THE GUN STORE
THE POWER OF PROTECTION
“BANG-BANG, SHOOT ‘EM UP”
NEVER FELT SO GOOD

“Go ahead, make my day!” These words made famous by Clint Eastwood in Dirty Harry, and made the .44 Smith & Wesson Model 29 revolver a very popular gun among movie fans. Al Pacino as Tony Montana in Scarface shouts: “Say hello to my little friend!” as he brandishes his M16. The Uzi used by Arnold Schwarzenegger in The Terminator, the Beretta 92’s used by Mel Gibson in Lethal Weapon and by Jean Reno as Léon in The Professional, the Glocks that appear in True Lies, Diehard III and U.S. Marshalls, were all made famous in movies throughout the world. It’s no wonder that people want to see, feel and hold one or more of these amazing firearms.

Tourists and locals alike show up at The Gun Store that offers a wide array of firearms and a machine gun buffet including the MP5, Uzi, AK-47, the Tommy Gun, and the one that is said to be the most popular: the M249 SAW belt-feed on a bipod. “Shooting one of these firearms gives most people an adrenaline rush and a ‘Rambo’ experience,” says Chris Irwin, manager of The Gun Store.

You select your poster-size target, featuring photos of Osama bin Laden, Nazi zombies, thugs, terrorists, and even bad guys holding hostages. There are packages you can buy where you shoot different types of firearms that range from a “Ladies” package to the “World War II” package, and then there’s the “Shoot The Wall” package that gives you an enormous selection. For foreigners from countries where firearms are illegal, like the UK, it’s a huge thrill to actually fire something that you’ve only seen in the movies.

The Gun Store is an incredible experience that not only allows you to rent a firearm, to shoot on their range, and purchase firearm ammunition and other defense related items, it also offers classes on concealed weapons, self-defense, firearms safety, taser operation, pepper spray training, and even a gun safety class for children called “Eddie Eagle”. SLV visited The Gun Store recently and sat with Chris Irwin to learn even more about its history and popularity. We also learned a lot about when it’s justified to pull a firearm and when it’s not!

SLV: Your dad started this Gun Store, correct?
CHRIS: His first store was called “The Survival Store” on Spring Mountain and Valley View. Eventually he and his partner bought the range area next door here and called it “The Survival Store East”. After about a year, they had a mutual parting of the ways, and he kept this one, and the other partner kept the other one. He changed the name to “The Gun Store” and then I came on board in 2004. Little by little, I started taking over the advertising. I made it more visible and more current.
SLV: How old were you when you shot your first gun?
CHRIS: Probably six or seven.
SLV: Your dad had guns around the house?
CHRIS: Well, it wasn’t like he had a rifle rack in his and my mom’s bedroom, but we shot a lot out in the desert. Back in the day, you could drive up West Charleston, pull the car over to the side of the road and go bang, bang, bang and shoot soda cans. Now you can’t do that, but that’s what we did when I was a child.
SLV: Was your dad a cop?
CHRIS: No he wasn’t, but he was on a reserve police department in San Jose, California. He taught police officers how to shoot, working with the academies and the firearms training. I ended up doing the same thing.
SLV: People come from all over the world to hold these machine guns that they see in the movies. Are these weapons legal here in Nevada, or just legal to shoot here on your range?
CHRIS: Yes, they’re legal here. Upon a background check, you can purchase everything that’s out there. If we have it for sale, you can purchase it, upon a clear background check. When you buy a machine gun, you pay an extra $200 transfer tax that pays for your licensing. The background check is a little more extensive than if you were to buy a handgun, but yes, you can do that here in Nevada.
SLV: How much more extensive is the background check?
CHRIS: I don’t know to what extent, but when people buy a handgun, we can call it in, and we’ll usually get an answer promptly. That’s not going to happen when you’re buying a machine gun. The paperwork has to be sent out and submitted and you have to wait.
SLV: Do other states have similar laws concerning machine guns?
CHRIS: There are other states that have laws similar to Nevada. Florida, Texas and Arizona have concealed firearms laws that are similar.
SLV: Are the people who buy these guns using them for self-defense?
CHRIS: No. If someone is buying a machine gun, they’re buying it for fun. They’re buying it because…why do you buy a Ferrari? Do you need a car that goes that fast? No, you just want one!
SLV: Where can they use one, if they can’t shoot in the desert?
