Gun range (courtesy gunrangesystems.com)

“In February, the pseudonymous author of this piece—a former employee at a gun range in Orange County, California—contacted Mother Jones reporter Josh Harkinson, who interviewed the author and corroborated his account (as told to Harkinson below) through official documents, news reports, and interviews with two other former employees of the gun range.” And so . . .

Our re-christened, unidentified gun rage guy– sorry gun range guy — “Kyle Taylor” waves the bloody shirt, highlighting suicides and “rage killers” who fired guns at his former place(s) of employment. After bemoaning on-the-job lead poisoning, he proceeds to excoriate the right wingedness of his former customers’ political “extremism.”

I started noticing a difference in the type of people coming to the range when Bill Clinton was president. It was the first time I had actually seen somebody post a picture of the president as a target. I told them, “Look, you can’t do that.” Now there’s a company that sells targets with images of Obama, and they put apelike features on him.

You never would have seen something like that 20 years ago when I started. It’s an echo chamber. It’s a place where people feel safe because they feel that people are of like mind.

A few months ago, this woman wanted to know about getting her license. I asked her, “What do you need the gun for, if you don’t mind my asking? Was there a crime?” She said, “No, I think there’s going to be an influx of Muslims coming in from our southern border and then they are going to start killing people.” I’ve had people come up to me and say, “I don’t like it that you show these ragheads how to shoot.”

Paranoid? What would you call it when people have six months worth of food? What would you call it when people have 30-plus guns? What would you call it when they are stockpiling ammunition? The gun industry is making a killing, and it’s doing its best to fan the flames.

You see stuff in internet gun forums like, “Hey, FEMA is purchasing a million and a half rounds of ammunition.” It’s supposedly because the government is preparing to come around and knock on your door and round you up into camps.

It all plays into people’s paranoid fantasies, and guns are always the solution. They give people a sense of control in a world that is out of control. You go into the NRA convention and look around at the sea of faces— I’m sorry, it’s a bunch of paranoid white guys who see their country slipping away from them. They think people like Trump, or the gun industry, are the “real” Americans. The gun industry could give a rat’s ass. They are laughing all the way to the bank.

I call B.S. Mr. Taylor’s talking points polemic comes straight from Mother Jones’ anti-gun agitprop department. At best, the left-leaning news org “edited” a genuine account of life on the range to suit their civilian disarmament agenda. At worst, it’s pure fabrication. Either way, horsesh*t.

I’ve shot at dozens of gun ranges around the country. I’ve encountered Muslim-averse, Obama-hating, prepper OFWGs. But the general demeanor at every gun range I’ve ever visited is polite camaraderie — now including a dramatic influx of women shooters and minority shooters. And that’s the truth.

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82 COMMENTS

    • I’ve shot at many ranges and never encountered a range officer who holds these type of anti-gun progressive views. Hell, more often than not, their political views are to the right of mine and that’s saying something. I say complete fabrication from an anti-American rag.

    • I know right, Ive been to ranges in rural Georgia of all places that wouldnt let you use targets with pictures of real people on them, let alone a picture of a black president. A range in California that lets people use targets with a picture of the president? I call BS.

        • Yah right! the headline says: “NRA Sells Life-Sized Obama Targets That Bleed And Blow Up When You Shoot Them” but in the article it says: The National Rifle Association has asked a vendor at its convention to remove a target that resembles Obama from its booth”

          Totally DISHONEST headline. Thanks Bossip Staff

        • I just went to that link. The title of the article is:

          “You can’t be serious: NRA sells life-size Obama targets that bleed and blow up when you shoot them.”

          But in the body of the article, they explain very clearly that an NRA rep actually told the vendor who was selling the targets to take them down. So they went from “the NRA sells them,” to, “the NRA told someone else NOT to sell them.”

          “If you want to make an omelette, you gotta break some eggs.” In this case, I think the “omelette” is absolute control via civilian disarmament, and the “eggs” are journalistic integrity.

