Last week, it was related to me that The Gun Room lifted its’ ban on evil looking .22 rifles. Yes. This ban included the GSG-5, 10-22 with a pistol grip and the AR-15 converted to .22LR. I didn’t want to report about this change until I experience it for myself. A little background…
Approximately a year ago, the owners of The Gun Room located off of Survey Road in Elk Grove, CA changed their policies regarding the admittance of certain rifles inside their facility. Last year, the following was related in summary to me:
The ban, as of two months ago, is no longer in place. Cool, right? There are caveats to this change, however. They now allow the cool tactical looking .22LR rifles: GSG-5, AR15 that shoots .22LR, and evil looking 10/22. If it’s an AR15, it must be a dedicated .22LR upper. No conversion kits [CMMG] are allowed. The rifle must also be labeled as a .22LR chambered firearm. This means that if you’re shooting an AR15 style rifle with a dedicated .22LR upper, but engraved as a MULTI caliber receiver, it is not allowed.
I asked the gentleman behind the counter about the rationality behind this policy. One is allowed to utilize a Spikes Tactical receiver labeled as a .22LR firearm, but another receiver that is practically the same is not because it’s not engraved per The Gun Room’s policy? The gentleman related to me that the owners are concerned about individuals switching uppers as they have observed .223 casing on the floor. The bullet catchers at the range are not rated for higher FPS projectiles.
I fail to see how engravings on receivers prevent this…
The gentleman countered that the owners could ban Spikes Tactical receivers and only allow the S&W, or Colt AR15 .22LR variations.
I also discovered that they no longer allow Thompson Center Contenders or Encores for the same reason.
With my most recent visit to The Gun Room, I was permitted to shoot my SD-15 MULTI receiver equipped with a dedicated .22LR upper for the evening. As it was related to me, employees reportedly have discretion to allow certain rifles on the range. If it’s not a busy night, they may over look AR15 receivers that are not engraved per their policy, provided that you’re not a douche. I gather the same is true regarding TC frames. I would like to think I have a good rapport with most of the employees at The Gun Room, so I have yet to have a problem.
The primary point is that it is now possible to bring in your evil looking .22LRs at The Gun Room. Depending on several factors, you may or may not be allowed to shoot your AR15 with a dedicated .22LR upper.
I’ll take your follies at TGR over mine lol
Our local range allowed .223 ARs w/frangible ammo–until some d***head mixed AP in with his frangible.
He’s banned now, of course, but we’re no longer allowed to shoot .223 there.
“The owners feel that weapons resembling assault rifles disturbs the “family” environment and scares customers.”
The first thing that popped into my mind was buying ammo at a gun shop in New Hampshire, and while I was looking around I saw a father and a young girl (maybe 12) picking out an AR-15 for her.
“disturbs the family environment” my ass! Disturbs people who aren’t comfortable with thinking!
Sure, it is all good clean fun until the .223 round pierces the back wall and heads out into the parking lot…..
The range owners are stuck with inadequate facilities. Perhaps an upgrade to the range is in order?
You sound like a jerk. Seriously, if their bullet catcher is only rated to stop pistol rounds, why are you getting so uppity when they do their best to stay within those limits? Sounds to me like they didn’t ban the AR-15 .22 clones because they “look evil,” but because they can’t possibly watch everyone, all the time, and they actually found evidence that people had switched their uppers at the range (?!), and were firing rounds that were unsafe for the equipment being used.
Not everything’s a Federal case, sometimes people are just doing their best to be safe. If you don’t like it GO TO THE RIFLE RANGE, NOT THE PISTOL RANGE.
I am a total jerk. I think you and I would totally get along.
But seriously, when the employees at The Gun Room summarized their reasons, that was exactly it a year ago. Keep in mind that the GSG-5 was also banned. To my knowledge, there are no concerns about switching calibers with that particular rifle – it just looks evil.
I’m well aware of the costs associated to maintaining a rifle/pistol range and the bullet catchers they utilize are expensive. They do not allow centerfire rifles at the range for that specific reason. As Mikee had pointed out, the force of a .223 cartridge will eventually puncture through.
It appears you fail to recognize that I’m not against the range not allowing centerfire rifles, it’s the rules that the owners attempt to carry out that are no different than the CA politicians who wrote the CA Assault Weapons Ban. If it’s engraved with a certain make and model, it’s banned; at least until the decision from Kasler v. Lockyer (2000).
It was not my intention to come across as crass; this post wasn’t a knock on their policy. It was my personal experience with their new rules. The narration above is what was related to me, what the policy actually is and how the employees go about making it work for everyone according to the owners’ wishes. I was allowed to shoot the AR-15 .22LR I brought with me, didn’t get hassled, and the employee was sympathetic and did his best to explain the new policy and circumstances to me.
I think that their engraving rule is ridiculous, but I fail to see where I’m uppity.
Hey Shooter, what is your emotional excuse on why they didn’t allow .22 GSG-5’s??? I’d love to hear your excuse…
How about the shooters place the range on THEIR ban list?