Carrying Isn’t Enough: What Our Data Reveals About the Gap Between Carry and Capability

At A Girl & A Gun, we are in a unique position to understand how women are actually training. Each year at our National Conference, hundreds of women from across the country come together with a shared goal: to improve. They bring their experiences, their skills, and their insights, and in doing so, they give us something incredibly valuable: visibility.

We are not guessing what women shooters need or relying on assumptions or outdated industry narratives. We are looking directly at how an engaged, motivated population is training in real time. That perspective allows us to not only observe progress, but also identify where progress is incomplete.

Through our pre-event skill assessment survey, one pattern emerged with surprising clarity: a consistent gap between carrying a firearm and regularly practicing the drawstroke.

A Community That Is Doing the Work

The data confirms what we see every day inside this community: Women are showing up with intention, and they are building skill through consistent effort.

More than 70% of National Conference attendees report live-fire practice at least monthly, with many training weekly or multiple times per month. Dry fire is widely adopted, especially among intermediate and advanced shooters, reflecting a growing understanding of how skill is built outside of live ammunition. A significant portion of respondents also report carrying a firearm regularly, with many indicating daily on-body or off-body carry.

This is a community that is engaged and committed to improvement. The foundation is strong. When I looked more closely at how often women draw from a holster, a different pattern began to emerge.

Identifying the Drawstroke Deficit

When respondents were asked how often they draw from a holster, the consistency we saw in other areas of training began to break down.

Approximately 45–55% of attendees reported that they rarely draw from a holster. At the same time, 20–30% indicated that their home range does not permit holster work, limiting their ability to practice this skill in a live-fire environment. Another 15–25% shared that their draw practice occurs primarily through dry fire, without consistent live-fire validation.

When these responses are viewed together, the conclusion is clear. Roughly 40–60% of Conference attendees, women who are otherwise consistent in their training, are carrying regularly but not consistently practicing their drawstroke.

At first glance, that number may feel at odds with how engaged this community is. It is not. Even our most committed members face real constraints that limit drawstroke practice. That is exactly why this issue matters and why instructors must address it.

This creates what we can describe as a drawstroke deficit, a measurable gap between carrying a firearm and consistently training the full presentation sequence from holster to an accurate, on-target shot.

Why This Gap Exists

What makes this insight especially important is that it is not rooted in a lack of motivation, since the women in this dataset are actively pursuing training and investing in their development. The gap exists because of how training is structured and where it takes place.

For many respondents, access is the primary constraint. Between 20–30% specifically cited range restrictions as a barrier, noting they are not permitted to draw from a holster at their home range. When a skill cannot be practiced in a shooter’s primary training environment, it becomes difficult to build consistency, regardless of intent.

Others are adapting by using dry fire to develop mechanics. This is a positive trend, but without regular live-fire validation, those skills are not always reinforced under recoil, timing, and pressure. The result is a partial skillset that is introduced, but not fully integrated.

Training frequency also contributes to this pattern. Many respondents report attending professional instruction one to three times per year. While valuable, this is often not enough repetition to build efficiency and confidence in the drawstroke when it is not reinforced between classes.

Understanding the cause of the gap is only part of the picture. The next step is understanding what that gap means in practice.

Carry and Capability Are Not the Same

One of the most important distinctions this data highlights is the difference between carrying a firearm and being able to deploy it effectively. These concepts are often treated as interchangeable, but in practice, they develop along different timelines.

A shooter can carry daily, practice regularly, and still have limited experience presenting the firearm efficiently and accurately from the holster. That does not reflect a lack of effort. It reflects a gap in how skills are connected.

The drawstroke is not simply about accessing the firearm. It is about building an efficient sequence that includes establishing grip, presenting the firearm, acquiring sights, and delivering an accurate shot. When any part of that sequence is underdeveloped, performance becomes less predictable.

Recognizing this gap shows where training is already strong and where it can become more complete.

What This Means for Training

Because this dataset reflects one of the most engaged segments of the shooting community, the implications extend beyond this group. If a drawstroke deficit exists within one of the most committed training audiences in the country, it is likely even more pronounced across the broader concealed carry population.

This insight challenges instructors to think differently about how training is prioritized. The industry has done an excellent job emphasizing safety and marksmanship fundamentals, and those remain essential. At the same time, the data suggests that equal emphasis must be placed on integrating those skills into real-world application.

That means introducing holster work earlier in the training journey, not reserving it for advanced shooters. It means creating more opportunities for safe, structured draw practice, even within constrained environments. It means reinforcing the connection between dry fire and live fire so that skills transfer reliably.

For A Girl & A Gun, this is where opportunities begin to emerge for instructors to lean in on this skillset.

Moving Forward With Purpose

What makes this moment so encouraging is that the foundation is already in place. Women are training more than ever before. They are carrying with intention, practicing with consistency, and seeking out opportunities to improve.

When 40–60% of even our most engaged members are not consistently practicing the full drawstroke, it highlights exactly where we can focus to create the greatest impact. Not by replacing what is working, but by building on it.

This is not about adding complexity to training. It is about aligning training with responsibility. If a woman is choosing to carry, she is choosing to be capable. And capability is built through the skills that are practiced most consistently.

Carrying is not an endpoint; it is one part of the defender lifestyle. The expectation of what it means to be skilled must include consistent dry-fire reps from the holster, if live-fire presentation is not a regular option. Proficiency is built through consistent, intentional practice, and that includes the drawstroke.

Before you put on your everyday carry holster, take a few moments to work through your presentation with your unloaded handgun in a safe direction or towards a proper backstop. Build the neural pathways that allow your mind and body to work together. Refine the sequence. Make it efficient. Make it repeatable.

Because performance does not appear when you need it. It reflects what you have practiced.
And the drawstroke is where that performance begins.