Originally Posted by
Martinjmpr
Like we needed another indoor range? :rolleyes:
Driving through smaller cities I always am impressed by the nice public OUTDOOR ranges I see in places like Montrose or even Salt Lake City.
I think the most shooting I ever did outside the military was when I lived in Laramie. For $50/year I joined the local gun club and had full use of the outdoor range that was 5 miles from my apartment. Being a broke student, shooting was one of the few things I could afford to do (back when ammo was cheap and plentiful.)
Yes, Laramie has sucky winters and I had a 2wd pickup as my only transportation, but I still never had trouble getting to the range (and if it was too cold/snowy to make it into the range I wouldn't have wanted to go shooting anyway.)
It baffles me that in a large metro area (with, what, 2.5 million people?) we can't seem to support an outdoor public shooting range. Our only viable choices seem to be Cherry Creek, Buffalo Creek (when it's open) or making the long drive to Summit County or Pawnee Buttes.
I get that outdoor ranges are probably more difficult to run as a business than an indoor range that can operate regardless of the weather, but I sure would like to see more OUTDOOR shooting opportunities in the Denver/Front Range area.
(Side note: Who remembers an outdoor shooting range off of CO 7 between Lafayette and I-25? I want to say it was a little bit East of the airport. There is a housing development and a golf course there now but I remember going there around 1998 - 99 when I lived in Broomfield. It was one of the very few outdoor ranges in the metro area that was not a private club.)