Shooting Range Birthday Parties

A new gun range opening this summer in Lewisville, Texas, will have two rooms available for hosting children’s birthday parties. Owner David Prince tells WFAA that the Eagle Gun Range will be available for children as young as eight years old.

Full Story – HERE

Why not, right?  As long as the safety measures are as good as they make them sound in the video then I really don’t see the down side.

I’m assuming these kids won’t be shooting .50 BMGs and Deagles… but I could be wrong.

I just know some little shithead troll is going to show up with a Trayvon Martin target and it will be all over the news.

Thoughts? Do you think guns should be separate from a “party” atmosphere, regardless how much supervision there is?

Hat tip: John H.


Comments

19 responses to “Shooting Range Birthday Parties”

  1. Vhyrus Avatar

    The moment 1 kid gets a freaking paper cut at that place the media will be on it like locusts. I definitely do not want to be the claims adjuster for that place.

  2. A few thoughts come to mind… I would hate to be there trying to shoot when a party of screaming kids comes into the range. Also, let’s hand all the young kids deagles and 500’s like they do in florida.

  3. god i wish those martin targets were still around, i’d buy one

    1. Phil C Avatar

      ide buy a pack of them :D

  4. Jason Avatar

    I think this can work successfully. My brother and I were taught to shoot by our Grandfather, a gunsmith, when we were both quite young (7-10).

    While we were normally quite rambunctious as children, NOTHING made us act seriously and composed like real firearms. It’s all about the education that they are not toys and they are serious business.

    For my brother-in-law’s bachelor party, we started the night with a trip to the range and then went out and got hammered. The range was one of the most fun parts. I think the same should go for these “parties”. Take them to the range first, THEN get them all sugar high :-p

  5. It’s a good way to teach them. I see nothing wrong with it.

  6. ironchef Avatar
    ironchef

    This is an outstanding avenue to restore lost gun culture. I’m sure the party rooms are separate from the shooting stalls, in fact, they would have to be to keep the toxic atmosphere separate, and probably sound proofed. As long as the shooting bays are controlled and safety managed like at most indoor ranges I’ve seen, it should be a great experience. This won’t be like Chuck E Cheese (but with guns), it’ll be two controlled environments..and be expensive no doubt. Insurance should be fun to pay for.

  7. Great. It’s on Yahoo. The comment section should fill my afternoon with stupidity.

  8. Rob C. Avatar

    I think this is a great way for kids to have fun with firearms in a well-monitored setting. If your kid wanted to go shooting with his friends for his birthday (and you don’t have these kind of facilities), it’s up to you to monitor all 10 kids. You’d have to do 1 shooter at a time (while the other 9 start horsing around because they’re bored) so you’d still have to make sure all the others aren’t crossing the firing line etc. Just because your kid knows how to handle a gun safely, doesn’t mean his friends do. It would be a nightmare. A facility like this takes all stress away. You have 1:1 monitoring for each kid in a controlled environment.

    I don’t think there’s anything mutually exclusive about firearms and a party setting. I feel like some people are insistent that appreciating the “seriousness” of shooting a firearm and “respecting” it means you’re not allowed to have fun while shooting it (slight exaggeration but you know what I’m getting at). I shoot on private property, and while I smostly shoot more seriously at a steel plate at 100 meters or more, I do a lot of >30 yard plinking at soda cans, etc. Plenty of bumpfiring, mag-dumps, soda-shooting competitions w/ friends, left-handed shooting, etc. When I’m doing this I’m not honing my marksmanship skills or “training,” I’m essentially playing with guns (feeling the noise, the recoil, and watching a soda can blow up). It’s fun. My friends and I ALWAYS observe the basic safety principles while shooting. I’m not saying I would shoot like this in front of young children or encourage them to do the same, I’m just saying that as long as basic safety rules are rigidly adhered to, guns and a party can go together.

  9. How about a thing of tannerite to replace each candle? Not on the cake of course….

  10. I’m really waiting to see a concern from anti-gunners that are actually valid, and not based purely out of emotion or latent maternal instinct, or that excludes responsible owners. Also, can’t say I’m impressed with Channel 8’s (I’m from DFW) coverage on this one. The mom in the video assumes that children are left to themselves to be educated on firearms as if due to culture/tv/movies/games, the kids are NOT going to be able to tell the difference. The whole point of the gun range is for that very reason, a controlled environment where the gun is in fact, very respected. That’s about as gun control as it gets. She also falsely assumes that the gun is focal point of the party, versus the activity of shooting. Two very different mindsets that even an 8-year old can decipher in the proper environment (ex: a shooting range).

  11. Soless Avatar

    It can work. It works at a local range. There is a separate classroom building without lanes. Parties, instruction, food vending takes place here. A short 30 feet away is the covered outdoor .22lr range for the kids to focus on shooting. There aren’t chaotic little kids running around creating safety hazards. Activities are separated. It’s really easy and safe. It could be handled in the same fashion all in one building as long as the rooms are separated from the lanes maybe with a lounge/pro shop as a buffer. Not a big deal. Remember when shooting galleries actually used rifles chamber in .22lr? Once upon a time Disneyland did too.

  12. Of course they had to throw the mom in there…. This is a great idea.

  13. mike m. Avatar
    mike m.

    On my last birthday me and my buddies from work went and rented machine guns, best birthday party I had in a long time. They allow kids at all the ranges I go to so I don’t see the big deal. I think they look a little older than 8 but I have seen some 10 year olds shooting centerfire pistols for sure.

    Only once did I have an issue and there was a single mom with 3 boys and girl and her youngest was muzzle sweeping me with a single shot cricket rifle. He was waiting in the sun for a lane to open up and just didn’t realize he was pointing it down range. I went over and talked to them and it was fine after that.

  14. Yolanda Avatar

    What a great ideal!! I’m looking for something like this for my son’s 16th Birthday. I see no problem as long as safety is taught. Truth be told what happened to Trayvion would he have been a white child, Hispanic ,Asian or any race that Zimmerman felt was lower class and should not have been in that neighborhood. That case was abpot a LITTLE MAN, that wanted to feel superior to anyone! He was not taught gun safety, Texas children are taught to never point a gun at anyone and keep it on safety. I think the gun range party is a good ideal.

    1. I’m just trying to figure out how you are jumping from your kid’s birthday party to the Zimmerman case.

      Where is the connection and why are you bringing it up?

      1. ENDO-Mike Avatar
        ENDO-Mike

        haha yea I didnt get that either. The comment is legit too, not backlink spam or anything fishy.

  15. Yolanda Avatar

    This comment was at the top of the page
    “I just know some little shithead troll is going to show up with a Trayvon Martin target and it will be all over the news.”
    That’s how I went from a birthday party to The Zimmerman case!

    1. Ok. I re-read right past it. But there was no reason to bring it up. ;-)