Odd question about firing range rules

Status
Not open for further replies.
L

LennyB

Member
Joined
Oct 1, 2007
Messages
4
Hi folks,

I'm a newbie, both on the forum and with shooting in general. So bear with me if this question seems stupid...

First, some background: I live in British Columbia, where firearms are highly regulated; I've taken the requisite firearms safety course, and applied for a Possession and Acquisition license, which can take upwards of 2 months to process. So I'm currently in a slightly frustrating limbo where I can't yet buy a gun, and none of the ranges near me have guns to rent.

I'm going to be in the Seattle area soon for a trip, and thought that it would be fun to drop by a range while I'm down there. I looked around, found one that rents guns, and called them. The guy told me that they will only rent guns to people who bring their own guns to the range.

Huh? :confused:

I was confused by this, to say the least, but I couldn't get a coherent explanation out of the guy on the phone. Can anyone explain the reasoning behind this? Is this a common rule?

I thought half the point of having guns to rent was to give newbies like myself the chance to try a few out before plonking down several hundred dollars on our own firearm. Am I missing something really obvious?
 
That range isn't what you're looking for. Keep looking and you may find a range that's set up to rent. I have one just down the street here in LA and they have hundreds of pistols and several rifles to rent. It's a great way to try out different guns/calibers before you buy.
 
OPINION ONLY: In general, they want to make sure that if you were planning on doing something stupid/irrevocable that you could have done it with your own guns elsewhere anytime instead of with theirs, thereby minimizing the possibility of your doing something stupid/irrevocable at their facility.

There have been a few rare instances where the stupic/irrevocable thing was done with a rental gun at ranges because the party did not or could not own a firearm of his/her own.
 
Unfortunately rental ranges are sometimes sought out by those who want to commit suicide. A person comes in and rents a gun, buys some ammo, and then leaves a literal and emotional mess for everyone involved. All of the ranges in my area require a renter to bring his own gun or show up with a friend.

I figure ranges that don't have this rule, haven't had a suicide yet.
 
Lenny,

Too many ranges have had the experience of a person bent on suicide using the range's rental guns as the means of offing themselves. Seems folks who already own guns do not need to rent them for the sole purpose of committing suicide - or so the *thinking* goes.


stay safe.

skidmark
 
Last edited:
Quoting Telperion:

"Unfortunately rental ranges are sometimes sought out by those who want to commit suicide. A person comes in and rents a gun, buys some ammo, and then leaves a literal and emotional mess for everyone involved. All of the ranges in my area require a renter to bring their own gun or show up with a friend.

I figure ranges that don't have this rule, haven't had a suicide yet."


Oh, okay, that makes sense... I guess I'm not suicidal enough for that reason to have occurred to me!

Thanks for the VERY quick replies, folks! :)

I'll get on the range soon enough -- taking a handgun course next weekend. Can't wait, sounds like it's going to be fun...
 
In 1998, I was stationed on Okinawa with the Marines at Futenma. Camp Foster opened a indoor shooting range during that time. It was open only a week or two before a Marine went in, rented a handgun, walked outside to the base chapels lawn and blew his head off. The range promptly closed never to open again. I have never heard of another Marine base that had an indoor range simply to be used for recreation before that time or since. One Marine ruined it for all the rest. I believe that is what you are experiencing when you called around and had those stipulations put upon you.
 
Anti suicide is right, however often times if you go INTO the range in person speak with the owner and they realize that your not a danger to yourself they will let it slide.
 
Inquire about firearms classes. If you ahve never handled guns before, is rental really the angle you want? Rental price does not include showing the basics of safe firearm handling etc. While you personally have experience with a firearm, the policy makers do not.
 
look for the gun discussion board for Seattle or Washington.
You might be amazed how many people will invite you out to shoot using their guns.
Just pay for the ammo. All the ammo.

