I recently took my father to the Los Angeles Gun Club to pop some off. It was our first time there.
You can pick any gun you want from their wide selection or bring your own. Buy ammo. Pick out a paper target from the wall, they a lot of choices. Then it is on.
I had a moment where I thought “I could die in here, or get really messed up.” There are about 15 lanes for shooters and when they all start shooting together, by chance, the percussive force is felt throughout.
It was fun. Loading is kind of a drag.
LA EASTSIDE
Life Beyond The River
I go there from time to time, but ammunition has gotten quite expensive. I take my own guns and would not load the ammo that they sell there into my own guns — Ok to load into their guns. If you are trying to buy a gun, it is a good idea to go to a place like this to try out a gun that you are comfortable shooting. If I see that there are lots of shooters in the lanes, I just turn around, I get too nervous because of the lack of an armed range master that should always be watching the shooters from a close distance. They watch from the outside and if someone goes postal, then that is it.
I’ve taken my pops and my uncles there, they seem to like the fact that it is conveniently located, but low light conditions (as opposed to an open gun range) really affects their shooting and their morale =\ Burro Canyon (Azusa Mountains) is nice, but no guns to rent out, so you are limited that way.
I shot my first firearm 4 years ago. At first, I had no interest in firearms. I was aware of all the pros and cons of owning a gun, but the reality was that the only people, that owned guns was people who were up to no good.
So, I was invited to go camping in a remote area of Riverside County. The people that came with us were all responsible gun owners. I was told of the rules and proper ways of holding a firearm. I still had no interest and did not shoot any firearm for most of the week. The firearms that were present at the time were: AK 47, SKS, M1, Winchester 30-06, 8mm Carbine riffle, a couple of shotguns, several 22 riffles, 9mm, .22 and .38 caliber pistals.
Sunday was our last day. My compa who invited me told me, “Hey try out this .38”, “ok”. The trigger was harder than what I thought. I squeezed and all of a sudden it pops! Wow, now that was a loud and very intimidating sound. I had earmuffs on and so it was not as load for me as it could have been but the force-vibration of the blast echoed in my body. I asked, “Did it shoot?” “Yeah, it shot, but you missed the target…!” They laughed. “Let them all out!!!!” someone yelled. So I shot at the dirt, not aiming at anything specific. After I finished the rounds, I was tired. The stress, pressure, sound and smell of the gun powder has an affect on you body. I gave the revolver back to my compa and he gave me a .22 riffle. He said, “play with this.”
The riffle had no scope and so I had to use it’s sights. I shot and shot and missed and missed. I was going to give up, but I am very stubborn so I kept at it, and all of a sudden- it all made sense. Body posteur, wind, speed and distance all came together. Pahhh…plink, yeah!!! I hit it. Try again, Pahhh…plink. Alright, now I’m having fun.
In my opinion there are many reasons why people might want to own a gun.
1. security
2. sport
3. collectors
4. up too no good
5. just to give the finger to the “MAN”
To finish my story, I never new anyone who owned a gun who wasn’t up to no good. I believe gun owner ship in the Latino community is very low because there is this equation that links guns to thugs and people who are up to no good (not including the police).
I have bought a few firearms and regularly visit gun ranges indoor and outdoor. It is a nice sport and I have gotten pretty good at skeet shooting (clay pigeons). Even better is the smell of gun powder, it smells better than a fourth of July fireworks show.
Gracias Pachuco 3000 great subject,
Caxcan
“The firearms that were present at the time were: AK 47, SKS, M1, Winchester 30-06, 8mm Carbine riffle, a couple of shotguns, several 22 riffles, 9mm, .22 and .38 caliber pistals.”
Wow. You knew all that having never used a gun before at the time? You’ve got a good attention span.
Rob,
“Wow. You knew all that having never used a gun before at the time? You’ve got a good attention span.”
I would like to correct you. I KNOW all that having never used a gun before… Yes, I do have a good attention span, I pay attention. That is why it frustates me when people speak nonsense, they waist my time and everyone elses.
i remember the first time i went, it tripped me out seeing how parents brought their kids. The kids were barely tall enough to look over the table, but still firing guns, including one with a shot gun.
The Second Amendment to the Constitution of the US declares each citizen’s right to keep and bear arms. Knowing their names and freely describing the sensations of firing them is an added perk, Rob Thomas.
i remember the first time i went shooting over 20 years ago and i can still remember every firearm we had there.
Do they still have that target up on the wall that Cypress Hill shot up and signed? I haven’t been there in about a year plus. If you want to shoot military ammo, your best bet is to hit up a friend with the guns you want to shoot with and hit the Angeles Crest range, because these dudes charge A LOT if you want to take an AK or other similar firearms. I think it’s like $0.50 per round for something like a 7.62X39. They use soft-tip ammo, which makes sense because of the type of range it is (indoor). I remember asking about that @ the counter one time to see if I could take my SKS in there and went “Psst, Nah Ey!”
I’ve always supported the 2nd amendment. And I can perfectly understand why someone who lives in a violent area would want a gun in their home, just in case. But some of these guys in the sticks, or in relatively safe suburbs, get a little scary with their gun enthusiasm. These reports of people scrambling to buy guns since Obama’s election tells me that there are some terrorist movements in the works out there amongst people who want us to believe they just merely enjoy having guns. And yes, there’s nothing hypocritical about me applying the term terrorist to them because they are willing to commit acts of violence to make a political statement. If the term seems to be extreme, imagine, if you will, left wing groups having scrambled to buy guns when Bush was, well, I would say elected, but more like put into the presidential office by the supreme court. The feds would have been on their shit, asap. People defending themselves for practical purposes is the reason why I support the 2nd amendment. But these nut jobs overreacting to an election that didn’t go their way is unfortunately a liability that comes with that right.
what about this reason:
6. childish adult
Alienation,
Sure maybe a childish adult will want to purchase a firearm. There are many childish adults that do and buy different things, for entertainment and/or hobbies such as, fishing, painting, antique car restoration, etc. It is good to have a little bit of a childish spirit in all of us. Or, else we would be lame and borring.
Alienation,
There is one more way to interpret your statement. If you are insinuating that I am childish for using firearms, Then I would strongly disagree with your statement, because were I come from we do not allow children to play with guns. What type of morals and values would you have?
How’s this for childish,
Next time I’m out camping I will see what a shotgun slug can do to a box of granola bars.
Caxcan – That little stunt will produce a nicely dispersed feeding for the birds and squirrels. But be sure and police the paper.
I think this new gun thing that people are into is a bit creepy. Guns kill people. Guns are violent. Guns are not ok. These are of course all my opinions and I’m not going to judge people and their hobbies, but I just want to go on record of saying I don’t like this new gun fad that seems to be going around LA.
How is fun to go around and pretend to shoot living things, the targets (from looking at the above) are supposed to be people, why is it fun to kill pretend people? If it’s not about killing people then why are the targets in the shapes of people. What is that supposed to mean, why can’t they just have targets with numbers, so it could be a score or a game, people should never be used as targets at these gun ranges. It’s sick, sick, sick.
Browne