home on the range -- in new york city

Manhattan\'s only public shooting range is hidden in the basement of a commercial building on 20 West Street.
After walking down the winding stairs through the hall, I came to a long corridor decorated with framed clippings, photos and paint on the green walls of the corridor --
On the golden bullet pointing to the road.
As I approached, the muffled gunshots were getting bigger and bigger.
Inside, there are practical chairs, tables, sofas, TVs, lockers and wall notifications in the long rectangular room --
\"No Magnums\", \"wear eye and ear protection\", \"NRA gun safety rules \".
The 14 shooting booths in the shooting range operate on the length of the room and are closed by a wall with large windows.
I visited the rifle and pistol range in the West End because I was curious that such a place might exist in the least number of guns --
A friendly city in this country.
I\'m curious about this rare New Yorker with a gun license.
On the morning of December 14, 2012, when I sat down with the owner Darren Leung, neither of us had realized the hell that had just been released at a primary school in Newtown, Connecticut.
Wearing glasses and clothes cut by the crew, the 40-year-old beam
Seven years old, wearing jeans, sneakers and a gray hoodie with the name of the series on it, looks young.
I asked this fourth generation Chinese.
The American who grew up in Manhattan\'s Chinatown was attracted by guns.
\"Not every Chinese child wants to be a cowboy,\" he said with a smile ? \".
He went on to explain that, as a child, he was \"fascinated\" by the guns and he wanted to be the good man he saw on TV and in movies to save the day.
He eventually worked as a New York peace officer in Brooklyn for a decade, investigating family conflicts involving minors in a state --run agency.
As a police officer, he took a gun and sometimes worked with the New York Police Department.
After working here for twenty years, he became the only master in 2010.
Customers are hard on the police, but include a variety of locals who are passionate about target shooting, with a total of about 3,500 members. (
Robert De Niro\'s character in taxi driver Travis biker also practiced in the film. )
Liang said the shooting range, which opened in 1964, was necessary because the owner of the licensed gun needed a convenient place to shoot in the city.
But despite this, the police performed the show and could recover anyone\'s guns for any reason.
\"You don\'t have the right to have a gun in New York City,\" he said, with a string of gunfire ringing behind the double
Pane glass that looks out on the shooting line.
\"It\'s a privilege.
\"Or, as one member of the range said,\" when it comes to gun laws, there\'s the whole country, and then there\'s New York.
\"While this may be a bit exaggerated, New York is indeed quite the opposite of oflax states such as Utah, Alaska and Arizona, arguably the toughest state in the United States to have guns.
No one here actually has the right to own a gun, at least until the police approve it. ahead.
Liang continued: \"your rights will never be denied, but your privileges can be revoked at any time.
The New York Police Department is a licensed entity.
They can add any kind of regulations they want.
They don\'t need to explain why.
Liang admits it makes sense to tie the gun to a short belt because \"you want people to realize that this is not a toy . \".
If you make a mistake on a gun, there will be no reward.
\"He also said that he had six-to-eight-
A one-month gun permit is pending, despite the $340 fee for three months
Year permits are quite steep compared to other places.
There is no permit issued by the New York Police Department, and despite multiple attempts, it is illegal to refuse to disclose how many New Yorkers own a gun permit and even touch a pistol.
Those who are licensed also need to buy guns, so they can\'t simply shoot without their own license.
After waiting, target shooting cost more than $1,500 for fingerprints, permits, club membership, guns and ammunition, which is not a cheap hobby.
Some potential buyers have been delayed by all the red tape, which is definitely to stop everyone but the most motivated.
\"You can\'t even sell hot dogs in New York City without a license,\" Liang said . \".
You think they will give you a gun when we talk
An old man in a gray suit sat at the table next to us with a black plastic box.
He opened it, took off bermm Berettaand, and casually put the pistol on the table.
Then he took out a box of bullets and started loading them into the magazine one by one.
Hearing our discussion about the challenge of getting a gun permit in the city, he interjected (
Although he did not say his name)
Despite diligence, it is a difficult process, he said.
Anyway, he thought it would be cool to try it.
\"It\'s really interesting to shoot,\" he said . \"
\"It\'s totally relaxing, kind of like golf.
