My day at a gun range , well here's the story

[newmember]

This discussion thread was locked as off-topic by Turborama (a host of the General Discussion forum).

My friends had invited me to go shooting on several occasions but I always politely refused.
First off I wanted to make sure I drove there in case I wanted to leave . I didn't know where I was going so they gave me the GPS
directions .

This was not a public range it was a private club that also was a hunting and fishing sportsmen club.
When I pulled into the long driveway it had several signs ,skeet range , rifle range , pistol range , club house etc..

I drove to the rifle range where I would be meeting my friends. First thing I noticed was a
picnic and barbecue area where several families were having a picnic with children running around ,laughing just being kids.

Next thing was the parking lot at the rifle range. First thing I noticed were several Obama, Biden bumper stickers on
vehicles , that made me feel more at ease being the first time at a gun range.

I meet my friends and some other shooters there and was able to fire many types of rifles.
The thing that amazed me the most was the money some of these rifles cost.

I jotted down some names such as GA precision , Barrett , Desert Tactical Arms ,Accuracy International.
Also the optics on some of these rifles were incredible to look through.
I was instructed on how to do wind calls , read a reticle for bullet drop as we were going to shoot long range.

I seemed to do well firing and after about 2 hours I decided to call it a day.
I thanked everyone there and drove home.

[Electric Monk]

1. ...

[orleans]

22. OMG!!! i can't stop laughing!!!!!

lol
lol
lol
lol
lol!!!!!!!

i had to bookmark this thread just to keep your response

[Ikonoklast]

24. Thread Over.

Steaming pantsload OP thinks smells like freshly baked bread.



Posts are great entertainment, though. The returnees trying new tactics are hilarious.

[tridim]

26. LOL. Absolutely perfect response!

[uppityperson]

2. Well, there are the facts. How do you feel about it all now?

[mzteris]

3. I think "facts"

Is stretching it a little, don't you?

I mean, do they really think they're fooling anyone here? This is du not freeperville. We don't swallow bs whole.

[newmember]

8. I would probably do it again if asked

When I was leaving I stopped and watched the skeet range.
Looked interesting and hard to do.

[Duckhunter935]

4. Hope you enjoyed yourself

and learned something about gun owners. We are not all mad killers and murderers in waiting.

[newmember]

7. lol

I never thought that

[ZRT2209]

9. I like your straw man! Good job!! :)

[Skeeter Barnes]

5. Congrats! You've just taken your first step into a larger world.

So what are you going to buy? I recommend the Marlin 795 if you want a rifle. Shouldn't set you back more than $150. If you want a handgun, get a Ruger 22/45. They're $300-$350 but well worth it.

[newmember]

6. I never really thought about it

It was an experience but I don't think I see my self buying a firearm anytime soon.
I know these guys because I fish with them .

And I do want to add all these guys vote Democrat.


I think what was fascinating is that I know for a fact many of the people
at that club were also republicans. But I could tell that politics were put on the back burner
for a sport they all enjoyed participating in.

[Jenoch]

10. I wish that many of the

anti-gun DUers could have the experience that you had. Maybe some attitudes about guns and gun owners would chqnge.

[Electric Monk]

11. I spent 4 years in the army reserves and fired all kinds of guns that I don't think belong

on the streets, even in 1 pull 1 shot variants.

If you want to play with those guns, join the army.

[LAGC]

12. Why join the army when you are already part of the militia?

[Electric Monk]

13. I'm not in the mood to re-hash your mis-reading of the 2nd yet again tonight.

[LAGC]

15. Toons are fun.

[Electric Monk]

16. Thanks for not posting the "AK-47 AK-47 AK-47 AK-47 AK-47" one

[LAGC]

18. Yet...

[Electric Monk]

19. Keep thumbing your nose at dead kids. It's late, I'm tired, goodnight. I'll look back in tomorrow.

[TheCowsCameHome]

23. More poison from the pen of Ramirez

His "cartoons" disgust me.

[sir pball]

17. It's nothing to do with the 2nd, it's codified Federal law.

(a) The militia of the United States consists of all able-bodied males at least 17 years of age and, except as provided in section 313 of title 32, under 45 years of age who are, or who have made a declaration of intention to become, citizens of the United States and of female citizens of the United States who are members of the National Guard.
(b) The classes of the militia are—
(1) the organized militia, which consists of the National Guard and the Naval Militia; and
(2) the unorganized militia, which consists of the members of the militia who are not members of the National Guard or the Naval Militia.

