I live in Chicago, Illinois, as such this is pretty much for Illinois residents.
I want to get my FOID card (firearms license) but I do not want to keep a gun in the house, I just want to be able to go to ranges and practice shooting (stress relief/hone skills). Do most ranges require you to bring your own firearm, or can you pay a fee and use one of theirs? If so do many have a small selection that you can vary up on? Thanks!
Many firearms sellers in my area (Pacific Northwest) have ranges. I assume that’s normal. You can rent a gun and purchase ammo. They take your driver’s license and put it in place of the gun so that you’re less likely to run off with it and if you do they know who you are.
Actually I don’t know that I’d buy a gun without trying it out first. When I decided to buy a handgun I wanted this cool Beretta PX9 Storm. Then I tried it out and didn’t like it. I tried a couple others and a S&W M&P had a perfect feel, and I bought it.
But aside from giving you a “try then buy” they’re more than happy to rent you the gun to fire in their range whenever you like.
I forgot to add, for the selection there’s usually a whole case of guns and you can try whatever you want.
My experience is with more than a dozen of these places, again I think this is the norm.
Many ranges require either a) you bring your own gun, then you can rent as many as you want, or b) rent only to 2+ people. 1 person who doesn’t own one is seen as a potential suicide risk. Check to see what each place wants.
Why don’t you want one in your house? Buy a safe or trigger lock if you’re worried about family.
Selection completely varies depending on the range, from no rentals at all to wide selections.
You could also get an air gun to start.
Depends on the range. The outdoor range I am a member of where I live does not rent guns of any type. One of the indoor ranges I belong to does, but their selection isn’t great. I’m not a resident of Illinois though so maybe it’s different where you live.
One thing you could do if you don’t want a gun in your house is to store it (secure) in an offsite facility (some ranges have this feature). Or you could have it in your home but kept in a lockbox or gun safe and separated from the ammo if you are worried about kids or others getting a hold of it and doing mischief.
Many ranges will rent. Many do not. Call around, I’m fairly sure you can find one to accomodate your wish.
This has been my experience as well. Most ranges will not rent a firearm unless you have one already. Something about preventing suicide.
My local range (I’m downstate) rents to anyone with a FOID who’s watched the safety video and can pass a five shot test (five shots at seven yards with whatever firearm you choose to rent). If you can’t pass the test, you are required to take an hour of training with an instructor.
See, this has exactly NOT been my experience - I’d never even heard of this reasoning,***** and it frankly sounds UL-ish to me. Not that they do it, but that the stated reason is based on less-than-stellar-reasoning.
*****I’ve been to ranges in Maryland, Delaware, Massachusets, Connecticut, Illinios, Florida, California, and Pennsylvania
This has been my experience, shooting in several states. Suicide risk.
YMMV, I guess.
That’s what Range Masters are for. Well, one of the reasons, anyway.
A quick check for hard data shows a distinct lack of decent numbers tracking. *Anecdotal *claims are all over the place, with The ‘best’ data I can find is incomplete information from Orange County, California, which claims a rate of .267 suiceds per range per year - In a HUGE population. How many of them were using rented guns is not indicated, but I’d suggest an even lower number, because frankly, not all that many ranges DO rent - Not in my experience in OC, anyway. So… More likely, they were using their friends’ or relatives’ guns. Or their own.
I guess I will have to do my research and pick one up then, lock it up and all. Just don’t want anyone to touch it. just like to be on the safe side of things. I had no idea that there was such a limitation/precaution because of suicide risks, that’s so depressing to know what lengths people will go to and end their own life.
Anyhow, besides the sad stuff, thanks for the advice! I might as well have one, considering how many posts I have about the apocalypse and such lol.
Thanks again!
What gun/type were you thinking of getting/trying? I guess through the OP I was kind of assuming pistol - that might be my mistake and I don’t know if ranges are as worried about rifle and shotgun suicide - a bit more difficult to accomplish without the RO noticing.
