Buying gear is easy. Learning to use it takes range time, classes, and practice, and most gun owners never set aside the days for it. Gun Owners of America (GOA) built an event around that gap, and it returns to Texas in May 2027.
What GEAR Is
GEAR stands for Gun Empowerment and Adventure Recreation. GOA launched it as a program for gun owners who want to try overlanding, and for overlanders who want to learn about guns. Overlanding means driving off-road to remote places, camping, and carrying the skills and supplies to handle problems on the way.
GOA’s launch announcement described a summit of training, live fire, guided trail runs, and family activities on 5,500 acres of Texas terrain at Merus Adventure Park, near Amarillo and Palo Duro Canyon.
How the First Summit Went
The first GEAR Summit ran April 24-26, 2026. The GEAR site listed the main activities:
- Live-fire ranges with certified Range Safety Officers
- Hands-on firearm and off-road training
- Guided trail runs from beginner to advanced
- More than 100 exhibiting manufacturers
- Night events, including suppressed and night-vision shooting
- Camping for over 400 vehicles
- A supervised kids zone
Sponsors and vendors added their own features. Barrett hosted a long-range shoot out to 1,500 yards. Beretta showed its M9A4 Overlanding Series. CCW Safe sponsored the event.
GOA’s own recap says people came from across the country. It names training as a main pillar, with a focus on helping new shooters.
What GOA Says Is Coming in 2027
GOA’s says the second event is three days of range time, off-roading, on-site camping, classes, and a vendor village May 21-23, 2027, at Merus Adventure Park in the Texas Panhandle.
According to the email:
- No experience with shooting or off-roading is required.
- Intro classes cover off-road basics. Trails run from beginner routes for stock vehicles to Jeep Badge of Honor trails for heavily modified rigs.
- Add-ons include a night vision shoot and ring steel with a Barrett .50 cal out to a mile.
- General admission and VIP tickets are on sale. VIP packages include a limited-edition GEAR-branded Derya lever-action rifle. GOA says only 50 VIP packages exist.
A weekend pass including Trail ride, Life fire range, and training for $150. A $1500, VIP package is available with an extra day, VIP dinner, Derya lever action firearm, and special training. Details here.
The Numbers GOA Uses
GOA says more than 12 million Americans go overlanding, and about 60 percent of them own firearms. Its magazine adds a projection of 13 million overlanders by 2028, up from 2 million in 2020. These are GOA’s figures. I could not trace them to an independent survey, so treat them as the organizer’s estimate.
Check These Details Before You Book
- Dates. GOA’s recap magazine said the 2027 event would run April 23-25. The Merus calendar and GOA’s email say May 21-23. Confirm on the GEAR site.
- Ticket status. The GOA email says tickets are on sale. Some pages I checked still showed registration as not open. Confirm before you pay.
- Distance. Amarillo is a long drive from the Houston area. Plan for lodging, or for the on-site camping.
- The pitch. GOA is a gun-rights lobbying group. Expect membership offers along with the ticket offers.
Get More Out of a Training Event
A weekend like this is only as good as the skills you bring and the classes you pick.
- Pick classes over spectacle. The machine gun and .50 BMG experiences are fun. The classes build skill.
- Review the basics first. Read the fundamental firearms safety rules again, and put in some dry fire practice before you arrive.
- Protect your hearing. Plan for three days of range noise. Bring good protection, such as custom molded earplugs.
- Learn the park rules. Merus is private land with its own range and safety rules. Follow them and the instructions of the Range Safety Officers.
If you go, pick one class you will take, book early, and start dry fire practice now.
Train hard. Train smart. Train safe.
AI assisted research and editing. Human verified and finalized.
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