Stupid? Shooting Range Ammo Restrictions in S. Florida

[sig228]

Entertaining post over on af15.com addressing this exact matter. Here's the link:

http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=8&f=10&t=353854

By the way, some places such as Ace's DO let you shoot your own ammo, but charge a different (higher) range fee if you have ANY of your own ammo in your bag.



Unfortunately, most gun shops down here are run by a bunch of hot headed clowns who love to rip you off. A few dealers who are outside the mold are:

National Gun ( on W. Flagler). Great deals + great people.
Stone Hart Manufacturing (in W. Kendall) Great deals, great people, but limited inventory.
Lou's in Hialeah offers some pretty good deals, but the salespeople leave something to be desired. Buy an extra gun while you are there just to get yourself out of Dodge.

 

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SFLA Gun Stores

Numa -

Hello from Miami-Dade. I wanted to give you a quick rundown of our ranges and shops, and my recommendations:

Ranges:

2 that I frequent, Aces Indoor Range and Big Al's, both allow BYOA (Bring Your Own Ammo). Big Al's is cheaper, Ace's is nicer facilities (but worse staff IMHO).

Gun Stores:

Interstate Armory - A very big round of applause to a new gun store that opened up on US1 and SW 27th Avenue, "Interstate Armory". Brand new (less than a month) these guys are honest, young, dedicated, and best of all, their prices are dirt cheap. They compete and even beat Lou's Police Supply by a small margin, and Lou's is an icon in Florida for their low low prices. Glock magazines are $24, for example - cheaper than 99% of the places on the internet and other gun stores, and no shipping costs!. Great store!

Security Arms International - Another great store, kinda smallish and a bit more expensive than Interstate (+2%, no biggie) but a very good staff as well. Good resource for gunsmithing and AR's.

Miami Police Supply - I have bought a gun here, once I walked in and was totally ignored, the next time I was treated like a king when I came in having set aside an item on the phone. I kind of like the store, but there are better.

National Gun - Someone else in this thread recommended them - my experience has been very negative, I walked in a few months ago with cash to burn (I am young, look almost teenagerish but very clean-cut) and they completely ignored me. Went back 3 or 4 times before calling it quits with the store. Have since bought 5 pistols (2 Glock, 1 Steyr, 1 Walther, etc) and a Mossberg 500 - a lot of missed revenue for that store! So, at least for me, a thumbs down.


Hope this helped - and eventually some genius will open his own range in WPB and kill the competition. Let's hope that is soon!

 

[chuckusaret]

Now I just need to find a Pawn Shop to do the transfer. For some reason, it seems the Pawnshops in WPB don't deal in guns

Yes, Willie's Bait and Tackle in the 200 block of US1 Lake Park

Tell him Chuck sent you

1-800-2-willie

http://williesbait.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv

 

[Jframe.38]

This sounds like tying/bundling under anti-trust law. I'd hire a good attorney.

Tying and bundling products and services like this in an anti-competitive manner is a per se violation of anti-trust statutes.

To me the fact pattern seems simple they bundle a service (range fee) with an anti-competitive above market price product (ammunition) and they try to artificially become the market by denying your ability to take in a substantially identical product at a lower price. This is illegal, and I think that you and all similiarly situated shooters should hire an attorney and sue under federal anti-trust statutes.

Although this hyperlink below refers to intellectual property bundling/tying the definitions and law are applicable here: http://www.usdoj.gov/atr/public/hearings/ip/chapter_5.htm

 

[barnetmill]

Oh, and the gun shops that are located in Florida are largely crooked. ...

Crooked means dishonest. Very strong language. This is america and I am sure you can find someone that you can do business with. In NW FL I mainly deal with one shop since I have known the guy for 20 years, he gets anything that I want (It means that he will go the extra mile to make a sale) and his prices are at least as good as anyone elses.

 

[Vonderek]

The only range where I experienced that was in Palm Beach County. They explained that it was a county ordinance. I have never been forced to purchase the range's ammo at any range in Miami-Dade and Broward counties.

 

[stevemis]

There was a shop on 441 called Guns and Knives Inc (I think?). IIRC it was in the Northern Broward Co. area and the owner was named Steve. I *think* he had another store nextdoor ... a realty office?

It's been a very long time (early 1990s) but he was a stand-up guy when I dealt with him.

 

[TheFallGuy]

I am on a waiting list to join a "private" range. My main reason is that they do CMP competitions there. Most ranges are pretty relaxed. Pay $10 or so for unlimited time... The only ammo they outlaw is aluminum cased stuff-never seen aluminum cases in my life.

If it wasn't for the CMP stuff I would just shoot on my private land (I don't like range officers).