Do learn the 4 rules by heart. Guns don’t go off by themselves; the most important safety is the one between your ears.
Apologies, I didn’t specify. I suppose a small handgun, something with more stopping power than a 9mm (Criminal Justice Professor/CPD Detective had told me they are awful when it comes to stopping power) but looks neat, is reliable and fun to shoot. Any ideas of what would match those specs? Suggestions? Just something fun to shoot at the range, I never want to actually have to use it for self-defensive or what have you.
Also, very aware of the golden rules with firearms, safety always comes first in any aspect of my life. Only aim at what you want to kill, every gun is always loaded, line up before squeezing/ the trigger (never pull). Respect the firearm.
MODS: Apologies if this treads into IMHO territory, but looking for some more factual responses in term of firearm reliability and such.
Thanks again!
SDMB never lets me down!
Are there Range Masters on the firing line watching for potential suicidal people where you shoot? Any such Range Masters who are then supposed to intercede a suicide attempt, to me, sounds like a recipe for unsafe conditions for any other shooters on the line, and also for the Range Masters themselves. I want no part of shooting at any range like that.
In all the ranges I’ve been to, the only Range Masters on the line were class instructors. Otherwise when shooting, any Range Master is off the line, and maybe only monitoring by camera.
For any other shooters that I bring to the range, I tell them to be mindful of all other shooters on the line, watching for unsafe conditions. I’m not talking about potential suicides. We have to police ourselves for any unsafe range conditions. If others are being unsafe, leave, and/or report it.
I don’t think we’ve given you any useful advice whatsoever. Certainly nothing conclusive.
The collective answers amount to: “Some ranges rent guns. Others don’t. Call the ones near you and ask.” Somehow from that you tell us you got the idea that “No ranges rent guns so therefore I absolutely need to buy one.”
Color me confused. 
Do you never *want *to use it defensively, or do you never *intend *to use it defensively? Two very different questions.
IMO nobody except gun-porn wannabes are looking forward to their first “defensive” shooting.
But there’s a difference between “I intend only to target shoot and have no expectation of even trying to use it for home defense” versus “I’m intending to learn home defense and be equipped and prepared to do it although I hope I’ll never have to.”
Someone intending to only rent range guns or intending to store the weapon off-site or extra-securely locked up is somebody solidly in the first group. At which point “fun to shoot” is the only criteria and “stopping power” is fantasy silliness. For that mission you can’t beat a .22 pistol for fun, cheap, and easy on the arms & ears.
Somebody solidly in the second group is somebody who intends to store the gun(s) in the home where it/they can be accessed, loaded, and readied to fire in the space of a few seconds at best, 30 seconds at worst. And that person is far more concerned about “stopping power” than they are about “fun to shoot”.
So which one are you? You can’t really be both; the groups are mutually exclusive. Home defense is either in, or out, of your intended repertoire. And if in, doing it right the first time becomes the overriding criteria for everything else.
Color me confused again.
So roughly 1 in 4 ranges experience a suicide in any given year. And the average range will experience a suicide every 4 years.
That seems like a large number, not a negligible number. I’m not questioning the numeric ‘facts’, just the qualitative interpretation.
.22 ammo tends to be cheapest … is that okay for you just plinking targets on the range?
Renting before buying is a great way to go. Look at ammo costs too, before deciding on caliber. Find a range that has a good selection of rentals in the calibers you’re interested in and ask what their policies are (if you can rent alone, etc), and go there.
Try before you buy. Also, many ranges offer intro classes on basic firearms handling and shooting. That is a great way to learn, and the instructors usually will happily share their experiences.
Everything I’ve read about 9mm is that its “stopping power” is just fine. Plus you’re likely to get 50% more rounds in a magazine compared to a 45. Wouldn’t discount a 9mm as a ccw. If you’re just plinking though, yeah, 22.