How to Find a Gun Store or Range in Your Area | LearnAboutGuns.com

How to Find a Gun Store or Range in Your Area

Published by the LearnAboutGuns.com Author on Tuesday, March 25th, 2008 at 9:16 pm

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I am relatively new to firearms and had trouble locating a gun store and range near my home, which is in the Chicagoland area. A helpful site for locating gun ranges nationwide is Where To Shoot. Searching on Google worked well too.

For anyone in the Chicagoland area, I have found that Maxon Shooters Supplies and Indoor Range and Midwest Guns are good places to go shoot or buy a gun. Maxon allows shotguns and rifles, while Midwest only allows handguns and .22 rifles. Both offer handgun rentals, although I believe you need to bring along a 2nd person to rent a handgun (but this 2nd person does not need to have a FOID card or fire the gun). There are other combination gun store/ranges in the area, but these two still in operation have visited and can vouch for.

If you are looking for a trapshooting range, I would recommend the Naperville Sportsman’s Park. It is an (outdoor) trapshooting range that is open to the public, and with reasonable prices. I’ve found the sportsmen here, many of whom are members of the Naperville Sportsman Club, to be great people to shoot with and learn from.

You can also consider purchasing a gun online. Keep in mind that the gun will need to be shipped to a local gun dealer, where you can then pick it up in person, rather than directly to your home. Gun accessories, however, can be shipped right to your home.

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Tags: Beginner, Cook County, FOID, Pistol, Revolver, Rifle, Shotgun

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Like the millions of law abiding gun owners in America, I am a peace loving person. I own firearms so that I can defend myself and my family, should that need arise. While I sincerely hope that I am never in the position of having to fire a gun in self defense, I rest easier at night knowing that I could stop an armed robber, racist attacker, terrorist, or home invader if the need arose. I also rest easier knowing that my girlfriend could stop a rapist or murderer, rather than becoming a victim. The simple fact is that gun control laws don't stop criminals from getting guns, and instead only disarm the law abiding citizens, making them easier targets for the criminals. Nor is it justifiable to deprive law abiding citizens of their constitutional right to keep and bear arms for self defense, just because criminals misuse guns, just as criminals misuse other tools.

Given those facts, I would encourage my fellow law abiding citizens who do not yet own a gun to do the following: go shooting for the first time, choose the proper gun for self defense, purchase that gun, store the gun in a responsible manner, and become proficient at safely using that gun. Next, join the NRA to protect your right to have a gun for self defense. Doing so may save your life one day, and can also benefit society as a whole.