10 Years ago the Supreme Court ruled that DCs ban on handguns was unconstitutional, since then numerous laws in the district have been thrown out but you can’t find anyone willing to say that DC is a pro-2A place.
Range options are limited inside of DC but more may soon be available as one Walker Lunn is looking to build one in the Chinatown area. Lunn has spoken with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives as well as the DC Police in order to get approval for his club. Lunn said that the paperwork and laws are all moving in his favor, this means that DC may soon have another gun range.
Lunn is hoping to avoid the tactical design of a lot of modern ranges and is instead opting for a more classic appearance with a “French Countryside feeling.” Lunn told the Washington Post that “We don’t want to create an experience that is about combat. I want to bring it back to that French countryside feeling. You’ve got your fresh quail, your cheese and your wine. It creates a whole new perspective.”
The Washington Post’s Petula Dvorak is not as optimistic about the idea of opening a new gun range in the city. From his Washington Post Article:
“For me, shooting sports is heritage and tradition, something passed down through my family,” said Lunn, who grew up in New Jersey shooting quail with a double-barreled shotgun. “Because of that, it was never a political issue.”
And I get that. The smell of sage will always bring me back to shooting jack rabbits with my dad in the Nevada desert. My Czech air rifle is still in my old bedroom, a full can of Crosman .177 pellets waiting.
There is nostalgia and history around guns, sure. Sorry, “shooting sports.” Lunn, like many other responsible, recreational gun owners, asks that I use shooting sports rather than guns.
… The problem is, America’s gun culture needs more than an image makeover. There are nearly 400 million guns in circulation in our nation of just 328 million people (and just 5.8 million quail).
Our culture has changed; the use of guns has changed. In a nation where 31,606 people have died by gunfire — in homicides and suicides — already this year, I don’t think of that sweet smell of sage in the desert with my dad. I can only think of the unshakable stench of death.
Like many gun grabbers, Dvorak is under the impression that guns are to blame for the recent rise in violence but somehow believes that this is the worst it has ever been. Crime was even worse in the 80s and 90s, today’s spike still doesn’t come close to these periods in terms of crime and violence. The argument made, that things were better back then and now we have a problem because more guns are being sold, is a delusional one.
The second part of the argument made by Dvorak is that the creation of this gun range will lead to more gun violence. This is nonsensical, the only thing this will lead to is more concealed carry in the district.