AFS
 
Well if you ask to speak with the range owner via phone , explain you are canadian and cannot bring a gun with you , but you will be there on such and such dates and would like to partake of the rentals . You will have a fair to great chance of having that requirement waived , folks dont pre plan suicides far , and correspondence ahead of time will tend to show that you have no ill intent at all . Its a business policy , not a legal requriement to bring a gun ( thus showing that you allready have means to do bad things and somewhat absolving the range from liability of renting to a nutcase )
 
I could be wrong here, but I believe it's against federal law for a non-citizen to buy ammo and/or possess a weapon without a valid hunting permit.
 
I could be wrong here, but I believe it's against federal law for a non-citizen to buy ammo and/or possess a weapon without a valid hunting permit.
Click to expand...

first i have heard of that , but i really wouldn't know if so i screwed up letting an aussie who came thro on harvest shoot an ar last summer .
 
first i have heard of that , but i really wouldn't know if so i screwed up letting an aussie who came thro on harvest shoot an ar last summer .
Click to expand...
That's something you might not want to be posting on public forums.
 
Baz its ok , Identifying me is easy enough , finding that aussie tho , and placeing him and myself togeather on any one day could be a problem .

Then you have the intent issue , I dont belive such a law would be strict liability .
 
Lenny, can you go WITH somebody?

Down here in the SF Bay area, they have the same anti-suicide concern and will not rent to a SOLO person who came in without weapons. But they will rent to a group. (Two people is a social gathering, not a suicide pact.)

(Obviously I can't speak for Washington's laws and practices, nor do I know anything about non-citizen related regulations, but maybe that hint can help you get past one hurdle. )

Fud
 
Hi Lenny,

The suicide reason has already been explored in depth so I won't continue with it. I will just remind you of the definition of "range rules" as simply put as I know how. They guy that owns the range gets to make the rules. Simply because only he knows how much risk he is willing to take on the actions of others.

Another thought though- should a person rent a handgun then run like a rabbit would the range people be charged it that person turned out to be a felon?

Selena
 
Actaully Finnerandr, Camp Lejeune has/had a shotgun range open when I was stationed there back in the 90's. I got out of the Navy in 99/2000 and it was still operational. I belonged to a range that was just down the road from the base so I never really investigated what was available there on base and I was there for quite a few years. I think though as far as rifle/pistol stuff went it was limited or not available.
 
Never had that issue in my home state but hell I guess if I still lived in CA I'd be suicidal. Its rather funny because with a firearm you arent guranteed to kill yourself where as a gentlemen who just starts his engine in his closed garage goes night night in 20 minutes.
 
I looked around, found one that rents guns, and called them. The guy told me that they will only rent guns to people who bring their own guns to the range.
Click to expand...

At least in NC, most of the places that also sell guns (in addition to having a range) will rent to anyone who takes a safety certification course.

The ranges that are not associated with a gun shop (private clubs, county ranges, etc.) don't rent.

Mike
 
Just look around for a different range. There is a range in Las Vegas that rents full auto guns and does a large portion of its business with foreigners. I helped a fellow from Spain operate a pistol he rented at a local range, because I spoke a little spanish and it made it easier on him rather than one of the employees do it all in english.
 
It's perfectly fine for a foreigner to go to a range and rent a gun to be used at that range. That is entirely different than SELLING or GIVING the gun to the foreigner. In California, and especially in places like Guam, a lot of Japanese tourists want to go to shooting ranges to try something they will NEVER get to do at home (handguns). Nothing even remotely wrong with that. The laws just don't allow foreigners to own firearms. Nothing about using someone else's at a range. Unsupervised shooting at a rural range w/o owner and/or transport would be another matter, however.

Then you get into the issue of those with green cards being able to purchase (just the same as citizens...).
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

K
  • Locked
Interesting Range Rules?
Replies
14
Views
1K
Monkeybear
M
M
  • Locked
Full Auto Ranges In Las Vegas?
Replies
22
Views
1K
Valkman
Valkman
Z
  • Locked
Orlando, FL: good public indoor ranges?
2
Replies
41
Views
5K
rodregier
R
E
  • Locked
rental range faux pas
Replies
9
Views
1K
Hardtarget
H
X
  • Locked
Looking for that first gun, but.........
2 3 4
Replies
76
Views
3K
Cosmoline
C
Back
Top