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/10/311

There are a lot of good reasons to support strong gun control that I can support (but argue with) - but you (well, assuming you're under 45), me, and my buddy I'm drinking with are all in the militia whether you like it or not. We can ALL be legally called to arms at any time.

Disclaimer - I'm not NRA. I support background checks, mag limits, and mandatory FOID cards with a CCW "carrot". I would be happy with much stronger laws, but I'm pragmatic.

[Hoyt]

28. OK, all the gun cultists over 45 need to turn in their weapons.

[uppityperson]

49. Looks like wimmen folk can't have them gunz either. Or non-"able bodied" 17-45 males.

[Hoyt]

55. That's a good start. That'll get rid of bunch of weapons old guys covet, and shut down gun stores.

[Jenoch]

21. I have a few questions.

What do you mean by 'on the streets'?

What guns are you referring to?


Why do you believe these guns should be restricted?

Why were your comments directed to me?

[Skeeter Barnes]

14. For sure, most of them are Repubs

I'm sure they can tell a little bit about me with the Union stickers on my truck. None of them ever bother me at the range, though. Everybody is just there to shoot and have a good time.

Glad to hear you gave it a try.

[spin]

50. A good percentage of the Republican gun owners were once Democrats. ...

Over the last several decades the Democratic Party has become known as the "gun control party."

At the indoor pistol range I used to shoot at we had a long table in the lobby and on Saturday and Sunday mornings many regular shooters would sit and talk about news, politics, sports and computers. It was always a good humored discussion but the few Democrats did get a lot of razzing.

What surprised me was that many of the Republican gun owners actually agreed with the Democratic Party on a good number of issues but said that they would never vote for any Democrat as they feared it might lead to strong gun control such as another AWB or national gun registration.

The morning gathering was not a bunch of "bubbas" as many who post here will automatically assume but was instead was composed of largely well educated professionals including doctors, lawyers, engineers and technicians. Some of the shooters owned their own businesses. A couple were very wealthy and most upper middle class. Many were ex military or had retired from a career in law enforcement. Some were hunters but far from the majority. The group was largely White but there were some Hispanic and Blacks. A fair percentage had concealed carry licenses and carried on a regular basis.

Militia members were not welcomed and I never heard any talk of a need for a revolution. None of the members seemed overly religious in the least and I suspect that most were either atheists or agnostics although religion was never discussed.

This range was somewhat unusual because of the long discussion table. At most of the gun ranges that I have shot at the shooters come in, shoot and leave. At such ranges I never really knew much about the shooters on the line as there was little opportunity for an interchange.

What I fear is that the recent push for the assault weapons ban may drive even more gun owners to vote Republican. There are an estimated 80,000,000 gun owners in our nation and when you add the voting age members of their families who enjoy shooting, you end up with a LARGE voting block. In states with a high level of gun ownership this may it difficult for a Democrat to hold office or gain it.

In my opinion the push for the new AWB was an overreach and was doomed from the start. Had some politicians and the gun control movement merely proposed universal background checks and some other commonsense improvements to current laws coupled with better enforcement and stronger punishment for those caught engaging in the straw purchase and smuggling of firearms, these measures would have had faced little resistance in Congress and would be law by now. Instead the effort encouraged the sky rocketing sale of firearms of all types and led to gun owners stocking up on ammo in large quantities. The solution to gun violence in our nation is not to increase the number of gun owners and the number of guns in our nation and it is definitely not to cause even more gun owners to vote for Republicans.

Of course I could always be wrong. Perhaps it will be the Republican Party that loses at the local, state and national levels in the midterm election over the gun control issue.

Time will tell.

[Hoyt]

59. The old, Dems will vote for a republican over guns ruse. I doubt true ones will consider that.

[spin]

66. How do you define a true Democrat. ...

I suspect many posters here would state that a true Democrat would support a ban on assault weapons. While that may be true in some states it isn't in others. Many gun owners who live in states like Florida or Texas have a collection of firearms worth thousands or tens of thousands of dollars. When they start to believe that their hobby and their investment is threatened it is only logical that they may decide to become single issue voters and vote against any and all Democrats.

Some elected Democrats stated that the AWB was "a good first step." Gun owners immediately interpreted that as suggesting that next step would be a ban on all semi auto firearms including handguns. They suspected that the end goal was to implement gun laws such as exist in some European nations. Consequently they ran out to their gun store and bought everything in sight and cleared the shelves of ammunition on the way out. You can bet that these fearful gun owners will be sure to turn up at the polls to vote against any Democrats regardless of their views on gun control. Close elections may be lost at the local, state and national levels.

