Take a visitor from outside the US to the Range

[Helocat]

About 5yrs ago I met Icebran from the Netherlands though my work. In talking with him he like several foreigners hear about guns in the US via the mainstream media. Guns are bad and those who use them are whacko nuts. He was surprised to hear I enjoyed shooting as I did not seem like a nut job to him. (his words) When I found out he had never fired a gun of any kind, I offered to take him out. He took me up on the offer.

I took him out into the forest to a safe area to shoot without other shooters blazing away. I also brought out my two older boys that at that time were 10 and 12 yrs old. He was shocked at the hardware we laid out to teach him how to shoot. (again his words) His was even more shocked when I proceeded to have my boys teach him how to handle, use trigger control, load and clear the first weapon a .22LR Ruger 10/22. The boys then shot and offered it to him. By the end of that day he shared his opinions on guns in the US had completely changed. He truly recognized the sporting nature of shooting and the challenging fun it is to work up marksmanship. He thanked me and shared he would be telling others of his safe and fun learning experience. I posted a short video on facebook and tagged him shooting a Benelli Supernova pump 12g. He later shared that the video with him tagged was visible by his family and all friends, basically I outed him shooting guns in the US. He said he did not mind and was busy sharing his experience and how wrong the media is portraying US gun owners.

I did the same with some Aussies a few yrs later. However they were all for gun rights and missed having thiers back home. They just enjoyed getting some trigger time in the States.

About 2 months ago my Netherlands friend came back to Oregon, this time with his Girlfriend. She had never seen a gun in person. Ever. Let alone shot one. She was interested and I took them both out to the range. This time with that same kid that was 12 when I took Icebran out the first time. Now that kid is 17yrs old and 6'4". She was amazing with her natural ability to shoot. I have never seen someone with no experience hold groups like she did. No flinch, just smooth trigger pull no matter what she was holding. We move her from the .22LR, rifle/pistol to 9mm Scorpion, SIG SPX to G17 pistol etc. She was even ready to move over the the rifle range and get on the long guns. AR15 on target 100yrs out. Got behind the .308 boltgun and she shoot her first three shots at 100yrd holding just outside 1MOA. Amazing. I told her to find a shooting club back home and get on the national team. She had no idea of her hidden talent. She is a school teacher, so I sent her home with her 100yrd .308 target to put up in her classroom. I have since heard she has been doing some more .22lr handgun practice at a local range back home. She too has a very different view on guns in the US and guns in general than she did just 3 months ago.

If your comfortable with it and have an opportunity to take someone to the range that lives outside the US, go for it. It not only can open their eyes up on guns in the US, they take that experience with them back home. Education is priceless and the best tool we have in my opinion in truly making a dent in mainstream media's agenda.

Photo 1: Look at her group. First time ever shooting... anything!
Photo 2: Settling in on the Tikka TSR-1 .308 on the 100yrd range
Photo 3: Have to get some time on a HK SP5K for the experience
Photo 4: Nothing but smiles from a new now hooked markswoman as she realized the three shots she took are all almost touching each other at 100 yards out. Again first day to EVER see a gun in person let alone shoot one, and on a .308! Priceless.

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[DuneHopper]

I enjoyed reading that... thank you. If only others.... Great Job @Helocat

 

[Helocat]

I enjoyed reading that... thank you. If only others.... Great Job @Helocat

Thank you, I also just uploaded some photos from the last trip out with my Netherland friends.

 

[DuneHopper]

The looks are priceless......

 

[Stomper]

The looks are priceless......

That's the look of realizing FREEDOM.



BTW- "Icebran" is his name? Please don't tell me "Raisinbran" is her's! JUST KIDDING!!

 

[Helocat]

That's the look of realizing FREEDOM.



BTW- "Icebran" is his name? Please don't tell me "Raisinbran" is her's! JUST KIDDING!!

Na its my butcher job of his Dutch name. It actually looks like a US car Vin number to me when I have seen it spelled out but have no idea how its actually spelled in Dutch. However it sounds like "Ice- Braun". I have and all the other US people I know just call him Ice.

 

[Mark W.]

I have taken a couple members of my family from Scotland out to shoot. Took a bunch of domestic beer to get the smiles off their faces LOL.

I have taught a number of women and a few girls to shoot and it always amazes me how well they do with none of the bad habits guys seam to come packaged with.

 

[AMT]

When some family members came to visit, from England, i took them shooting. Petty much same story as op. Smiles that you couldn't knock off with a shovel. When they got back home they told tne rest of their family and a bunch if their friends. No one believed them that we weren't shooting each other or robbing people and places.

I had to put together a DVD with all the picts and videos. Slowly other family memebrs come over and they all want to see in the safe, handle some pistols (ESPECIALLY the DE 50AE). And of course they can't wait to go shooting.

