Liberty University to become first U.S. college with an on-campus firing range

[Paul7]

Hillsdale has a gun range, and they also have gun shows on campus.

 

[Odd Job]

I don't know about universities but the high school I went to in South Africa had a rifle range on the premises with various bolt 22s for prone shooting. I used that range (it was part of the cadet module in the curriculum). That was back in 1989. That same year we fired 88mm howitzers at some buses on a nearby artillery range.

 

[Sunray]

May be the first one in Lynchburg VA, but a very long way from the first. High schools up here had ranges before I got that far more than 40 years ago. Mind you, they were also closed before I got that far.
University of Guelph has had one for eons too. Used to be and may still be a university level league.

 

[herrwalther]

"
Liberty University to become first U.S. college with an on-campus firing range"

I absolutely hate headlines like this for being deliberately misleading. My Alma Mater built an indoor rifle range on campus sometime in the 1950's that was designed to handle full auto fire. It was closed around 1999 for "ventilation issues." And as others have also pointed out on this thread, other colleges had ranges before Liberty did.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

There must be some qualifiers tied to that claim of being "first". I got one of my degrees from Arkansas State University and they had an on-campus indoor rifle range for the rifle team to practice. Students were allowed to use it when the rifle team and ROTC students weren't using it, but they had to use rifles supplied by the university. Still, Liberty can't have been the first college to have an on-campus firing range if ASU (and many others) already had them in the 1960's. Liberty may be the first college to build an "NRA-approved range with facilities for rifle, pistol and three-gun", but it is certainly not the first college to have an on-campus firing range.

I went to Arkansas Tech, and they had an indoor rifle range -- I lettered on the Rifle Team. At the University of Oklahoma, I was also on the rifle team and was state Collegiate Champion in 1962.

 

[CapnMac]

In my time as an undergraduate at Texas A&M (78-83, there was a ratty range under the Military Science building. There was a full Olympics range under Kyle Field. There was also a rather under-fitted range (but with a huge berm) out at the Riverside Campus (former Bryan Army Air Field).
The latter range has been given rather an extensive makeover; but, is also limited access needing approval by Law Enforcement and Security Training, a branch of the Texas Engineering Extension Service.

The Kyle Field range went away with the last renovation; but I do not know where the facilities have moved to. The U's Rifle Team practices just down the road in Snook.

 

[Darkhorse]

Last night (Jan. 3), the Campbell county supervisors unanimously approved the use permit for the gun range.

Some local newscasters had seemingly been trying to stir up opposition, but there was none.

 

[Milt1]

I wish every college and university had a weapons training program where students could get the training and either shoot on campus or at a near-by range. My bet is that this one be one class that would fill up quickly.

 

[entropy]

I went to the University of Minnesota, and there was range in the Armory. We shot Winchester 52's, High Standard .22 pistols, (not sure which model), and M16A1's with Atchisson devices.

 

[hso]

X,

The claim is simply conflated since many members have shot pistol, rifle and shotgun on university ranges.

 

[Tirod]

Add Missouri Southern State "University" in Joplin. They have had a pistol and small bore rifle range in a building since the 1980's. ROTC used it along with the Police Academy, and when CCW became legal then qualifications were held there by instructors using the facility.

Yes, some anti gunner with a pen and no background knowledge obviously wrote the piece as if the American educational landscape has been traumatically changed for the worse. They only outed their own ignorance, which is far more common.

 

[X-Rap]

The article was poorly written but to be clear, I can not think of a more gun friendly campus than the one the article describes.
Guns in dorms, CCW encouraged, three gun competition range. Plenty of schools have programs where the guns must be cased and stored in an armory when not in use.
Show me schools that encourage gun ownership and I'll be impressed with that small bore range in the basement.