I differ from many gun owners as I seriously believe that Republicans pose a more serious threat to gun ownership than do Democrats. For example I feel that if Mitt Romney would have been elected as President, Congress would have passed the assault weapons ban. Romney pandered to gun owners but his history showed that he was far from a strong gun rights advocate. The Sandy Hook shooting would have caused him to suggest reinstating the assault weapons ban and since he would have been a first term President, he would have been able to garner enough Republican support to get an AWB passed. John McCain was also no real friend of gun owners.

I also didn't panic and run out and buy a bunch of firearms like many gun owners. The ammo shortage has pissed me off because now I find it difficult to buy any ammo to practice with.

I feel that if some in the Democratic Party had not overreached by pushing for the AWB we would have been able to pass reasonable laws such as the universal background check by now.

[madmom]

45. " all these guys vote Democrat"... is that

anything like voting republic?

[name not needed]

79. A gun nut named Skeeter

Boy, this one fits the profile.

[mainer]

25. What I learned from shooting at a range -- handguns are really, really inaccurate!

The more I shot, the worse I got. Hitting a bull's eye from more than 30 yards away isn't easy. So here's the thing -- if you're confronted by a gunman, and you think he's going to kill you ... RUN. Chances are, he'll miss.

[Hoyt]

29. Plus, anyone shooting someone at more than 10 yards probably ain't defending themselves.

[loli phabay]

30. depends if they are shooting at you and the danger distance for a knife is twenty feet or so

That is someone with a blade can close that distance and chib you before you get a chance to draw or shoot. Its one of the drills professionals train for and at twenty feet you pretty much know your going to get cut its just how badly and how many times before you can shoot.

[Hoyt]

33. 20 feet is not 10 yards, and you keep playing that paranoia in your head.

Do you folks actually train, study this crud.

[loli phabay]

74. never said twenty feet was ten yards, just saying that twenty feet is the dangerzone with a blade

Yes we train for as many situations as we can, as you never know what you are walking into. It makes sense to at least have an idea and see how quickly someone can close and how it effects your draw.

[Hoyt]

78. I suspect there are lots of better things to occupy your training time.

Do you carry a defibrillator, much more likely to need one.

[mainer]

37. Makes more sense to run from a knife

not stand and try to shoot.

Mother Nature gave us legs for a reason.

[loli phabay]

75. unless your ben johnson then running might not be an option, though you do train to move sideways

As you draw to disturb the attackers line, though its not always possible to move back or sideways.

[Hoyt]

77. A good staff or stick will work. You don't need a gun. Get real.

[newmember]

40. I didn't fire any handguns

[Skeeter Barnes]

65. There's always next time.

[99Forever]

27. Isn't that special?

[loli phabay]

31. i love accuracy international especially matched with lapua rounds, its a real special combination.

[newmember]

39. I shot one

When I asked the cost of the rifle and scope, it was more than I paid for my car.
I learned long range shooting can be a very expensive sport.

[loli phabay]

73. yeah the rounds are way out there, luckily i was not paying for them but i am thinking of investing

In one the rifle not the rounds. Lol

[krispos42]

32. I went last Saturday

Public range in Naugatuck.

Gorgeous day. Mid sixties, light breeze, absolutely cloudless sky.


And only half the stalls were full.

One of the vehicles in the parking lot had a collection of RW bumper stickers on it... "Criminals prefer unarmed victims", one was anti-choice, and I think there was an anti-Obama one on there as well, plus a couple more.


I stopped by Wal-Mart on the way up... I needed to buy some target paper and maybe a brick of .22 ammo. Got the targets, but the shelves were virtually bare. Probably not more than 20 boxes of ammo on the shelves, and of that only 1 box of rifle ammo.

Had fun with a friend shooting about a thousand rounds of .22 between us. I pasted a bowling pin pretty good, I think... I was able to hit it at 100 yards most of the time, and this was while it was lying on its side.

A few of the people there were complaining about the ammo shortage, and I heard the "Obama's having DHS buy up all the ammo" conspiracy floated a few times.

[pintobean]

34. Maybe graham beat you to Wal-Mart

and bought all the ammo.

[CokeMachine]

67. That was one funny/weird thread.

[newmember]

36. I didn't hear anyone mention anything political there.

The one thing I did hear is cost of ammo prices or availability of it.
It seemed like most people were just concentrating on shooting their rifles.

I was amazed at how good someone can be with a rifle , some off these guys were good.
My friend pointed out a couple of guys there that shoot in competitions.

