Question of the Day - 21 February 2015

A lengthy critique – excerpted below -- of the Las Vegas firearms scene was published recently in KNPR's Desert Companion magazine. As to your main question, we ran the specifics of your inquiry past as many gun ranges as we could find, starting with …

Clark County Shooting Complex: This is one of the consumer-friendliest deals in town. Yes, you can bring your own ammo and shoot as long as you like. Lane rentals are $9 for a pistol/rifle range and $90 buys you 12 visits. Weapon rentals (Berettas preferred) are $20/day or $10 an hour.

Discount Firearms & Ammo: "As long as they have their [own] guns, it’s $10 all day, as long as the ammunition is jacketed." You can also ‘Shoot for the Cure,’ firing 100 rounds on an assault rifle and pistol to raise money for breast-cancer research, $49 per shooter.

American Shooters: "It’s $16 to use the range all day long. If people are bringing in their own guns, you’re more than welcome to bring your own ammo." American Shooters is favored by local law enforcement personnel, who get special rates, and there’s a weekly ‘ladies day,’ every Tuesday.

Las Vegas Gun Range: "No, on both." There’s no touristy frou-frou here, just racks of guns and a handful of 15-yard shooting lanes. The instructors are excellent, especially with novices. Firing off one machine gun magazine will set you back $25, while 30 rounds on a pistol will cost you $40 and various combo packages top out at $800.

Strip Gun Club: "It depends on the ammunition. We normally ask that you purchase ammunition through us, unless we don’t carry it." You’ll also be charged a $20 lane fee. A buck shy of two grand gets you 607 rounds, including a few shots on a sniper rifle and seven more on a Desert Eagle, the rest divided among 10 weapons, featuring three belt-fed machine guns.

Gun Garage<: bring your own weapon pistol-caliber rifle but nothing bigger than nine millimeters and no shotguns fifteen dollars per person buys you two hours on the range for military personnel or policemen can use any ammunition of choice so long as it is not steel-core steel-jacketed exotic manufacture.>

Machine Guns Vegas: "No, we don’t allow that." $180 gets you 95 rounds on an M4 carbine, an MP5 and Sig Sauer PP226, plus free admission and one drink (after you shoot) at Sapphire topless club.

Battlefield Vegas: "We don’t allow that here. All of our weapons are rentals." Get in touch with your inner Communist as you wield a Tokarev pistol, a Mosin Nagant rifle, and a PPsh 41 submachine gun-all part of the $170 "Defending Stalingrad" package.

The Range 702: "They can definitely bring their own [ammo]," so long as it is not steel-core, 50-caliber or tracer rounds. For the $599.95 "Adrenaline Rush," you get four targets, 180 rounds and six guns, including an M4, an AK-47 and a Squad Automatic Weapon.

Las Vegas Outdoor Range: "We don’t allow people to bring their [own] guns." The range is also a good, long haul out of town, out on the fringes of Lake Mead Recreational Area.

The Gun Store: "It has to be our own ammo, $25 for 36 [rounds." Range time is $5, plus $2 for a target … if you bring your own handgun. To the best of our knowledge, this is the only Las Vegas gun range to incorporate a wedding chapel.