I asked him ten.
Bullet magazine, knowing the limit to this number is a pain point for some gun enthusiasts.
\"It would be great if they were bigger,\" he said as he continued loading.
\"The magazine\'s ass hurts a bit.
But on the other hand, as an entertaining user, I don\'t know what you need to launch for more than a dozen rounds.
\"He described the feeling of walking on the streets of New York with Beretta.
He said that although it had been uninstalled and in a locked state by law, it made him feel \"a little tough \".
\"You\'ll say, \'Oh, I\'m not sure I\'ll let out two steps for the guy on the sidewalk because he won\'t have sex with me. I\'ve got a gun.
\"When I got back to daylight around noon, I checked my phone to see if something interesting happened when I was out of the signal range.
The second Sandy of that year became part of my vocabulary.
After we just crossed the thresholdSandy Hook era.
* After waiting for things to be resolved, I went back on a cold Saturday morning in early February and found a dozen members of Chelsea\'s Gun Club --
One of the two clubs that gathered there
Blowing the breeze like they do every week.
The mood is different from my first one.
Visit Sandy Hook.
It may be that they were uncomfortable with my visit when they were nervous, or it may be mine.
After all, the gun debate has returned with revenge, and the media do not seem to be paying special attention to the gun issue --friendly.
News magazine recently published the names and addresses of the owners of pistol licenses in Westchester and Rockland County, as well as the list of 22,300 licensed gun owners in New York City.
Both publications received death threats.
At the same time, the new town truth has spread the word themassacre is actually a hoax by the Obama administration to advance the second election
Word gun suppression the president thought the planning had been the tally of whileSlatebegan keepinga gun deathssince New Town, although it must be incomplete, reaching 5,057.
One month anniversary of last week\'s massacre
I\'m embarrassed to approach three gray ones.
The hair man standing chatting and drinking coffee told them what I was doing there.
A man looked into my eyes and said in a warning tone: \"The last reporter who came here finally died. \" (
I thought he was joking but it turned out to be true even though her death had nothing to do with range).
The other agreed to talk but asked me to use only his nameBarry. A sixty-six-year-
A retired consumer research consultant, a gun coach, sits on a sofa, wearing a black hat and a flannel shirt, jeans and boots.
Barry, who first learned to shoot at the age of 12, has taken part in 50 rounds of informal target practice.
When he grew up in Brooklyn, 1950 and 60, things were different.
He joined the Brooklyn Scout marksmanship project, running in the armory of the autonomous city.
The other four men there that day also belonged to the same group.
\"This is one of the experiences we have formed in our lives,\" Barry said . \" He spoke in a calm, thoughtful manner throughout the chat.
\"What you learn about responsibility and character has been with you for the rest of your life.
\"In an era when mass shootings were unheard of, most schools had a rifle team;
Barry is a member of Stuart High School and then a member of Brooklyn College.
\"You can put your rifle in the box and take the subway or bus and it doesn\'t seem like anyone noticed or cared about it,\" he said . \".
According to an old timer, there may be as many as 30 gun retailers in the city in those days, and the most novel retailers on Fifth Avenue. (
One of the remains is gellery, New York, on Madison Avenue, where you can get a high
End pistol, shotgun or rifle. )
In Barry\'s view, after the assassination in the 1960 s, public attitudes towards guns began to shift (
Sandy Hook, Aurora and Virginia Tech in that decade).
In New York City, restrictions have become more stringent in recent decades
From Ed Koch to David Dinkins to Rudy Giuliani --
Until Mayor Bloomberg brought the fight against gun violence to a climax and declared the mayor against illegal guns.
On January 15, in response to the new town massacre, Governor Como rushed through the security act, which further expanded the coverage of the law.
I asked Barry a more controversial question.
Limit the number of bullets in the magazine to 7 instead of 10 (
Cuomo has given up because 7-
Bullet magazines are rare).
I would like to know if seven, ten and fifteen have any influence on him.
He admits that this is not a problem in some form of target shooting, but if you use a pistol for self-shooting
He said, \"You want more rounds, not less.
You want them as insurance.
