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What the Firearms Industry Gets Wrong About Women. (ft. Tracy Lee)
Description
Tracy Lee, known online as Tracy Guns, joins John and Kaylee on State of the Second to talk about how she found her way into firearms and what the industry still gets wrong about women. Tracy grew up in Texas until she was 8, then in Sacramento with a liberal mother, and moved to Las Vegas to expand a business sending photographers to nightclubs. She traveled the world with the UFC as a cage-side photographer, built a relationship with a Las Vegas gun store, and started bringing UFC fighters there to shoot. She took her first firearms and CCW class in 2015, got hooked on real training, separated her gun content into the Tracy Guns account, and is now coming up on 10 years in the space.
The heart of the episode is Tracy's advice for women getting into the shooting sports. Her two biggest points: don't be intimidated by people who tell you things have to be done a certain way, and don't believe anyone who says your first gun needs to be tiny. At Annie Oakley events and National Women's Range Day she handed women a bigger gun first and then a smaller one, and they consistently shot a Glock 19 or a P320 better than a subcompact like a P365, a 43X, or a Hellcat. A small gun has more recoil and is one of the hardest things a new shooter can start on. Tracy and Kaylee also push the value of women-only range days, finding good mentors, getting real training, and the point that a guy usually can't teach his own wife or girlfriend to shoot.
The second half gets into culture and carry. Tracy talks about firearms censorship on social media, the workarounds gun creators used to dodge the algorithm, and how George Floyd and the climate in 2020 and 2021 shifted public tolerance toward firearms and self-protection. She closes with a CVS confrontation that became a lesson in concealed-carry responsibility: as a CCW holder she has to keep her cool, stay aware, and never escalate, because carrying a firearm raises the stakes on every situation. John reinforces that this mindset is what younger carriers need to learn. Tracy points listeners to Tracy Guns across platforms and to the Clapper app, and the show wraps with a plug for GOALS in Knoxville, August 9th and 10th.
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Questions this episode answers
How did Tracy Lee get into firearms and the gun industry?
Tracy Lee grew up in Texas and Sacramento, ran a business sending photographers to nightclubs, and traveled the world with the UFC as a cage-side photographer. She built a relationship with a Las Vegas gun store, took her first firearms and CCW class in 2015, got hooked on real training, and is now coming up on 10 years in the space.
What advice does Tracy Lee have for women starting in the shooting sports?
Tracy says don't be intimidated by people who insist things have to be done a certain way, and don't believe anyone who tells you your first gun needs to be tiny. She also points to women-only range days, finding a good mentor, and getting real training as the fastest way to build real skill.
Why does Tracy Lee say a new shooter's first gun should not be a tiny one?
A small gun has more recoil and is one of the hardest things a new shooter can start on. At women's events Tracy handed shooters a bigger gun first, and they consistently shot a Glock 19 or a P320 better than a subcompact like a P365, a 43X, or a Hellcat.
Why do women-only range days matter, and why can't a guy usually teach his own wife or girlfriend to shoot?
Tracy and co-host Kaylee push women-only range days, such as National Women's Range Day, as a lower-pressure place to learn from good mentors and get real training. Tracy's blunt take is that a man usually can't teach his own wife or girlfriend to shoot, so an outside instructor works better.