Targeting tourists

Justin Yurkanin/VIEWChristopher Motter of Montreal reacts after shooting an M49 SAW machine gun at The Gun Store at 2900 E. Tropicana Ave. The store, which opened about 25 years ago, continues to offer classes and range sessions to locals and visitors from all over the world. Justin Yurkanin/VIEWChristopher Motter of Montreal shoots an M49 SAW machine gun at The Gun Store at 2900 E. Tropicana Ave. Justin Yurkanin/VIEWThe Gun Store manager, Chris Irwin, said many of the shop?s visitors get wide eyes as soon as they see the merchandise on display. "It?s kind of like when a little kid first goes to Disneyland," he said. "They don?t know where to start. They stare at the wall of guns." Advertisement

The man wore camouflage clothing and a ski mask as he used a stone wall for cover and hoisted a LAWS Rocket, a one shot anti-armor weapon. Machine-gun fire cut through the air, striking the presumed terrorist squarely in the chest, but he did not fall. A second and third burst of fire hit with similar accuracy, blasting a large hole through the target. The shooter lay the machine gun back on the counter and turned with a huge grin.

"It was an awful lot smoother than I thought it would be," said Colin Baton, an Australian tourist visiting The Gun Store at 2900 E. Tropicana Ave. "I lived on a farm, so I've fired bolt-action guns before. This had less kick than I thought there'd be."

Bob Irwin, the father of current manager Chris Irwin, opened The Gun Store about 25 years ago. Originally he had a partner but not long after they expanded to two stores, they parted ways and Bob Irwin ended up with the newer location, which, along with several expansions, is where The Gun Store is today.

Although Bob Irwin isn't involved in the day-to-day operations anymore, he still keeps his hand in the business with related projects such working on movies, providing blank guns and providing expert testimony in court.

The current store complex is divided into three main sections; the shooting range, the store and a classroom building.

We teach firearm classes, security classes, safety classes," Chris Irwin said. "One of our extremely popular classes is our concealed firearm permit class."

Gun owners do not need to be Nevada residents to get a Nevada concealed firearms permit, so regular visitors, those with second homes here and snowbirds frequently take advantage of the classes.

According to The Gun Store website, "Nevada permits are currently honored in Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Vermont."

The Gun Store also hosts classes on taser operation, security baton training, pepper spray training and a class in ladies self-defense. The classes range in price from $20 to $85. Two of the classes, firearm safety and "Eddie Eagle" children's gun safety, are offered free of charge.

Although guns can be sold to Nevada residents only, it isn't unusual to hear a wide variety of accents in the store, as visiting tourists browse and purchase souvenirs such as The Gun Store T-shirts and shot glasses.

"The majority of our business is tourists. People from other countries come here to shoot, because they can here," Irwin said with a laugh. "We get a lot of people from Great Britain, because in their country they can't even look at a gun."

The store is a few miles off the Strip, but that doesn't seem to be a detriment to its traffic. The store began dabbling in advertising in tourist magazines around six years ago, not long before Chris Irwin came on board. He expanded the process and has been pleased with the results.

"It seems the more advertising we do, the more people we get," Irwin said. We get celebrities, UFC fighters, national media. It's great."

The lobby of the shooting range is decorated with an assortment of guns, both real and props.

"They come in here, and it's a little overwhelming for a lot of people," Irwin said. "It's kind of like when a little kid first goes to Disneyland. They don't know where to start. They stare at the wall of guns."

Although there are many guns to choose from, including Thompson submachine guns, shotguns and the .44 Smith & Wesson Model 29 revolver popularized in the "Dirty Harry" films, Irwin said the most popular is the M249 SAW belt-feed machine gun on a bipod.

"It gives people that 'Rambo' experience," he said.

After choosing their firearm, customers choose a target. Although simple silhouettes are available, many select the poster-size targets featuring photos of thugs, generic terrorists, Osama bin Laden and even Nazi zombies. Several feature bad guys holding hostages.

"The problem with those is that if you miss the target you hit one of the noncombatants," Baton said while holding up his bullet riddled terrorist target. "With this, if you just hit the paper you feel pretty good."

Glenn Metherall, also visiting from Australia, found shooting a little scary at first but had a great time.

"When you're in Vegas you might as well have a bit of fun," he said. "I missed a few at first. You get used to it. These guys (on the targets) weren't getting back up."

The Gun Store is open from 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m daily. More information is available at thegunstorelasvegas.com or by calling 454-1110.

Contact Sunrise and Whitney View reporter F. Andrew Taylor at ataylor@viewnews.com or 380-4532.