I asked, \"What about the idea that insurance also gives mass shooters the ability to do a lot of damage quickly ? \".
\"Law is law.
\"He said.
\"A loyal criminal will get what he wants.
You limit those who are the least likely to do any harm, and the criminal laughs at the situation.
\"It is not difficult to understand why gun owners who follow the rules think it is unfair to punish them for committing crimes against others.
There is a special provision in the new legislation --
Tracking procurement of ammunition
Barry felt particularly insulting.
In his view, he has passed the background check for the permit, so why follow up on his ammo, he says, as if he was suspected, \"I am the person under investigation, found to be more pure than Caesar\'s wife \", adding that criminals can shop on the black market anyway.
Although considering how easy it is to buy guns online, there is no problem on similar websites.
Com, they don\'t even need to worry about it.
Since the Senate voted against closing these loopholes on April, these are free of charge. for-
All markets will continue to offer unregistered guns to anyone who wants them.
I asked him why he had objections to laws that did not restrict him personally, such as a general background check, or a call to a mentally ill person who might pose a threat.
He acknowledges that these seem sensible, but warns, \"there is a good line between security and giving up your rights.
\"He agrees that a mentally ill person should not have a gun, but points out that trying to judge who is potentially in danger could put a mental health professional in an\" unfair, tricky situation \".
\"While he is not convinced that the widespread background checks will lead to national gun registrations, which will enable the future abusive government to confiscate the guns of everyone, if that happens in some limited way, he said, he \"wouldn\'t be completely surprised because
For example, it is called \"assault rifle \".
When asked if he thought the new legislation in New York might make it harder for at least some dangerous people to get guns, he said, \"it may, and it may.
Let\'s see what happens.
\"After we chatted, he put on the ear guard mirror and a pair of safety glasses, with the target and the gun box in his hand, and entered the range through the two doors.
Barry cut his bull at the shooting range.
The last turn of the eye turned the crank, and it was about 15 feet to the vast field of wet cement ground and dirty white walls left about 50 feet inches deep.
He took out the black CZ Kadet pistol, unlocked the lock and placed it on a wooden counter next to an extra magazine and a box of standard speed ammunition.
What he told me was \"waiting for the position \"--
Facing the front, the arm is straight, the right hand holds the gun, and the left hand puts pressure on the opposite side to stabilize it, just like you do with the camera.
He fired five shots in a row, shooting near the center of the target.
Five more, and then he pushed it in and saw it, moving briskly.
My ear guard measures suppressed the violent explosion that resonated with my chest.
At the moment of launch, a small flame, a \"gunpoint explosion\" broke out from the tip of the pistol, a golden shell popped up and slammed onto the floor.
He quickly fired about ten more bullets, brought the target in, and shook his head discontentedly.
He sent it back, loaded another magazine, fired more shots, and checked it again.
\"It\'s better,\" he said . \"
Later, he pushed the target out again, about twenty years old.
5 feet away, after his last ten rounds, he checked all the holes in the center\'s black area and said, \"Well, it could be worse. \" (
It looks good to me. )
Then he wiped the gun with a rag, re-opened the lock and put it back in the box.
\"It\'s good range etiquette to always sweep by himself,\" he told me, brushing his shell into dustpan and throwing it into a bucket.
Most of the members I \'ve approached have suggested some changes in ofI not to talk to reporters.
A photographer there told me that he had an interaction with a man, and he compared a reporter from a shooting range to \"the Nazis at the mitzvah \".
\"In fact, I just wanted to know about guns and New Yorkers who love guns, not for the agenda of the Third Reich.
Stephen Michel, 60five-year-
The old accountant who came out of the shooting range, with a handle gun on each hip, sympathized with my efforts.
He said he learned to shoot a rifle as a scout and then shoot in the army, but did not pick up the rifle again until his child got out of the house.
Now he shoots every week.
Like me and everyone else, he questioned the security bill.
\"At the end of the day, it just makes people who are afraid of guns feel comfortable because we do something,\" he said . \" The problem, he added, is that \"you are weakening the rights of those who want to follow the rules.
\"He did say something could be improved,\" like the background checks at the gun show, \"but I \'ve heard this many times and he doesn\'t think the new law will make much of a difference.
