Key takeaways
- Google's and Meta's weapons policies do not name shooting ranges, so plan as if ads will not run.
- Search and your own site carry the marketing when ads are unreliable.
- Silver Creek Range moved from an average search position of 12 to 6.7, ranks in the top five for "shooting range near me", and closed registration at capacity.
- Read each policy page yourself, note the date, and read it again before you spend.
If you run a shooting range, a gun shop, or a training school, the two biggest ad platforms treat your category as a problem before they look at your ad. You can read that as a closed door. We read it as a brief: when paid ads are unreliable, the website and search do the selling, and they have to be good enough to carry it.
What the two policies say
We read both policy pages on October 21, 2026. The Google Ads policy on guns, gun parts, and related products (opens in new tab) bars ads for functional devices that discharge a projectile at high velocity, whether for sport, self-defense, or combat. It also bars ads for parts essential to a gun, ammunition among them, and for instructions on assembling or enhancing a firearm. Google adds that it may err on the side of caution for recreational guns, and its examples include paintball guns and paintball as an activity.
Meta's Weapons, Ammunition or Explosives standard (opens in new tab) bars ads that promote the sale or use of weapons, weapon accessories, and ammunition. It also bars businesses whose primary model is trading weapons. It allows firearm safety courses, training for firearm licenses, and informative content about weapons, and it allows hunting and competition equipment, with a target audience of 18 or older.
Neither page names a shooting range. Whether a range's ad runs is a reviewer's decision, and you learn it only after you submit the ad. Plan as if the answer will be no, and treat an approval as a bonus. Meta's page lists revisions in 2024 and 2025, and Google can change its page too, so read them yourself before you commit a budget.
Where the marketing goes instead
People who want a range search for one. Someone typing "shooting range near me" has already decided what they want and only needs to find a place and a way to join. No ad is involved in that moment, and a restricted category can still be found there.
That puts the weight on three things you own: a site that answers the search, a way to buy or book without a phone call, and media that explains what you offer. None of them depends on an ad account in good standing.
What Silver Creek Range did
Silver Creek Range is a shooting range, a category with tight limits on advertising. We designed its logo, built its website with an online store and membership booking, and produced a promotional video that walks through the site, from the booking flow to the membership perks, made within the limits on advertising the category.
Search did the rest. The range's average search position improved from 12 in July 2025 to 6.7 in September 2026, measured in Google Search Console. It ranks in the top five for "shooting range near me". Members joined online until the range closed registration at capacity. We leave the revenue out, since that is the client's business.
If your category is restricted
- Read the current policy page for each platform you might use, and note the date you read it. Review it again before each campaign.
- Build the page that answers the local search: where you are, what it costs, what a visit is like, and how to join.
- Let people buy or book on the site, so a visitor never has to wait for someone to pick up the phone.
- Make a video that explains the place and the process. Show people what a visit looks like instead of selling them on it.
We expand the Silver Creek project in the case study (opens in new tab). If you sell in a category that ad platforms restrict and want to talk through where to start, contact us (opens in new tab).
The full story is in Silver Creek Range.
Written by
COO
With over a decade of experience spanning retail management, legal operations, and entrepreneurship, Eva leads our cross-functional teams with precision and insight. Her background in strategic planning and legal case management ensures our campaigns are delivered on time, within budget, and beyond expectations.
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