One had a remote camera set up near his target watching the bullet holes on a screen by his bench.
I thought that was pretty cool.

[bluedigger]

43. How come capitalism doesn't work with ammo manufacturers?

There have been severe shortages of ammo on the civilian market for years now. Why doesn't the law of supply and demand work with respect to ammo? If you can make a rifle in your garage, why can't ammo manufacturers respond by increasing production to respond to demand? They have had plenty of time to do so, if they wanted to. It's almost as if they want to create an artificial shortage for some reason...

[surrealAmerican]

35. Were you looking to acquire a pointless and expensive new hobby?

... because, if you choose golf instead, at least you'll get some exercise walking along the course, and you won't have the added worries of properly storing a deadly weapon.

[CokeMachine]

70. What's the point of golf?

Golfers shoot the ball at targets and try to get it to drop into a 4 inch hole. Sounds a lot like target shooting to me. Expensive -- have you priced a set of clubs lately. How about ProV1 balls $50 a dozen. Shooting range $15 for all day; Golf $60 for four hours. I do both and golf is definitely more expensive.

[surrealAmerican]

71. It's equally pointless.

That's why I suggested it: just as pointless, just as expensive, but far less risk of anybody being killed should you fail to secure your playthings, and the possibility of some beneficial exercise (although this may be a pretty low probability).

[CokeMachine]

72. I agree totally. Have a good weekend!!

[Hoyt]

38. Why would anyone be attracted to crud like "Desert Tactical Arms?" Find something worthwhile to do,

rather than hanging out with people who get all giddy playing with their guns.

Our country is not a war zone, and people need to quit acting like it is.

[newmember]

41. I didn't see anyone giddy there , most seemed lost in concentration

That's what the name of the company was that made the rifle .
The rifle was called something else , model something..

[Hoyt]

42. Concentrate on something meaningful -- the Zen of guns is BS.

It's a company producing guns for yahoos who are attracted to terms like "tactical."


The manufacturers market to these yahoos with ads like these:









Those ads are not indicative of anything that remotely resembles a "sport."

[premium]

44. How newmember, or anyone for that matter,

chooses to spend their time is none of your business, and btw, your pictures are getting a little old.

[Hoyt]

46. I bet you'd prefer not to see them, or photos of little kids shot with your sporting "tools."

[premium]

47. What?

What the hell are you talking about?

what does going to a shooting range have to do with shooting children?

#implied%20facepalm%20640x496

[rrneck]

56. I'm totally stealing that. nt

[premium]

58. Be my guest,

it just seemed so appropriate for Hoyt.

[Yo_Mama]

60. I just had to tell you that this is the best Facepalm poster ever

Thanks so much. Really great! I needed a laugh before I tackled the lawn.

[premium]

61. Thank you.

I thought it was on of the best I've seen.

[RetroLounge]

68. None of our business?

Didn't he just post it on a public forum????



RL

[Tommy_Carcetti]

48. It was a holiday, they had a big parade?

Everybody got a haircut and lemonade?

[ZombieHorde]

51. I go to the University of Montana,

and there are many liberal, very intelligent gun owners who attend the school. Both of my chemistry lab partners were gun owners, hunters, and liberals. Some of the gun-owner stereotypes here on DU are way, way off from my personal experiences.

[Hoyt]

57. If they are carrying guns, or have a bunch of assault weapona, you have a low bar for intelligence.

[ZombieHorde]

62. Seems like you are making a connection between the rhetorical, abstract construct of ownership

and intelligence. Is that true? Is that what you are doing, or am I misinterpreting your post?

[Hoyt]

63. Nah, I'm just saying a high percentage of those overly excited by guns are lightly educated, or

just losers.

Kind of like these losers waiting in line one week after Sandy Hook to buy an assault weapon.

[RebelOne]

52. I see nothing wrong with going to a gun range

as long as you are shooting at targets and not animals.

[IcyPeas]

53. love your Obama avatar.... cool bro

[gejohnston]

54. have a good time?

I hope you wore ear protection.

[AlinPA]

64. On ear protection: A guy I know is totally dependent on a hearing aid;he told me that he shot target

practice all his life and thought it was "being a sissy" to wear ear protection. He has been an NRA instructor for many years. He has apparently got past his stupidity and is now teaching people that they should wear ear protection.

[RetroLounge]

69. Hmmm

RL

[billh58]

76. Welcome back to DU, and

congratulations on your resurrection.

[Turborama]

80. Locking

Consensus aminst GD's hosts is that this does not fit withing the exceptions for gun posts that Skinner posted here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022542300