Skip to main content

Gun Club, Guntry Club

Gun Club, Guntry Club

Frisco Gun ClubOne of the defining recent developments in the shooting sports has been the "guntry club." That term, apparently coined by NRA online commentator Colion Noir, denotes a very luxurious shooting facility in a large urban area that offers the sort of amenities golfers have enjoyed for years at country clubs: comfy lounges, food and drink, pro shop, locker rooms, professional instruction, etc.

This is generally thought to be a good thing that marks the mainstreaming of the shooting sports, especially in the sense of appealing to new constituencies like women and urbanites. Bringing the buying of guns and the shooting of them under one roof is Marketing 101: what better place to sell a gun than a place you can immediately shoot it?

But nothing is ever gained without something else being lost, and what is passing away is gun culture the way I knew it as a young man. Gun culture in the 1960s or 70s had a smell. Musty surplus web gear. Hoppe's No. 9 and Rem-Oil. GI bore cleaner. Tobacco products of all types. Maybe a bit of mold.

It had a look, too. Blued steel and walnut, not matte aluminum and plastic. Olive drab, not camo. Canvas, not polyester. Leather, not Cordura. Paper boxes, not plastic clam packs. Florescent, not LED. .357 Mag., not 9mm. Bolt-action, not semi-auto. Tarawa, not Kabul.

And there were social norms. Just walking in with money bought you nothing. Acceptance was granted cautiously, but once earned, was unconditional. Shooting was a brotherhood, with "brother" being the operative term. To join the gun community was like joining the Masons or the Elks. There were rituals and initiations. It wasn't for everyone, especially women.

The range was a day trip someplace way off in the country, down narrow two-lane roads. Facilities were modeled on something the Army built in World War II. You shot under the open sky, and you learned by doing or maybe with the help of some gruff old Marine or Army vet who volunteered. Paid instruction? Unheard of. Keeping up the range was everyone's job, and you took your turn mowing or pulling pits or running matches. A community, governing itself, worked together. The occasional shoutfest or fistfight was just part of the "governing itself."

Learning came slowly, at the feet of men who'd done it themselves or by poring through stacks of the American Rifleman or Shotgun News. Authority came only by earning it face to face, not through snappy comments on some web forum. I was fortunate to be in a club with men like the late Walter Walsh, who'd shot in the Olympics and served in the FBI. You can't learn the things he taught on the Internet.

That gun culture is passing away, and maybe it's just as well that it does. The guntry club sells shooting the way Americans in the 21st century expect it to be sold. A building the size of a Walmart tells the public that shooting is big business and it's here to stay. Offering a wide variety of merchandise and professional instruction welcomes the new shooter who hasn't grown up in the culture, paving the way for a larger and more prosperous industry. Getting women and other groups involved is essential to us, from both the business and political standpoints.

People are too busy for clubs anymore: jobs demand extra hours; kids demand soccer games. Better just to pay someone to provide your shooting environment. Shooting facilities that are profit-making businesses can stand up better to the legal and environmental challenges any range faces these days. And they can operate on sound business principles, not the manias and phobias of a club membership.

So I'm all for more guntry clubs. They provide people what they need, and what they need has changed in 40 years.

But banging away with an AR in some indoor range is never going to be quite the same as feeling a soft morning breeze wafting over you and hearing birds chirp as you train a Model 70 on a 600-yard target. Just paying the man is not the same as running a match yourself. Sawing away on a clam pack is not the same as popping open a crisp pasteboard box.

Time passes. Things are gained. Others are lost. See you at the guntry club.

Recommended





GET THE NEWSLETTER Join the List and Never Miss a Thing.

Recommended Articles

Recent Videos

The Howa line of rifles from Legacy Sports is fairly diverse and available in a wide array of configurations, styles and...
Guns

Aero Precision M4E1 Pro Rifle

The Howa line of rifles from Legacy Sports is fairly diverse and available in a wide array of configurations, styles and...
Guns

Dr. Dabbs Goes Ape! A Video Review of the Gorilla M1 Carbine from the Original Planet of the Apes!

The Howa line of rifles from Legacy Sports is fairly diverse and available in a wide array of configurations, styles and...
Guns

Pioneer Arms .22 LR Trainer AK Rifle

The Howa line of rifles from Legacy Sports is fairly diverse and available in a wide array of configurations, styles and...
Guns

Pioneer Arms GROM 7.62x39 AK Rifle

The Howa line of rifles from Legacy Sports is fairly diverse and available in a wide array of configurations, styles and...
Gear

Federal's “Punch” line of Personal Protection Ammunition

The Howa line of rifles from Legacy Sports is fairly diverse and available in a wide array of configurations, styles and...
Guns

KelTec's new KSG410 and R50!

The Howa line of rifles from Legacy Sports is fairly diverse and available in a wide array of configurations, styles and...
Gear

Liberty Ammunition

The Howa line of rifles from Legacy Sports is fairly diverse and available in a wide array of configurations, styles and...
Guns

Springfield Armory 9mm Saint AR15

The Howa line of rifles from Legacy Sports is fairly diverse and available in a wide array of configurations, styles and...
Guns

Rock River Arms New ARs

The Howa line of rifles from Legacy Sports is fairly diverse and available in a wide array of configurations, styles and...
Guns

MKS 10mm Hi-Point Pistol

The Howa line of rifles from Legacy Sports is fairly diverse and available in a wide array of configurations, styles and...
Guns

Magpul FDP-9

The Howa line of rifles from Legacy Sports is fairly diverse and available in a wide array of configurations, styles and...
Guns

Legacy Sports New Howa Rifles

Firearms News Magazine Covers Print and Tablet Versions

GET THE MAGAZINE Subscribe & Save

Digital Now Included!

SUBSCRIBE NOW

Give a Gift   |   Subscriber Services

PREVIEW OUR CURRENT ISSUE

Buy Digital Single Issues

Magazine App Logo

Don't miss an issue.
Buy single digital issue for your phone or tablet.

Get the Firearms News App apple store google play store

Other Magazines

See All Other Magazines

Special Interest Magazines

See All Special Interest Magazines

GET THE NEWSLETTER Join the List and Never Miss a Thing.

Get the top Firearms News stories delivered right to your inbox.

Phone Icon

Get Digital Access.

All Firearms News subscribers now have digital access to their magazine content. This means you have the option to read your magazine on most popular phones and tablets.

To get started, click the link below to visit mymagnow.com and learn how to access your digital magazine.

Get Digital Access

Not a Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Enjoying What You're Reading?

Get a Full Year
of Guns & Ammo
& Digital Access.

Offer only for new subscribers.

Subscribe Now

Never Miss a Thing.

Get the Newsletter

Get the top Firearms News stories delivered right to your inbox.

By signing up, I acknowledge that my email address is valid, and have read and accept the Terms of Use