We ran a report a few days ago about the closure of the Smith & Wesson Shooting Sports Center in Springfield, Mass. Shut down for inventory? Pshaw! Reaching out to Smith’s PR crew hasn’t gotten us any answers. But now we hear that the company closed the facility due to the frequency of gang members (not pictured above) using the public range to get in a little trigger time. The legal kind. The speculation is that, to counter this, the range will no longer be open to the public. Rather, Smith will do what SIG does in Epping, making the range available only to those attending one of their classes . . .
Avoiding gang members with guns is pretty much a surefire personal defense tip for staying away from potentially bad situations. But all things being equal, wouldn’t gangbangers who are accurate be better than those who don’t know what the hell they’re doing with a gun?
Could a little practice mean fewer innocent bystanders killed and injured? As in less collateral damage? Sure, Smith’s facility being known as a place frequented by undesirables would not be good for the brand. Some ranges run background checks on shooters before renting them a gun. But should gang members be allowed to shoot at a public range just like anyone else?