American Shooting Center

[Dennis David]

I would like to think of myself as having an open mind on 2nd amendment rights. I am also contemplating purchasing a firearm for myself. I had some free time this Saturday and decided to stop by the American Shooting Center, bad decision. When I asked the person manning the counter how I could get started. He asked me if I was by myself. Well since my home is in Northern California and I am working down in San Diego I answered yes. Well that seemed to have set some red flags as he announced that I could not rent a gun because I needed to be accompanied by someone else. Since I am over 5o this seemed a little strange I asked the person why this was required and he would only say that it was store policy and did not appear to want to discuss it any further.

In that brief 5 min exchange he lost a rental customer and a potential $1200 sale. In fact I wonder if I want to even bother getting a gun if I have to deal with people the likes of him who seem openly hostile to anyone wishing to get involved for the first time even though I am a veteran who has fired a fair amount of weapons.

[sdnative]

I have had a negative experience there as well. Not related to renting a firearm, but just trying to educate myself about a few things. I had a positive experience with Discount Gun Mart. I have purchased a firearm at the location on Morena Blvd and inquired about renting handguns to try at the Santee store. Very nice people. In fact the guy in Santee gave me the full tour of their lanes and showed me their selection of rental handguns.

[ssc]

I have never been to ASC, but I will venture a guess. In the last few years there have been a few suicides completed by this method. Walk into a gun/gun rental store and rent a gun and then go into the firing range and then---well, you get the picture. This is just a guess.

Regards, Steve

[smslavin]

Dennis,

I stopped into Iron Sights Range in Oceanside a couple of days ago. I went in with a bit of apprehension as I've never owned a firearm either. The guy that I talked to was very helpful and informative. I told him what I was looking for and why and he recommend several weapons along with their basic safety class. He also talked me out of a few that I had been interested in based on some reading of the interwebs. I'm going to go next Friday evening for the class then go back and rent a few to try and find what fits me the best.

Steve has been a fantastic resource as well.

[Dennis David]

Thanks,

Let me check them out. What a sad place to go if you are worried about somebody using your business to kill themselves. That never even entered my mind except maybe wanting to kill the salesperson.

[BlueFJ]

I've been to both ranges and (IMHO) ASC sucks compared to Iron Sights. I've only been to ASC once or twice but have been to Iron Sight many times. Unfortunately, the suicide thing happens at ranges. Fortunately, never while I've been at one.

[Wintermute]

Iron Sights has the same policy in effect, it's unfortunate that the actions of a few mentally disturbed individuals can have such a negative impact on a lot of others introduction to a great hobby.

[ssc]

Personally, I try to stay away from indoor ranges. Look at all the bullet holes up, down and left and right. I am a bit paranoid and when I can't see and or moniter everyone, I get nervous. They do have their place and can be convienent. As I have offered in the past, if anyone wants to come up to the Riverside area, I am happy to bring out a few guns. We go through a safety intro, gun info, basic marksmanship and some tactics. This is done on an outdoor range. There is an IPSC shoot that anyone can participate in as well. I can give the info for IPSC if interested. There are IPSC matches around the San Diego area as well.

Regards, Steve

[WA4DQS]

Dennis, I'm going to go next Friday evening for the class then go back and rent a few to try and find what fits me the best.

Good thinking! Thanks for wanting to train properly. I grew up with firearms, thoroughly trained by my military father. I often lament these days about un-trained firearm owners & users. I've had a couple interesting, even life-threatening experiences around such folks. That's the main reason I don't go to shooting ranges.

Stay sharp and enjoy the process!