Western Sport has called Roanoke, Texas home since 2007. I’m Lance Rankin, and I took over the shop in 2017, but between the business and my family this town has been part of our lives a lot longer than that. We’ve watched Roanoke grow from a quiet stop north of Fort Worth into the official “Unique Dining Capital of Texas,” and somehow it’s managed to do that without losing the small-town feel that made people want to live here in the first place.
The new police headquarters
The clearest sign of where this town is headed is the recently completed Roanoke Police Department headquarters on Highway 377. It’s a modern facility built to keep pace with how fast this corner of Denton County is growing, and it gives our officers room and technology that the old setup just didn’t have.
As a local gun shop, we probably notice this more than most businesses. We work alongside law enforcement in ways big and small, and a serious, well-equipped police department is good for everybody in town. Watching the city invest real money in public safety instead of waiting for growth to overwhelm it tells you something about how Roanoke is run.
A town that earned its nickname
If you’ve never been, downtown Roanoke’s Oak Street is worth the trip on its own. The dining scene here punches absurdly above the town’s weight, which is how a city this size ends up with an official state designation for its restaurants. Folks drive in from all over DFW on a Friday night, and the locals just learn which nights to avoid the crowds.
Meanwhile the growth keeps coming. Fort Worth keeps pushing north, the 114 corridor keeps filling in, and subdivisions stand where I remember pasture. I’ll admit to mixed feelings about the traffic, but growth done right beats the alternative, and so far Roanoke has mostly done it right.
Nineteen years on the same team
When this shop opened in 2007, Roanoke looked different. The mission hasn’t changed, though: support local law enforcement, first responders, and the law-abiding folks who make this a good place to raise a family. It’s a family operation in the literal sense. My wife Donna runs the office and keeps us compliant, my daughter Lexi and son Zeke are both in the business, and we all live with the results of what we sell and the advice we give.
Most of our sales ship out through the online store these days, but we’re still a local shop at heart. If you’re in town and buying a gun online, we handle FFL transfers for $40 plus the $10 Texas NICS check, and local pickup is by appointment. New to the process? My guides on how to buy a gun in Texas and how to buy a gun online cover it start to finish.
So whether you’re headed to Oak Street for dinner or driving past the new station on 377, know there’s a gun shop down the road that’s been part of this neighborhood for nineteen years and counting. Stop in and say hello. Email [email protected] or call 817-393-4000 to set up an appointment.
Lance Rankin is the owner and Chief Gunsmith of Western Sport, a family-run Type 07 FFL and Class 3/SOT dealer in Roanoke, Texas, serving shooters since 2007. Born and raised in Texas with over 50 years of experience handling firearms, Lance purchased Western Sport in 2017 and turned his lifelong passion into his profession. He specializes in AR-15 and AR-10 platform rifles, manufactures Western Sport’s own AR-15 line under the Rankin Industries brand, and runs the shop’s in-house Cerakote coating operation. When he’s not behind the counter or the workbench, you’ll find him on his ranch deep into the night, hunting coyotes with an AR-15 and thermal optics. Lance holds an MBA and personally shoots and tests the products Western Sport sells.
