By Dana
About two weeks ago I headed to the Second Annual Concealed Carry Fashion Show with my friends Amy and Stephanie, and we had a great time! For those of you who may not know, Trish Culter, the pistol permit clerk in Columbia County, New York, came up with the fantastic idea to hold a concealed carry fashion show to help educate and train women how to carry firearms safely.
This year the fashion show was held at Birch Hill in Schodack, NY which was a much better setting for a fashion show and was able to accommodate a larger crowd than last year. I think they said 450 people attended this year which is fantastic. We arrived when the doors opened at 3pm and, after checking in, immediately went into the main room. And boy did it look amazing!
It’s hard to see from the picture but the stage is on the left and the seats were placed around all sides of the stage. Vendors, including New York State Rifle and Pistol Association who is fighting the NY SAFE Act in the courts, The Well Armed Woman, Bullet Design, a local sportsman’s club, and a few others selling holsters, targets, belts, and jewelry, were located around the outside of the room. There were also gun and gear raffles for us to participate in.
Around 4pm, we were guided into the dining room where we had a lovely dinner that consisted of rolls, salad, chicken, and pasta with a very yummy Alfredo sauce. I’m uncertain if there wasn’t enough seating or if we just looked super friendly but as people left our table other people came over to ask if the seats were taken. We had a few of the seats turn over twice.
The tables were decorated with flower arrangements with spent rounds in the water…very cute!
After dinner we headed back out to the main room to grab our seats for the real reason we were there…the fashion show.
The fashion show started off with the Pledge of Allegiance, followed by the National Anthem sung by Kathy Jones. The entire audience began singing along which was just amazing. After that, Peter Reiss read us the Second Amendment.
There were many speakers lined up for the night. Local state Senator Kathy Marchione and Assemblyman Steve McLaughlin, who both have stood by gun owners side, were there. Retired US Marine Corps Col. Phil Torres spoke to the crowd about situational awareness. Dan Tuczinski and his assistants gave a great self-defense demo, and Amber Bauhoff did a demo about how to correctly use pepper spray. The emcee for the night was Carrie Lightfoot the Founder of The Well Armed Woman.
These speakers were all great, but the speech that really spoke to me was from former Olympian and Top Shot star, Gabby Franco. Please take the time to watch her speech from that night Slow Slip of Freedom on You Tube. She truly understands what freedom is and the importance of the Second Amendment. I’ll let the video speak for itself.
After the speakers finished, the fashion show began. Carrie and Gabby took turns describing who the women were: nurses, lawyers, business owners, mothers, grandmothers, and their age, which made us all realize that these women were just like us! The women walked down the stage in scrubs, dresses, pants, skirts, and shorts and would stop to show each side of the stage the type of holster they were wearing.
There were a variety of holsters: the Flashbang holsters including the Ava, the Marilyn, and of course the Flashbang; there were purse holsters, lace holsters, ankle holsters, and there was even an apron holster to wear while you cook! My camera did not take pictures of movement well so if you’d like to see more pictures of that great night please visit the Concealed Carry Fashion Show’s Facebook page.
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