Magic_Man said:
I think it's stupid. I just want to go to the range & shoot when I have the time. I don't have time to clean, attend meetings, etc. I clean up my brass when I'm done. That should be enough.
Then go to a for-profit range, meaning a business, and go shoot there at the half-hour rental rates.
Gun clubs are clubs. They're not for-profit, they are NON-for-profit entities.
It's impossible to answer the original poster's question without knowing more about the local conditions.
When I lived in Maryland there were two non-for-profit clubs in the entire county, which is one of the most populous counties in Maryland. Membership at one ran a couple hundred dollars a year. Expenses were high, because Maryland is an anti-gun state.
Here in PA, memberships generally run from $35.00 per year to as much as $100.00 a year, again depending on the club. Some have more expenses than others.
I know a little bit about what it takes to run gun clubs. Different clubs try to address their issues in different ways. Some rely more on volunteer time to keep the place up. Some don't have much success in volunteerism and make mandatory work days. Others don't find either successful and just charge more to the membership.
As far as sponsorship goes, you guys have to understand that when you join a private club, you literally get the keys to the door, and many times at the non-for-profits you're there completely unsupervised. Often you also get some sort of voting rights within the organization, meaning you have a right to determine how club money is spent, the by-laws, etc.
You'll have to forgive these places if they want to know who you are and what sort of member you'll be before you get those priviledges.