As op mentioned, at the end of the day they have a totally different view of firearms.

Good post!

 

[titsonritz]

Great post @Helocat. Well done sir.

 

[jordanka16]

My brother and numerous friends have gone to OSU, and I've taken foreign exchange students they met there with us several times, many of them from Japan. They always have a good time, and usually learn pretty fast. And even though most of them had never even seen a firearm before they listen well to the safety lesson and are very safety conscious.

 

[CLT65]

Just a couple weeks ago my cousin and his teenage kids were visiting from Switzerland. They were only here for a couple days and we had some time on one day to either visit the air and space museum or go to the range. The kids chose the range, hands down.

We spent the better part of the day in the exact spot your photos above were taken. They shot a lot of guns, went through a lot of ammo, and had a blast!

They were not at all unfamiliar with guns though. The kids both shoot and compete in Switzerland. They kept talking about the "sturmgewehr" and "kleinkaliber" back home. The difference is that guns are surprisingly regulated there, far more than they are here. They were amazed at the ability to just pick up a bunch of different guns and go blast away unsupervised (safely of course). Switzerland has a strong traditional gun culture, but they do not enjoy anywhere near the level of freedom that we have here.

Years ago I took a friend shooting. He grew up in the U.S., of middle eastern decent. We'd been shooting before, and this time he said he had friends visiting from out of town, and wanted to bring them too. It turned out they were visiting from Libya! I have to admit I was a little nervous about the outing, considering that their homeland was currently embroiled in a civil war! It went fine and everyone had a good time, but I had also invited another friend along who had spent a few years in that part of the world with the USMC.

 

[CLT65]

Another time, a long time ago, another friend came out to my place to shoot. I lived out of town back then and had a nice range out back. His sister was visiting from the Midwest and had brought her boyfriend along. He had never shot a gun and was interested.

I brought out a bunch of guns and we shot for maybe 20 minutes. He seemed to be enjoying himself and all of a sudden he had to go. He had to go right now, so they piled in the car and left in a hurry. My friend told me later that it was a cultural thing. He was a young black man from Chicago, and in the world he grew up in, guns were tools of crime, for one thing only. He had been enjoying himself until all of a sudden he realized that he was out in the boonies in the Oregon woods, surrounded by a bunch of white guys with guns!

At first it seemed funny, but then I felt bad about it. We were polite, safe, and welcoming as could be, but that just couldn't overcome his cultural experience. Maybe it would have been different for him if we'd have been at an actual range, instead of my backyard.

 

[Diamondback]

Two, possibly more cases of this on the To-Do List. The girlfriend and her parents if they come along (Canucks), and a *very* close friend from Germany and her BF.

 

[User 1234]

Not to be a killjoy, but keep in mind the federal restrictions on non immigrant visa holders (foreigners who don't have a green card) possession of firearms. May a nonimmigrant alien who has been admitted to the United States under a nonimmigrant visa possess a firearm or ammunition in the United States? | Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
Personally, if I were taking a friend from another country shooting I would help them apply for a non resident hunting license. I believe some states sell them online.

 

[CLT65]

I can't imagine that that applies to them holding or shooting a gun while you're standing right next to them? If so, it definitely would not be worth the hassle and expense of an out of state hunting license just for an afternoon of target shooting. Plus, target shooting has absolutely nothing to do with hunting, other than using the same tools.

Added: it is a good point to consider though. I hadn't thought of it before.

 

[CLT65]

There are indoor ranges in Vegas and other cities that rent to foreign visitors all the time, so I'm pretty sure that supervised target shooting is not possession of arms or ammunition under federal law.

 

[User 1234]

Taking foreign visitor shooting on BLM land - Calguns.net

See Fiddletown's post on this thread, 12/13/2017 at 12:43. He quotes many federal court rulings on what it means to possess a firearm.

Sure none of us would prefer the law to prohibit something as innocent as a foreign visitor standing next to us target shooting, but that doesn't change what the law actually says. Judges can change the application of a law by interpreting it; we cannot.

 

[CLT65]

Fiddletown is wrong. He's taking one thing and applying it to another. Call up a Las Vegas gun range and ask them if foreign visitors can rent and shoot guns there. They will tell you that they do it all the time, every day of the week. We could argue theoretical what-ifs and letter of the law all day long, but these guys do it all day long.

For the record, my cousin and his kids have dual citizenship, so it's a complete non-issue for them.

 

[Diamondback]

IIRC, there are some exemptions for citizens of Visa Waiver Program-participant countries. Mostly North/West Europe, the Americas and South Pacific countries if memory serves.

 

[CLT65]

My 12 year old son cannot legally posses a handgun because he's too young, yet he shoots with me at the range all the time.