CHRIS: There are ranges around the Las Vegas Valley where you can go shoot whatever you want. You just have to be a member of the range. The population here has grown so much and there’s so much housing now, the area that my father and I used to shoot is now where Red Rock Station sits. There is the Clark County Shooting Park, Desert Sportsman, and Boulder City has a range. So, you can shoot. Most ranges, if you join them, require a safety class and an orientation and then you’re good to go.
SLV: What’s the most popular gun for self-defense for a man or woman? Is there one in particular that you would recommend?
CHRIS: If a woman walks in and she’s buying a handgun for the first time, we’ll usually show her a small revolver, because they’re easy to load. They’re not difficult to manipulate. Load it, point it, and it’s ready to go bang. Some people want more features on the firearm. They want the safeties; something that tells them there’s a bullet in the barrel and its loaded. Starting off, we’ll show a woman a revolver, and a guy some different handguns. We’ll show him a Glock, which is point and shoot, versus a Springfield or a Beretta that may have a lot of external indicators on the firearm. Some people like that and some don’t. I never try to profess to anyone that this is the gun for them because everybody’s different; different height, different weight, different hand sizes, so what’s going to work for me, wouldn’t necessarily work for somebody else.
SLV: Would you advise a woman to get a gun that will stop an assailant, versus a smaller .22 gauge? If someone is breaking into her house at night, she’ll be lucky to just hit him, because she’s so nervous.
CHRIS: That’s true, because stress is a huge factor when it comes to using a firearm. We usually don’t recommend anything lower than a .380 bullet, and then you start going higher like a .9. When you go lower like a .29 or .22’s, those are very small calibers. I’m not saying that anyone wants to be shot with any caliber, period. But, can someone keep coming at you with a .22? Oh sure. People can be hit with them and not even know that they’ve been hit. Again, it depends on the person, their size, if they’re on drugs or alcohol and what’s the cause of their adrenalin flowing. So we usually tell people to look at a .380 or .9 mm.
SLV: Something that’s going to stop them.
CHRIS: Absolutely, because you’re looking to stop the threat and that’s what we teach in our firearm classes. That’s the goal.
SLV: Do all calibers have the same amount of kickback?
CHRIS: No. You’re going to feel more recoils if you shoot a .45 caliber versus a .9.
SLV: What do you teach in your women’s self-defense classes?
CHRIS: We talk about other options as well. We talk about revolvers and semi-automatics, but we’ll also talk about tasers, stun guns, and pepper spray, which we highly recommend. We talk about the tools you should have with you or in your house: a flashlight, a whistle. There are other options, because not everyone is comfortable carrying a firearm. We tell them that there are other methods to protect yourself, like leaving a porch light on, or having a dog that barks.
SLV: A scenario could be of a young woman coming out to her car after work or being in a club. Tasers are legal here in Nevada?
CHRIS: Yes. Tasers will put people down. They’ll put animals down. If you get tased, you’re going down! What’s nice about the pepper spray is that they come with an adapter for your keychain, and then you can have it in your hand when you’re walking at night. But even those need a little instruction. Be careful if there’s a breeze blowing. You don’t want to spray and then walk into it. Any defense item you get, I think you need to get yourself an education on the item.
SLV: What would keep a person from being able to buy a firearm?
CHRIS: A: a prior charge of domestic violence. B: if you’ve been admitted to a mental facility. C: being dishonorably discharged from the military. D: any kind of felony. E: a temporary restraining order against you. You’ll have to wait until that clears. For the most part, things are very black and white. A lot of people come in here and try to buy a firearm and they get turned down. Then they tell the salesman later: “Well, I did have a domestic violence charge against me back in Missouri, but that was fourteen years ago.” Well, it’s still there.
SLV: No matter what felony charge? Say you were picked up with weed?
CHRIS: If you have a felony…you have a felony.
SLV: Are the restrictions even tighter to get a concealed weapon permit?
CHRIS: No, not here in Nevada.
SLV: I know that in other states, it’s harder to get. What is the renewal time for that permit?
CHRIS: Every five years.
SLV: There was a shooting recently where a man supposedly reached for his concealed weapon and then was shot by police. Police never know if they’re going to be shot at or what. Do your classes give instructions on how to address that?
