# Can I do riflery practice without owning a rifle? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 13, 2004, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-do-riflery-practice-without-owning-a-rifle/259643 "2004-08-13T02:47:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Plan\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Plan\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plan_B)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-do-riflery-practice-without-owning-a-rifle/259643/1 "2004-08-13T02:47:55Z")
Here’s the situation. My son and I want to spend some time doing target practice this fall. We found a gun club in the country where we can become members and use their facilities. But we have to bring our own guns. For a few good reasons which I won’t go into, there is no way I can have a gun in my house. So is there any way around this? Are there shooting ranges where you can rent the rifle, kind of like you can go to a bowling alley and use their ball? I was also thinking about getting a vault at the bank and keeping the rifles there. I don’t know if that’s OK with the bank, but it rules out shooting on Sundays. Any ideas? ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-do-riflery-practice-without-owning-a-rifle/259643/2 "2004-08-13T02:55:17Z")
Ask the club if they have gun storage facilities. Some have secure vaults you can check your rifle in and out of for a monthly storage fee. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-do-riflery-practice-without-owning-a-rifle/259643/3 "2004-08-13T03:00:36Z")
Sure, there is such a thing. There are several shooting ranges in this part of Massachusetts that rent guns. I don’t know where you are but there might be some nearby. I am not sure why you are not allowed to have guns in your house but there is one alternative. Have you ever looked into finely made air rifles like a [beeman](http://airgunsbbguns.com/beeman-airguns-airrifles-pelletguns.html). There are as accurate or more accurate than most small bore rifles at shorter ranges and .22 caliber pellet rifles are available. They teach shooting skills that can easily be transferred to firearms. Most importantly for me, they are almost silent and firearms laws do not apply so you can shoot them places where you otherwise couldn’t. Also, they are much safer than firearms because they are generally single shot and you have to cock and pump them once before they will fire. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-do-riflery-practice-without-owning-a-rifle/259643/4 "2004-08-13T03:02:47Z")
> [@Fear Itself](#): > > Ask the club if they have gun storage facilities. Some have secure vaults you can check your rifle in and out of for a monthly storage fee. That is a good idea too. I think even the ones around here that don’t rent guns let you store them there. There are things called “shooting clubs” that you have to be a member to use but they tend to be a little nicer and always have storage for your guns in my experience. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_H](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a5b964/32.png) [@Bill\_H](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_H)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-do-riflery-practice-without-owning-a-rifle/259643/5 "2004-08-13T03:07:06Z")
Would locking up the gun at home be a solution? Or is this more a home politics issue? ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-do-riflery-practice-without-owning-a-rifle/259643/6 "2004-08-13T03:10:09Z")
> [@Bill H.](#): > > Would locking up the gun at home be a solution? Or is this more a home politics issue? I was guessing it was a home politics issue too. That is why I brought up the air rifle solution. Even though my air rifle looks just like any other rifle, my wife has no problem with it. I never explained to her that my air rifle is a .22 and actually has more muzzle velocity than a .22 firearm. To her, the level of BOOM was all that mattered. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Long\_Road](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5a626/32.png) [@The\_Long\_Road](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Long_Road)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-do-riflery-practice-without-owning-a-rifle/259643/7 "2004-08-13T03:33:20Z")
When I was stuck in an area with no local shooting range, a metal target box and an air rifle made a very nice shooting range. As for renting, there are places which rent everything up to [machine guns](http://www.thegunstorelasvegas.com/rental.htm). It all depends on where you live. ---
**Author:** ![Plan\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Plan\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plan_B)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-do-riflery-practice-without-owning-a-rifle/259643/8 "2004-08-13T03:33:52Z")
> [@Bill H.](#): > > Would locking up the gun at home be a solution? Or is this more a home politics issue? The main reason is that I just don’t trust myself to do it correctly. I can see myself taking my son to the range, treating everything seriously and with the utmost of safety, and then coming home and tossing the rifle on my bed because I have to get to the bathroom and just letting it lie there for a couple of weeks or so. Then there’s the issue of baby sitters, repair people, house cleaners, friends of my kids, my own kids’ moments of bad judgement (Lemmee show you what my dad got!!), etc. Home politics BTW is also an issue. Thanks for the suggestions so far. I’ll make some phone calls this weekend to try to find the right place. It’s great to know that you can rent and store guns at some places. I’ll check back here over the next few days to see if there are other ideas. ---
