NRA's Ladies Pistol Project Put 18 Women on Full-Size Nightstand Guns
Ann Smith, editor-in-chief of NRA Women, told Bearing Arms during the 2026 NRA Annual Meeting that the Association's Ladies Pistol Project swapped its usual concealed-carry focus for full-size handguns built for the nightstand. Eighteen women fired a range of firearms and filled out surveys afterward. Smith compiles the data and publishes the findings. Beretta Holding, sponsor of the Voices of the Second Amendment program at the meeting, made the interview possible. Smith, a 25-year NRA veteran, says the project answers a question she hears constantly: what gun is good for women? Her answer is a resource, not a verdict.
Key Details
The facts Smith laid out are specific enough to check against the source and the NRA's own channels:
- Participants: 18 women took part in the 2026 Ladies Pistol Project.
- Theme: The 2026 edition is the "Nightstand edition," focused on full-size guns kept for home defense rather than carry.
- Method: Participants shot every gun provided, then completed post-shoot surveys. Smith tabulates and publishes the results.
- Origin: Smith launched the project roughly 10 years ago to answer a recurring question from husbands and women alike.
- Coverage: Results roll out on American Rifleman TV, on NRAWomen.com, and in an article in American Rifleman magazine.
- Smith's background: She has worked for the NRA for 25 years. She was executive editor of a women's magazine the Association published in the 2000s, became the first woman editor on AmericanRifleman.org, and has edited NRAWomen.com for the last five years.
- Recoil and fear: Smith said several participants initially feared the larger guns but found they could handle them, and that recoil was lighter than expected.
Smith also described her own start. Her family did not own guns, and her first shooting experience came from a boyfriend who handed her a Colt Python in .38 Special rather than the .357 Magnum it fires. She married him. She now says she outshoots him on many events.
Background
The Ladies Pistol Project did not start as a home defense study. For years, the program leaned heavily on concealed carry, which fits the market where most women buyers have looked for compact, carry-ready pistols. Smith's 2026 pivot to nightstand guns acknowledges a different use case. A gun in a bedside drawer serves a home defense role, and the Supreme Court recognized in District of Columbia v. Heller (2008) that the Second Amendment protects an individual's right to keep a handgun in the home for self-defense. In New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen (2022), the Court struck down New York's discretionary carry licensing regime and held that public carry is also protected by the Second Amendment. Those two decisions frame the carry-versus-home split that Smith's project now tests side by side.
Industry surveys have tracked women as a growing share of first-time gun buyers for years. Many of those buyers arrive through a spouse, a partner, or a friend, which mirrors Smith's own story. The question "what gun is good for women?" is not a niche problem. It shows up at ranges, gun counters, and family dinners.
Why It Matters for Gun Owners
If you are buying a first handgun for a spouse, daughter, or friend, this project gives you a useful data point. It does not give you a shopping list. Full-size handguns generally carry more weight and a larger grip, which affects control for shooters with smaller hands. A nightstand gun is only effective if the person holding it can run it under stress at three in the morning. Fit matters more than a headline model name.
Gun owners in every state can apply this directly. Rent or borrow several platforms before you buy. Pay attention to slide manipulation, grip reach, and how the trigger breaks. Test ammunition you plan to keep in the house. If you live in a state with restrictive storage rules or child access laws, check your state statute before choosing a bedside setup, because those laws vary widely and the penalties can be serious.
Smith also pointed to local ladies' nights and NRA-certified instructors as entry points. Women who feel hesitant about hands-on training should start with a structured class rather than a friend's range session with an unfamiliar pistol.
DownRange Analysis
Under Bruen, the legal question for a home defense handgun is already settled. Courts will not second-guess whether a citizen may keep one in the nightstand. The real question is practical: which gun will a specific person actually use well? That makes a fit-focused project more valuable than a one-size verdict. Smith is right that the data does not produce a universal answer, and any reviewer who claims otherwise is selling something.
Market-wise, the nightstand pivot signals that manufacturers and retailers should stop treating women's guns as a compact-only category. Full-size handguns in home defense configurations deserve the same attention in fit and marketing that carry guns receive.
What should you do right now? Visit NRAWomen.com and read the published results. Sign up for your own NRA membership rather than riding on someone else's, because Smith's point about every member counting holds. Find a ladies' night or instructor-led class this season. Then handle the guns yourself before anyone spends a dollar.