I still have a hard time understanding why people who don\'t seem to be affected by the security act are so opposed to it, and I\'m trying to accept the idea that I missed something.
But as someone who is worried that guns will bring deadly power to people carrying them, it is a challenge.
Nevertheless, Michelle\'s description of Zen
Like the art of shooting, it sounds really appealing.
He likened it to yoga and said, \"you need to clear your mind, you have to focus, you have to breathe, you have to live in the present.
\"As everyone urged me, I thought about taking a rifle class, but I decided it wasn\'t for me.
When I went out, I checked my phone like I did on December, this time to see if there was a disaster.
It turns out there was a double murder in Texas.
In the shooting range.
One of the victims was a Navy SEAL. He was one of the best snipers in the military.
Later, the New York Times reporter David Carr wrote on Twitter: \"The degree of mutual trust in the shooting field is always impressive.
My next visit is on a rainy Monday night.
I went to see the women\'s shooting campaign Alliance, which was founded 13 years ago. (
According to the aGallup poll, the number of female gun holders in the United States has been rising in recent years. )
I met Alexis Russ, 40, when I arrivedtwo-year-
The old Financial Services representative from Stuyvesant Heights, Brooklyn sits at a table and fills in the first-
Timer through criminal background checks.
She told me she was thinking about buying a gun to protect herself.
\"This is the first step in my education and I hope it\'s an interesting thing,\" she said . \".
\"Then I will see how I feel about having a pistol at home.
\"I took a safety class for five new women, while others hit the shooting line.
We sat at a small desk in a monotonous back room with six black rifles on it.
Coach Barry said: \"These designs are designed to make holes in things, and when he raises a Luger 10/22 semi-automatic rifle, the women use it every time they launch 50 bullets.
He began to break down the \"anatomy\" of the gun, detailing how the gun works and how to handle it safely.
Later, when the novices were ready, I talked to Helen, 40.
Three, the most experienced shooter in the group, declined to give her last name.
She has just finished her course and has helped beginners to get directions.
Although she has been shooting since 1986, like all the other women present that day, she has no guns.
\"I am interested in having a gun to protect myself, but I may get hurt,\" she said . \".
\"It may be more dangerous to have a gun.
\"When Lars came back from the shooting line with her target in his hand, we were surprised to see that most of the holes were near the center.
\"I\'m fine,\" she said with a smile . \".
\"I don\'t know what\'s going on.
\"Russ only shot once, but he felt that he was not ready to make a decision, even though it was a good shot, at least with a rifle, which was encouraging.
Asked if it would feel safer to hold a gun at home, she said, \"If I knew how to shoot and I knew all the safety features, I would definitely feel safer.
\"Given all the guns and psychics, it\'s the most unstable beer, and why some Americans want to hold their protection in their own hands doesn\'t need great gymnastics.
After all, the police can\'t always be by your side.
* In a beautiful spring of April, I came to this mountain again to check the post
Sandy Hook gentle and amiable boss Darren Liang is together and he always calls me \"my friend\" and is happy to get me into the place completely.
While waiting for him, I looked up at the TV and found the Boston Marathon bombing that just happened.
Liang told me that after Newtown, he offered free gun training to teachers at kids Elementary School in Queens.
No one accepted his offer.
In fact, he said that what reassured him was the presence of an armed retired police officer at the school, and that his only job was to leave the unpopular, instead of a recent arm teacher at a school in missus. Even pre-
Sandy Hook, Leung is worried about what will happen to his six-year-old and eight-year-old children at school.
\"The world is changing,\" he said . \"
\"We \'d better adapt to these changes.
Children are not protected.
They have a school security officer but the security officer is not armed.
He sighed and said he hoped the ministry would come up with a better plan of action.
\"They just bombed a sporting event,\" he said . \"
\"The world has not changed, why are we willing to put our heads into the sand and say,\" I hope the best, \"Don\'t you want the odds to be on your side? Don\'t you want to have the means to win this battle? \"There are different themes every week and a story is published one day.
More stories on the theme \"red state, New York\" last week: \"Get right into the stage\", \"impossible tasks: Mormon occupation of Harlem\", \"correct campus\",\"