Disturbing Trend: The Rise of Luxury Gun Clubs

[Jefferson23]

* I was going to cross post this in GD, but I'm not sure it would
be allowed.

March 12, 2014 |



Upscale gun clubs, or "guntry" clubs" are sprouting up all over

Call it the future of country clubs nationwide; call it excess for excess' sake. Whatever you call it, "guntry clubs," as they’ve been dubbed, are become all the rage.

Replacing the typical shooting range, luxury gun clubs have become a state-of-the-art space where wealthy lovers of that Second Amendment right to bear arms can exercise their much-beloved freedoms in a well-appointed space.

“We don’t want to just hand them a gun and just say ‘here,’” Mike Pryor, general manager of Lock & Load Miami, a high-class gun club that finds ambiance to be on equal footing with ammunition, told Yahoo News. “We make it an experience. We want them to get some real-world-type training.”

A retired Miami Beach police officer, Pryor told Yahoo! News that the rise in popularity of gun clubs is thanks to a general re-understanding of what it is people enjoy about weaponry. It’s more than just for defense; it’s an entire sensory experience. “We’re in the middle of an entertainment area,” he explains. “We’re an entertainment complex, if you will.”

http://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties/disturbing-trend-rise-luxury-gun-clubs

[upaloopa]

1. I know just how they feel. The first time in Vietnam I got

to shoot our 50 cal on our APC I got a thrill.
It left me fast when I realized there would be others shooting back some time.

[rdharma]

2. Jives, pass me my gatt!

[Hoyt]

3. Just what we need a bunch of wealthy, gun loving bigots getting together for entertainment.

Here's an ad from Lock and Load Miami, showing folks shooting targets resembling humans--



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Of course, we've had these type militia clubs for a long time, and who can forget the Klan.

[Jefferson23]

5. I know, I don't understand the attraction, but it's there.

Thanks for the pics.

[Paladin]

4. If these places catch on, watch for live pigeon shoots to make a comeback.

Just because such sick shooting activities are widely banned doesn't mean they won't be available. All it takes is money.

[HALO141]

6. Disturbing?

Why does it make a difference to you whether or not the shooting experience is a bucolic one? Is it just that such facilities make it marginally more difficult to paint gun owners and shooters as toothless rednecks or sociopaths?

[Jefferson23]

7. Who said it was a bucolic experience anywhere it's done?

Not me.

I have no idea what the attraction is for gun owners, this caught my interest due to
the elite configuration of the group...or so they present themselves as such.

[SecularMotion]

8. Blocking for violating the SOP

Statement of Purpose

Discuss how to enact progressive gun control reform in a supportive environment. The group serves as a safe haven in which to mobilize supporters in support of measures reducing gun violence by changing laws, culture and practice at the municipal, state, and federal levels. While there is no single solution to the tragic epidemic of gun violence, members agree that more guns are not the solution to gun violence, and are expected to be supportive of the policies of progressive gun control reform organizations.

If you want to defend gun owners who are toothless rednecks or sociopaths, the gungeon is the correct forum

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=forum&id=1172

[arst1]

9. Please explain to me why this is a bad thing?

It's exactly like an exclusive country club for golfers, but for people of means with guns. Would I want to go shoot here? Hell no! I'm perfectly happy off in the woods or in my buddies back yards shooting targets as opposed to going to some hoity toity place for people with more money then sense looking for a status symbol.

Another thing, from a post above, about the targets that are shaped like humans. That is the standard for most firing ranges around the country, as well as quite a few shooting competitions. It's just the way it is. It's not people going out to shoot targets that look like humans, specifically for the purpose of shooting a human shaped target. It's what they have on hand, so they use them. Most weapon sights are designed around placing a round center mass. As someone who shoots regularly, it's much harder to hit a classic "bullseye" on a target, ie; a round target, then it is to place a round center of mass on a paper target that happens to be shaped like a human. There's nothing malicious, evil or inherently violent about using that type of target. It would be the same idea as using a funny target printed out to look like a zombie.

Shooting isn't something bad. It's a hobby and a sport that people enjoy as well as an incredibly perishable skill. If you don't practice, practice, practice, your skill in the sport will deteriorate back to square one. Something that they teach in the military is the "1% mindset". You practice and train 99% of the time so in the 1% time that you actually have to use the skill that you've practiced and trained on, you'll be ready, be that hunting, competing or needing to defend yourself from an attacker. Do I condone taking of a life? NO! Not in the slightest. But if it were come down to either someone threatening bodily harm to myself, a loved one or even a random stranger, or the person that might do them harm, I'm going to choose putting said attacker down on the ground in the fastest, most effective way possible. When lives count, seconds matter.

[SecularMotion]

10. You're in the wrong group

This group is a safe haven for support of gun control legislation.

The open gun forum is here -

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=forum&id=1172

[Jefferson23]

11. Hello, welcome to DU. Your opening statement describes the concerns of the OP.

Is it only about learning to shoot a gun properly, understanding the mechanism etc?
No, I don't think so...I see these elite clubs as a further investment Americans make
in guns as entertainment..guns as glorified and fun! I don't understand the fascination
and I am not asking for these clubs to be band from existence.

The OP is posted for exposure and as an example of Americans fascination with guns...and a special
place for the elite among them.

[billh58]

12. Another screen name, but the

same old tune. Welcome back Bubba...