CHRIS: We do. Basically, if I had to summarize it, what we try to get across to people in the class is: “Do not use your firearm unless you are absolutely sure that your life, or somebody next to you, has their life in jeopardy.” I’m going to quote one of my instructors who teaches: “If this thought goes through your head… ‘Oh my God, I’m going to die…,’ you’re probably justified in using a firearm.” You cannot use it for road rage, you can’t use it for a threat or brandishing, showing it to somebody. If you pull that firearm out, it better be because your life, or a family member, or someone next to you has their life in serious danger, because they’ll know. They’ll know if you’re lying, so tell the truth. They understand that everyone gets stressed and panics. It’s a horrible experience if you have to do something like that, so tell the truth and pay attention to what we teach in the class.
SLV: What about burglaries where someone comes into your home? You have to feel that your life is in danger, not just your property or possessions?
CHRIS: Correct. If you wake up in the middle of the night, and there’s a guy stealing your TV: if you choose to grab your firearm and say: “Put my TV down!” and he looks at you and goes: ‘Too bad, shoot me!’ Then he walks out with your TV. Let him walk out with your TV, because if you don’t, your life is going to change for the worse. You can’t shoot someone for a property crime, for stealing your car, or something like that. It has to be that a human life is in danger, and it’s happening now at this moment. If a guy says: “I’m going to go home and get a baseball bat and come back and smash your head in,” unless he’s coming at you with that baseball bat, and you’ve warned him that you have a firearm, you’re not justified in using that firearm.
SLV: Probably 99% of women who are alone in the house or with children, and a man comes into their house, they’re going to feel that their life is in danger. They don’t know if they’re going to be raped or killed. Would that justify use of their firearm?
CHRIS: Absolutely. The first thing we teach people in the order of self-defense measures is verbal, such as: “Don’t come any closer. I have a firearm!” Give a verbal warning. That alone will deter a lot of bad activity.
SLV: I’ve also been told that you shouldn’t get a firearm unless you’re willing to use it, because the assailant will know if you’re too scared to use it. Then they can take it away from you and use it on you.
CHRIS: Absolutely. That’s all covered in the self-defense class, and we talk a great deal about it.
SLV: Do you think the classes can make a person feel more confident or is it just coming here and learning how to shoot the gun?
CHRIS: It’s both. I think the classes greatly prepare people mentally. We talk about court cases, and show them videos. These things happen all the time, so we prepare people mentally, and then definitely, shooting makes you feel more comfortable. There’s a lot of muscle memory involved in it, so the more you do it, the more comfortable you’ll be, and the better off you’re going to be.
SLV: With a concealed weapons permit, is it honored in other states?
CHRIS: If you take our concealed weapons class, you can also get applications for Florida and Utah. You send those in on your own. Utah is $65 and Florida is $125. Once you get Nevada, Utah and Florida’s permits, that covers you in over half the United States. I think it’s between 34-36 states, because some states will honor other state’s permits. Now Nevada doesn’t honor anybody here. In Vermont and Arizona, you don’t even need a permit. You can just carry a firearm.
SLV: Tell me about the television show Pawn Stars coming and having guns checked out before the buy/sell process.
CHRIS: Yes, they were coming here before they became so popular. They would come here and film, present a firearm to our gunsmith, Tony Dee. We call him The Godfather. He knows more about guns than anybody I’ve ever met in my entire life. He’s amazing! So if they had some weird gun and they weren’t sure if it would fire or not, they’d call Tony and come down here with their video cameras and film. But the last few times, Tony has gone down there because they’re so busy. Tony has gotten quite a bit of notoriety from that. He gets recognized, and people want their picture with him. We get all kinds of emails and pictures of these shotguns and things with people asking what it’s worth.
SLV: Are there guns that are more problematic than other ones?
CHRIS: With a semi-automatic, there’s more of a chance that something could go wrong, because there’s so many more moving parts internally. A revolver is very simple. You open it up, close the cylinder, and it’s ready to go bang. Revolvers were the first handguns basically invented. Firearms and the industry have now come such a long, long way, that if you just maintain them and keep them clean, they’re going to last you forever.
SLV: Do your classes also teach you about that?
CHRIS: Yes, the care and cleaning. Especially here in this valley with the dust, firearms can get dusty, too. Sometimes people come in with their firearms and they’re having a problem, but they’re just dirty.
SLV: Tell me about the used guns you have for sale.
CHRIS: Someone walks in and says: “I want to get rid of this gun. What will you give me for it?” We ask what they were hoping to get for it, and usually they have to lower the asking price significantly, because we have to make a profit, too. At that point the firearm is run through Metro, and 99% of the time, they say it’s fine. We hold it for a little bit and then put it out for sale.
SLV: Is that true with pawnshops, too?
