Assault weapons: they're not just for militias anymore

Santa Cruz Sentinel ^ | 7/23/06 | Nick Guroff

[kiriath_jearim]

July 23, 2006

Fernley, NEV.

Assault weapons: they're not just for militias anymore

As the sun went down over the western Nevada desert on a recent summer day, Christian David Newby strapped a Vietnam War-era M-9 flamethrower to his back and torched a pile of scrap lumber.

"When people asked me what I was going to do this weekend I told them I was going to Nevada to shoot exotic weapons," said Newby, a Boulder Creek resident.

Newby is referring to assault weapons such as flamethrowers, Uzis, and AK-47s, which are banned in California unless operated with a special license.

"Fifteen years ago you could buy quite a few of these in California. But now that's what these are — exotic weapons."

The prohibition on assault weapons, which went into effect in 1990, is cause for hundreds of gun lovers like Newby to cross the state line twice a year and head for the Machine Gun Shoot at Nevada's Mustang Range to get a taste of the forbidden fruit.

Some seek the adrenaline rush from firing high-power weapons. Others go for the opportunity to exercise their Second Amendment rights.

For Newby, shooting is a hobby akin to golf or horseback riding.

A lure for many

"I'm not thinking about anything else when I'm shooting that target down range," he said, making his way to the main range.

Past the earplug checkpoint and a taco truck, Newby approached a row of military-caliber machine guns trained on a sad collection of bullet-ridden Winnebagos, Osama bin Laden posters, and smoldering Barney dolls.

What Newby said he found most interesting in the scene, though, was those doing the shooting.

"Last year we had a 95-year-old lady stand up out of her wheelchair and shoot our M-60," said Neil Connolly, a manager for Armed and Safe Firearms Training, which runs the shoot. "She lit up the range and just had a ball. She had a huge smile on her face and that's one of the things you notice is that machine-gun smile."

For the evening's main event, Connolly and fellow instructors parked an old school bus in the middle of the range. Spray painted in large letters across the bus' starboard plank were the words "Dixie Chicks" and "UN," both common targets of conservative ire. Minutes later the bus was ablaze after a barrage of machine gun fire.

Newby looked on with a mix of delight and disappointment, acknowledging that gun culture attracts all types.

He generally votes Democratic or Green and said he could do without the political display or, for that matter, the "zealots" camped out in full combat fatigues by vintage military vehicles in the parking lot.

The more extreme gun culture is what the outside world sees, Newby said.

Connolly agrees, but thinks there's a place for everybody at his shoots.

"We get two kinds of people who come to the range here," said Connolly. "We have the blue-collar NRA member who has been saving his quarters all year for his biannual pilgrimage."

The majority of the clientele, however, are from white-collar communities in the San Francisco Bay Area, Monterey and Orange County, said Connolly.

"They probably don't even own a gun, and would be embarrassed if their friends saw them here. But they come up to the front counter and max out their gold cards and just have a blast."

And though Newby is a gun owner, he certainly falls in Connolly's second category.

Making of a gun toter

"Shooting is something I enjoy doing and I fear being ostracized," said Newby. "People are going to come up to me on the streets in Santa Cruz and say, 'you're that crazy guy with the gun' after they read this."

Newby's mother gave him an Olympic-quality match target rifle for his 21st birthday — the beginnings of a "well-rounded" collection of handguns and rifles that he now keeps in a triple-locked, steel safe in his home.

Out of college, Newby worked as a range safety officer at Los Altos Rod and Gun Club.

He is now a claims adjuster by day, establishing liability and evaluating damage on cars. Newby is clean-cut, wears a shirt and tie to work, and travels to area body shops armed with a laptop and a cup of joe.

And while Connolly hopes that events like the Machinegun Shoot will continue to bring Californians like Newby to Nevada, and stem some of the stigma attached to the recreational shooting and ownership of assault weapons, he doesn't expect to be able to bring the shoot to California anytime soon.

"There's no way on earth that we could ever do an event like this in California," said Connolly.

Gun control

California has some of the toughest assault weapons laws in the nation, according to the state Attorney General's Office.

Gun control groups, such as the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, have pushed for these standards by pointing to a host of mass slayings from the Branch-Davidian standoff in Waco in 1993 to the Stockton schoolyard massacre in 1989. The campaign also argues that increased sales of assault weapons puts pressure on law enforcement to become similarly armed.

"My gut reaction is, why do people need to do this?" said Ellyne Bell, field director for the Brady Campaign in California, speaking of machine gun shoots like the one at Mustang Range. "If you are exposed to that kind of thing at 5, 7 and 15, how much more will you need to get your fix when you are 21?"

