Shooting the Breeze

Imagine a world where men and women walked down the street sporting holsters rather than cellular phone cases. Imagine a world where the size of your caliber meant more than the size of your bonus. Inside Manchester, New Hampshire's Wolf Firearms, it is not so hard. Located on a barren street sandwiched between enormous factory outlet stores, Wolf's range is the nearest shooting range to Boston open to the general, non-gun-owning public.

Opening the heavy metal doors leading in from the parking lot is a little like entering a meat-packing plant. "Utilitarian" does little to convey the effect of the unadorned cement floors, fluorescent lighting and windowless walls. Flanked by a semi-circle of glass cases displaying guns of all sizes and shapes and a few grenades, holsters, and handcuffs, "Kevin the Gun Guy" sits calmly on a stool attending to customers as they come and go. He has the smugness of some-one who always carries a firearm. Sure enough, when asked if he ever feels concerned for his safety among, his gun-toting clientele, he opens his flannel shirt to display the loaded semi-automatic nestled against his hip.

Kevin proved to be incredibly knowledgeable and accommodating--a veritable gun guru. Gun rental is done on an hourly basis, and patrons may choose from a number of makes and models: rifles, revolvers and semi-automatics. Wolf's also sells guns; prices vary considerably depending on the model. A Glock will run you $525, a Colt rifles $450, and you can pick up a nice Luger for $325. If you've got a trenchcoat, you needn't go for the pistol: you can get a sawed-off shotgun for $199. If semi-auto seems weak to you, fully automatic spray machine guns can be rented for $20 per halfhour. Any handgun can be used in the range, including the fearsome .44 Magnum full metal jacket.

Requesting--and instantly receiving--a Glock .45, a Smith and Wesson .45 and a Smith and Wesson 9 millimeter made us feel like we had somehow entered Hughes brothers movie. Fluorescent pink goggles and industrial strength ear-muffs punctured our delusions of gangsta grandeur, however.

Kevin next goes through a detailed explanation for the loading of the semi-automatic handguns. He shows us how to hold the gun (both thumbs to the side of the handle) so that we don't get a chunk taken out of our thumb by the slide and how to fire it--"squeeze the trigger, don't pull." He's good at his job: patient even when repeatedly reminding us not to point our guns at him.

Any infringement of proper handling policy is grounds for being evicted from the range. Guns must be carried unloaded and pointing at the floor and goggles and ear-muffs must be worn inside the range. The entrance and the store are separated by two sets of doors. The first must be completely shut before the second can be opene, and if a problem occurs inside the booths, the firearm must be set down onto the counter before going out the double doors to fetch Kevin.

Entering the range, patrons go to their assigned cubicle Long clotheslines stretching down in front of each booth have clips to hold the paper targets. Next, they load their weapons, send their targets whirring away to an appropriate distance and fire away down the 75-yard range. Glass windows offer admiring spectators a chance to get in on the action. For the uninitiated, it is a bit jarring to the nerves, ear-muffs and all, to have your fumbling attempts to shove bullets into an unwieldy cartridge punctuated by rapid fire. It is even more heart-pounding to raise the loaded weapon, lower the safety, point and shoot. It's hard to know just how far to squeeze the trigger before the gun will fire, spitting flame with a rough bark and jerking back violently.

According to Kevin, the winter months are the busiest, when the idea of literally blowing off steam in a relatively warm environment has the greatest appeal. Hunting season also urges frequent practice, so as to maximize predatory efficiency. Men tend to frequent Wolf's more than women--not a huge surprise--and the women who do come are interested less in sport-shooting than in self-defense. However, for those who've tired of Ladies' Night at Wonder Bar, Wolf's offers free shooting for ladies every Sunday from 5 to 8 p.m.

When asked if there were any patrons who were obviously unsafe. Kevin's reply was rather oblique and less than reassuring, "Well, you can be absolutely sure that if they own their own gun, they can't have served time in prison or been in a mental institution." He did cite one case of a man who was thrown out for continuing to shoot as employees were walking down range. Kevin explained that, in a sort of bastardized backcountry biathlon, customers can shoot at bowling pins on Tuesday nights. Machine gun use is discouraged.

For serious shooters, Wolf's offer an annual membership as well as beginner, intermediate, and advanced classes. Range time is priced at $10 per hour ($5 for members and police with ID). Guns are $5, hearing and eye protection $1 apiece and ammunition $15 for a box of 50 bullets. If you get nervous leaving the kids alone in the house with all of those dangerous household cleaners, then bring them along--10 and under are free. Hours are Mon to Sat, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., Sunday noon to 8 p.m. Manchester is 40 minutes north of Boston, off of Interstate 93.

If you don't have a car, Wolf's will prove tough to get to. If you're worried about the raised eyebrows you'll elicit from your armchair-liberal blockmates when you glowingly recount how great if felt to plug the silhouette on your target right between his beady little eyes, maybe you should stick to the Kevin Bacon game.