“Women of the Gun” 2025 Features Vera Koo as Speaker

The “Women of the Gun” 2025 event featured Vera Koo as its speaker during this year’s SHOT Show in Las Vegas, Nevada. This post was originally published by Project ChildSafe.

Thank you for joining us for the 6th Annual Women of the Gun Event hosted by the NSSF, Project Childsafe, and Women’s Outdoor News. We are extremely grateful for the support of this year’s sponsors.

Hornady – Gold Sponsor: Hornady Manufacturing Company is an American manufacturer of ammunition cartridges, components and handloading equipment.

Davidson’s – Gold Sponsor: As one of the nation’s largest firearm distributors, Davidson’s maintains a huge inventory of quality firearms from the world’s top manufacturers.

Benelli – Gold Sponsor: Benelli USA is a firearm company primarily known for its high-quality, reliable semi-automatic shotguns.

Ruger – Gold Sponsor: The nation’s leading manufacturers of rugged, reliable firearms for the commercial sporting market.

Comm Gear Supply – Bronze Sponsor: A company specializing in selling a wide range of professional-grade communication equipment.

Bestie Defense – Bronze Sponsor: Premium Personal Protection , Patent-pending 3-in-1 protection, for the modern sophisticate, made in the USA.

During the event, Joe Bartozzi, shared the success of Project ChildSafe’s 25-year history and the critical role it plays in real firearm safety. Barbara Baird of Women’s Outdoor News presented highlights of women hitting their mark in the industry in 2024. Guest speaker, Vera Koo described her journey in shooting sports as an unlikely champion and the lesson she’s learned along the way. We hope you enjoyed this year’s program.

The ultimate goal of the Women of the Gun Event is to provide an avenue for women at SHOT Show to connect with one another. Thanks to your efforts, women proudly represent every aspect of the shooting, hunting and outdoor industries offering their skills, perspective and experience.  

We hope you had meaningful conversations sharing your success stories and challenges with one another and that the connections you created help motivate and inspire you as you kick off the new year.  

Please update your latest contact information to receive future Women of the Gun newsletters. Help us to inspire women in the industry and beyond by submitting your success stories to Barbara Baird and Julie Golob.

Thank you again for joining us. Stay tuned for links to photos from the event in our next newsletter. Here’s to a successful 2025.

About Project ChildSafe

NSSF, The Firearm Industry Trade Association, launched Project ChildSafe in 1999 (originally as Project HomeSafe). Since 1999, the program has provided more than 41 million free firearm safety kits and gun locks to firearm owners in all 50 states through partnerships with thousands of law enforcement agencies across the country. That’s in addition to the more than 70 million free locking devices manufacturers have included, and continue to include, with new firearms sold since 1998. While helping to prevent accidents among children is a focus, Project ChildSafe is intended to help adults practice greater firearm safety in the home. More information is available at projectchildsafe.org.

About NSSF

NSSF is the trade association for the firearm industry. Its mission is to promote, protect and preserve hunting and the shooting sports. Formed in 1961, NSSF has a membership of thousands of manufacturers, distributors, firearm retailers, shooting ranges, sportsmen’s organizations and publishers nationwide. For more information, visit nssf.org.

About The WON

Women’s Outdoor News, aka The WON,  features news, gear reviews and stories of outdoor life by women and girls who are shooting, hunting, fishing and actively engaging in outdoor adventure. With a band of columnists and reviewers, photographers and female correspondents, The WON engages our readers through a blog format reaching hundreds of thousands of readers annually.

About “Women of the Gun” 2025 Speaker Vera Koo

Vera Koo is a first-generation Chinese American woman. She is a wife and mother, author, entrepreneur and retired professional athlete. Vera made her home on the West Coast but is an avid traveler, food lover and patron of the arts. Her first book and memoir, The Most Unlikely Champion, recounts the stories of her life with tremendous introspection and emotional clarity. Her second book, published on the heels of the first one, is titled Wisdom and Things: Essays from an Unlikely Champion. It is based on her columns found regularly in the online publication Women’s Outdoor News, along with more life experiences. This new book, another memoir, features content in a wide variety of categories, covering everything from travel to Vera’s faith in God.

Koo was born in Qinhuangdao, Hebei, China, and spent her childhood in Hong Kong. She immigrated with her family to the United States she was 12 years old. Vera and her husband, Carlos, own a successful business in the San Francisco Bay area, are the proud parents of three children and grandparents to six grandchildren.

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