Christopher Koper of the University of Pennsylvania's Jerry Lee Center of Criminology says assault weapons constitute a very small percent of gun-related violent crime. Their expense and portability makes them a rare commodity among criminals, he says.

Back in Boulder Creek, Newby is looking forward to the next shoot in September and recruiting friends and colleagues.

"You want to be more around it, but you have to be careful about who you tell about your guns here in Santa Cruz County," said Newby. "If you tell someone you shoot guns, people get a little worried about you. They assume there's something off about you."

[pcottraux]

Christian David Newby strapped a Vietnam War-era M-9 flamethrower to his back and torched a pile of scrap lumber.

Man, that sounds like fun.

[CCCnative]

In the article the from Boulder Creek (my neck o' the woods) votes Democrat. I don't get it. That is the party of the gun-banners and the reason he has to travel to Nevada to have this experience. Some of California bares a lot in common with rural Nevada, not downtown SF or LA. The guy is self-hating, I guess.

[CCCnative]

correction: "the from Boulder Creek" should be "the man from Boulder Creek"

[Rummyfan]

Gun control groups, such as the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, have pushed for these standards by pointing to a host of mass slayings from the Branch-Davidian standoff in Waco in 1993

So they took away the government's 'assault weapons' after Waco? That's news to me!

[proud_yank]

The prohibition on assault weapons, which went into effect in 1990, is cause for hundreds of gun lovers like Newby to cross the state line twice a year and head for the Machine Gun Shoot at Nevada's Mustang Range to get a taste of the forbidden fruit.

Love how the MSM makes us out to be a minority!

[beltfed308]

"If you tell someone you shoot guns, people get a little worried about you. They assume there's something off about you."

Liking anything that goes snap,bang or fizz is normal. If not, seek medical attention at once :>)

[Rummyfan]

"My gut reaction is, why do people need to do this?" said Ellyne Bell, field director for the Brady Campaign in California, speaking of machine gun shoots like the one at Mustang Range. "If you are exposed to that kind of thing at 5, 7 and 15, how much more will you need to get your fix when you are 21?"

These nanny-staters are such killjoys! Personally I'd love to get to fire an M-60....

[Leg Olam]

"If you are exposed to that kind of thing at 5, 7 and 15, how much more will you need to get your fix when you are 21?"

Firing a gattling gun or a six pounder is a good 'fix'.

[glorgau]

"If you are exposed to that kind of thing at 5, 7 and 15, how much more will you need to get your fix when you are 21?"

That's why the bleeding liberals want to teach 3 year olds about gay sex.

[Sax]

"My gut reaction is, why do people need to do this?" said Ellyne Bell, field director for the Brady Campaign in California, speaking of machine gun shoots like the one at Mustang Range. "If you are exposed to that kind of thing at 5, 7 and 15, how much more will you need to get your fix when you are 21?"

If the logic actually worked out like this, I couldn't find happiness with anything this side of a MOAB by now.

[from occupied ga]

Man, that sounds like fun.

Nothing draws fire like the guy with the flamethrower.

[stevio]

Wow. Good point!

[t_skoz]

this thread needs gun pics

[Little Ray]

I wanna shoot a 20mm anti-tank rifle!!!!

[Tex Pete]

I have been blessed enough to get to shoot a Thompson sub-machine gun and an M-16. I think everyone should get the chance.

[USNBandit]

Okay folks, here's a first hand account of the Mustang Range.

Some of my coworkers and I wanted to have an off site "team building" experience so we contacted the folks at the Mustang Range.

They scheduled us for what was billed as a "Machine Gun Party." Basically, we spent 2/3 of the day shooting submachine guns and the other 1/3 getting handgun instruction.

The Mustang Ranch is very much a work in progress. Their range is very crude, but they are making quick progress getting it built up. We had two instructors that were both experienced instructors, mostly in law enforcement style shooting.

The weapons they brought for the party included an M-79 grenade launcher, M-60, a Swedish K, an M-4, an HK that was the size of an MP-5 but shot .223, a Thompson, an Uzi, and a full auto Glock pistol with a shoulder stock. They also set up some exploding targets for us.

It was a good time and considering we spent 6 hours at the range it didn't cost that much money. The more you shot the more they discounted the price.

[Thunder90]

I want to shoot a RPG-7 and an AK-103.

[GSlob]

"Man, that sounds like fun."
It is, especially the control of ca. 80-90 lbs flamethrower recoil impulse which lasts for the shot duration - say, 2 seconds. Ages ago one of my fellow trainees ended shooting straight up - and having watched him running out from under the fire rain is a memory which still gives me a smile all these decades later.

[19th LA Inf]

As I recall, Henry Bowman in "Unintended Consequences" started his somewhat antisocial career with a Swiss 20mm antitank rifle . . . apparently, back in the day they could be bought mailorder. How far we have fallen.