Lefty Goes Shooting in Manhattan
Report here. I found this odd:
I had noticed in the classroom that each of the rifles had a big eyebolt – like you’d get from a hardware store – screwed into the front of the forestock; it looked like some kind of redneck sling swivel, but I thought it was strange; when we got to the firing line, I was amused to notice that every rifle was tied to the shooting bench with a chain padlocked to the eyebolt on the stock! Obviously they didn’t want anyone running amok in there – they locked the rifles up before passing out the ammunition, and by the time it was possible to get your hands on a loaded weapon, it was impossible to point it anywhere but downrange. You could only shoot offhand (standing up), and to aim the thing, you had to support both the rifle and the chain.
Never heard of such. Is this a NY thing?
January 12th, 2011 at 11:35 am
How very European!
Tying down the rifle with a chain or having people shoot through a tube is a way to enforce Rule #2 on public ranges.
Didn’t you post a video from Switzerland where it demonstrated this practice?
January 12th, 2011 at 11:59 am
I’ve seen it in two other places: A rental range in Honolulu that caters to tourists from the Far East who want to shoot a gun, and a rental range in Las Vegas which does much the same.
January 12th, 2011 at 12:06 pm
Glue the gun in place. When you click the trigger yell BANG. Then go get the pre-holed target.
Wow! Look at the f’ing grouping I made!
January 12th, 2011 at 12:23 pm
Ah, the stench of lawyer fills the range.
Am sure if the weapons were not “reasonably secured” the range’s insurance premiums would be 10X higher.
January 12th, 2011 at 12:44 pm
http://www.westsidepistolrange.com
January 12th, 2011 at 12:55 pm
ExurbanKevin beat me to it.
But sheesh, the Westside Club is worse than California by a long shot:
January 12th, 2011 at 1:21 pm
All members/club affiliates must present to the on duty range officer his/her membership ID card and current pistol license.
I carry a copy of the constitution with me.
January 12th, 2011 at 1:39 pm
A friend of a friend moved from Texas to Brooklyn (to be an ACTOR) and asked where a good place to go shooting was.
I replied, “Pennsylvania.”
January 12th, 2011 at 2:22 pm
Last time I shot in Las Vagas was 15 years ago. MP5 subgun. No chain but a guy did come with me to make sure I didn’t pepper the place with 9mm.
Here in Texas while there are some stuck up places in Dallas, NONE are as bad as described in NY.
It’s not a NY thing. It’s a wimp thing.
January 12th, 2011 at 3:21 pm
Iver never seen that here, but I tend to go to Calverton, pretty much a sand pit with half broken tables, the way I like it.
January 12th, 2011 at 4:24 pm
A couple of years ago, the son of some African consulate went to Westside range to shoot the rental 10/22. While the instructor wasn’t look that kid turned the rifle on himself and blew his head out. The hapless instructor (Byron, who taught me how to shoot pistol) had both of his NYC pistol and long gun permits taken away at that time, don’t know if he’d ever gotten them back. Make a long story short, the chain on the eyebolt to keep the 10/22 pointing down range may very well be NYPDs idiotic safety implementation so the range can stay open.
January 12th, 2011 at 5:02 pm
Yeah, at The Gun Store in Las Vegas there is a guy not quite touching you to ensure that the rounds go in the general direction of the target.
January 12th, 2011 at 9:47 pm
A “redneck sling swivel”?
WTF would a lefty know about that?
January 16th, 2011 at 4:46 pm
They should run the chain up to the top of the shooting station. That way you can play door gunner!!!