CHRIS: Yes, everything goes through Metro.
SLV: Metro must have access through the FBI or CIA to check across the states nationally.
CHRIS: Yes.
SLV: What percentage of your business is selling firearms, compared to your classes, to people coming here and shooting machine guns?
CHRIS: The tourists that come from all over the world to shoot on the range are about 70% of our business. The classes and retail are probably 15% and 15%. The more people we have in our classes, the more we sell.
SLV: What is the most popular gun that you rent?
CHRIS: It would be the M259 SAW belt-feed machine gun, because it’s our biggest gun and you see the bullets going into it, and it’s on a bipod.
SLV: What’s it cost to shoot a couple machine guns?
CHRIS: Most of our machine guns are $50 for fifty shots. We do have packages where you get a machine gun, rifle and a handgun. We have a ‘create your own package’, where you can pick any three firearms you want. With any package you get a free souvenir t-shirt, too. Pretty much, the sky’s the limit here. You can come in and just shoot a handgun for $25 and be good to go. Most customers spend around $110 while they’re here. You’ll see them outside holding up their targets, all shot up, and having their pictures taken. They email them to us and put them on Yahoo and Google. It’s amazing! Many of the best ideas here didn’t come from my father or myself, including renting the machine guns. When my dad had the old Survival Store, he put a range in there and he had a machine gun
on the wall that
he was selling. A customer was looking at it and said: “You ought to have one of those so people could shoot it. My dad said a light bulb went on in his head and he thought: “Why didn’t I think of that?” That was kind of how it started. Never did my father or myself envision where we are today. This is pretty incredible!
SLV: I read some of the reviews and they said that they hadn’t realized how fast 50 bullets would go in a machine gun, and they would return next time with more money to buy a bigger package.
CHRIS: We have a lot of repeat customers. You’re right that they shoot and then they want to shoot some more. That’s why we try to change up the targets, because we get a lot of return business here.
SLV: Why is the AK47 so popular with the gangs?
CHRIS: The AK stands for Kalashnikov, the man who designed the firearm. It’s a very well-running machine gun. It’s designed differently than the M16 and has fewer problems than the M16’s. It can really take a beating and keep shooting. It’s just a well-running machine gun. It encounters very little problems, as I said, due to the internal mechanisms that are different than the American M16. Why do Ford Explorers last so long? They just do. Sometimes you just get it right. Kalashnikov was a tinkerer and he came up with an incredible design. Everybody’s always trying to come up with a better handgun…a more comfortable handgun…better features. I think a lot of gun shops order the guns they like.
SLV: Where do you see yourself ten years from now?
CHRIS: We’re building a bigger range that will be double the size that we have right now. Two years ago I didn’t see us sitting where we are right now, so it’s really hard for me to foresee. We’ve been very fortunate to be able to create jobs during this recession. I had to hire an accountant and a fulltime cleaning lady. Three years ago, if you’d told me that, I’d say you were crazy.
SLV: I think people are afraid that the gun laws might change.
CHRIS: Oh, absolutely.
SLV: Did your business increase when Obama took office?
CHRIS: When he took office, I had the best two months I’ve ever had. We couldn’t keep guns on the shelf. People were a little nervous that he might crack down on gun ownership. People think, ‘They’re going to come get our guns.’ This also taught us which firearms people do not want to buy when they think their freedoms are going to be taken away. For most people, cost is the first factor, and then it turns to simplicity of function. Shotguns have that click, click sound that gives people a sense of confidence, like they’re protected. It’s not a sound an intruder wants to hear. The bottom line comes down to comfort. People ask me all the time what my favorite firearm is and I tell them, “It’s the one that goes bang when I need it to!” That’s the truth. I could talk to you for an hour about why you should have say, a Springfield. Then you shoot it and it’s like the car you test drive and you just don’t feel right. Then you hold another firearm and it feels just right. That’s what matters to people. Are they comfortable holding the firearm and firing it? If they are, then nothing else matters.
SLV: Ammunition has gotten pretty pricey, hasn’t it?
CHRIS: Ammunition has started to come back down. It did skyrocket and I think that had to do with Obama and people thinking they were going to lose their gun rights. Everybody was hoarding and prices went through the roof.
SLV: Thank you. This is a great place to bring people when you have friends in town—a great daytime activity and educational
classes that we all need to take to protect
ourselves! SLV

Issue 56 featuring: Inari Vachs, Jana Cova and Lela Star