitable. We leased the property and in October 2015 Sandhill Shooting Sports opened. 7 years later we now have 10 employees.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It definitely has not been a smooth road. My business partner and I regularly remind one another of the LITERAL blood, sweat, and tears we have put into this business. When we first started we didn’t know what we didn’t know. Being a female in a male-dominated industry hasn’t been the easiest either. I do get mostly praise and support from people when they find out that women own and run the business, but I do get the occasional guy who automatically assumes that one of my male employees or my husband owns the business. That gets quite frustrating at times.
Four years into the journey of opening the range, my business partner was diagnosed with breast cancer. It’s been an ongoing battle for her for almost 3 years now, and with her having to step back from almost everything she was doing to help run the range, it’s now fallen on me. While that’s nothing compared to what she’s going through fighting breast cancer, it’s still a challenge I wasn’t expecting to have to deal with.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Sandhill Shooting Sports?
While the core of Sandhill Shooting Sports is being an outdoor pistol and rifle range, from the very beginning we wanted to create not just a place to go shoot, but a community gathering place where law-abiding citizens of all backgrounds and levels of firearm knowledge feel welcome. We are open to the public and you pay range fees based on how long you are on the range, but we also offer memberships. Members do not pay range fees and get discounts on accessories, firearms, and classes.
It took us a while to decide to start selling firearms, but we finally “bit the bullet” and got our Type 7 Federal Firearms License in December 2021, and in July 2022 we will be a Class 2 SOT licensed to sell NFA items (silencers, full auto firearms, short barrel rifles, etc.). We’ve also ventured into offering gunsmithing services.
We host a women’s only shooting group as well as various shooting competitions. I have several instructors, including myself, who teach a variety of firearm classes and private instruction as well as some non-shooting classes on crime prevention and decision making. We hosted our first-ever youth firearm summer camp in June 2022 and I’m extremely happy to say it sold out as I’m a firm believer in education over legislation.
If you come out to visit us, don’t forget to greet the range’s official rodent eradication specialist, Lance Corporal Chesty McBoomstick, our resident range cat.
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
We have to fight harder to keep our inalienable right to self-protection from being eroded away. Unfortunately, the firearms industry has to be keenly aware of the political climate, even though your natural right to self-protection should not be a political issue. While women, in general, have been the fastest-growing demographic of new firearms owners, black women, in particular, have seen the biggest increase in recent years. Firearms manufacturers are starting to take notice and are creating firearms and accessories for women that are actually made for the generally smaller, curvier female body instead of just throwing some bling or pink Cerakote on something created for the male anatomy. Firearms training has seen a shift as well to offer classes that are geared more toward the way women learn and a less macho, tactical environment, especially for beginner-level classes.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://sandhillshootingsports.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sandhillshootingsports/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SandhillShootingSports/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/sandhill-shooting-sports-lugoff
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@sandhillshootingsports