**Author:** ![hammerbach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/73ab20/32.png) [@hammerbach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hammerbach)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-do-riflery-practice-without-owning-a-rifle/259643/9 "2004-08-13T15:14:04Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > I was guessing it was a home politics issue too. That is why I brought up the air rifle solution. Even though my air rifle looks just like any other rifle, my wife has no problem with it. I never explained to her that my air rifle is a .22 and actually has more muzzle velocity than a .22 firearm. To her, the level of BOOM was all that mattered. Puts me in mind of a friend whose mother wouldn’t let him have one of those terrible, dangerous BB guns to play with. But she was OK with turning him loose on the neighborhood with a bow and arrows. There really are some nice air rifles, but bear in mind that they require the same responsibilities as firearms. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-do-riflery-practice-without-owning-a-rifle/259643/10 "2004-08-13T16:33:29Z")
> [@Plan B](#): > > The main reason is that I just don’t trust myself to do it correctly. I can see myself taking my son to the range, treating everything seriously and with the utmost of safety, and then coming home and tossing the rifle on my bed because I have to get to the bathroom and just letting it lie there for a couple of weeks or so. Hmm. Safe firearm handling at the range requires a certain level of knowledge, responsibility, self control, and maturity. If you believe you’ll handle or store the rifle in an irresponsible way at home, should you even be shooting the rifle at the range? ---
**Author:** ![Rikster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e9a140/32.png) [@Rikster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rikster)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2004, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-do-riflery-practice-without-owning-a-rifle/259643/11 "2004-08-14T06:31:42Z")
Besides “you’ll shoot your eye out kid” sorry couldn’t help it, all this talk about red riders made me think of Alphie in that Christmas movie 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Plan\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Plan\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plan_B)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2004, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-do-riflery-practice-without-owning-a-rifle/259643/12 "2004-08-14T21:53:56Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > Hmm. Safe firearm handling at the range requires a certain level of knowledge, responsibility, self control, and maturity. If you believe you’ll handle or store the rifle in an irresponsible way at home, should you even be shooting the rifle at the range? If you saw the difference between my office and my home you’d get it in a heartbeat. I can be very responsible for short periods of time outside the home. Haven’t caused a car accident since 1970 (No injuries, BTW), only one ticket since 1974. Once inside those doors I morph into a lazy, dumbass version of Homer Simpson. OK, the above is a bit of an exageration, but I really think you have to be ready to bat 1,000 if you’re going to play this game. Doing that for a few hours at the range is human. Doing it 24/7 at home is not a responsibility I want. ---
**Author:** ![daffyduck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ec9cab/32.png) [@daffyduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/daffyduck)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2004, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-do-riflery-practice-without-owning-a-rifle/259643/13 "2004-08-14T22:42:04Z")
My brother-in-law has his gun safe in the garage. Guns never come into the house. They go from the safe into his truck and from the truck into the safe. The door that leads from the house to the garage has a dead bolt that locks from either side and he literally locks himself into the garage when working on his guns. He destroyed all keys to the gun safe except one which he keeps on a chain around his neck at all times. In case the key should be lost, he would rather pay a locksmith to open the safe than have a spare key around that one of his kids might find. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2004, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-do-riflery-practice-without-owning-a-rifle/259643/14 "2004-08-14T22:54:20Z")
> [@Plan B](#): > > Once inside those doors I morph into a lazy, **dumbass version** of Homer Simpson. The mind boggles. Can you even be trusted with scissors? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Plan\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Plan\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plan_B)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-do-riflery-practice-without-owning-a-rifle/259643/15 "2004-08-15T23:15:32Z")
> [@daffyduck](#): > > My brother-in-law has his gun safe in the garage. Guns never come into the house. They go from the safe into his truck and from the truck into the safe. The door that leads from the house to the garage has a dead bolt that locks from either side and he literally locks himself into the garage when working on his guns. He destroyed all keys to the gun safe except one which he keeps on a chain around his neck at all times. In case the key should be lost, he would rather pay a locksmith to open the safe than have a spare key around that one of his kids might find. Excellent story to illustrate my point. That’s the difference between your brother-in-law and me. Key on his body at all times. I agree with the idea, could never pull it off.