      • The last time I saw life-size full color targets for sale & use at a range was at Shoot Straight in Tampa, back in ’06. They were pictures of Bin Laden or a generic terrorist w/ AK with a face completely covered by a shemagh.

        In gun stores I occasionally see the classic monochrome, generic mugger-with-revolver targets used by cop shops & handgun instructors for decades. The mugger image, with his 70’s mustache and plaid flannel shirt, could be considered swarthy, but I’ve never seen anything depicting a black/hispanic/asian person… and definitely never one using a president, alive or dead (or even undead).

        So yeah, my BS meter for this article was pegged by that alone. And the rest?… total gun-grabber fantasy about working in a gun store. I can’t imagine that any self-respecting LGS owner would ever hire such a turd, and would have to be pretty oblivious to not notice a potential employee’s political proclivities…. unless the guy had tried really hard to mask his true intentions in applying for a gun store job, namely writing a hit-piece and using said job as his gun-grabbing bona fides when it came time to publish.

    • I agree. being from the Deep South (Alabama) I know that our politics are a bit more conservative than most, but I have never ran into that kind of drivel.

      As an aside, read the history of the real Mary Harris “Mother” Jones (if you haven’t already) ..it’s interesting to say the least. Personally, I don’t think she’d go along with the drivel that is published in her name.

      • Wikipedia, for what it’s worth:

        Mary Harris “Mother” Jones (1837[1][2] – 30 November 1930) was an Irish-born American schoolteacher and dressmaker who became a prominent labor and community organizer. She helped coordinate major strikes and cofounded the Industrial Workers of the World.

        “Active as an organizer and educator in strikes throughout the country at the time, she was involved particularly with the UMW and the Socialist Party of America….”

        • You need to tell everyone how it really is….”Communist party ! ” Also , known as the 5th Column collaborators. Now known “Globalism/ One-World Global Governance / EU-NWO types… ” Globalists= Neo-Communism! Re-born under a new commercial label !”

        • Mary Harris “Mother” Jones (1837[1][2] – 30 November 1930) was an Irish-born American schoolteacher and dressmaker
          I dunno, maybe my Irish ancestors kicked her out of the country. Sounds like my ancestors in America should have kicked her out of this one.

    • Had to tell a group at our local range not to use photo that gets and actually wondered if they were thinking about shooting me. They thought the echo chamber of the gun range was beyond rules. My older friends stay away from the range because of the nuts that hang out there.

      But the worst was the kid who showed up for hunters safety range day with an AK. The kid and his dad were over the top scary but nobody would say anything to them out of fear of confrontation even though it was made clear that ARs and AKs were not to be carried during the walkabout. The kid was straight out of a mall ninja fantasy and his dad couldn’t be more proud and was likely disgusted with all the other sissy kids with their wood stocks and .22s. Remember, these kids are 12 years old and represent the next generation of hunters. Some of them were scared of the AK kid and didn’t understand why none of the adults were doing anything about it.

    • Seems like I’ve heard this somewhere before –

      “It’s better to have it and not need it than to…”

    • Ya, not enough food and what about water? Bet they don’t have all that much ammo either….just sayin

    • 6 months of food….

      “I find you lack of preparedness disturbing”

      Only a stockpile and not a warehouse full?…….

      “I find your lack of ammo disturbing”

    • Pretty sad when it only takes a few minutes of searching online to find plenty of current events where a disaster large or small causes stores to sell out of supplies and aid is needed to keep people alive and people will still make others for taking steps to not only help themselves but in the event others aren’t prepared, lessen the strain on the resources that will help them.

  3. Um, twenty plus years working at a gun range? Here, we have people paid minimum wage, college students, and a few retired folks. But, judging from the turnover, none of them are gonna make twenty years.

  4. Why the f**k was a gun range employee asking someone why they thought they needed a gun when she asked about getting her “gun license”? Double B.S. First, this guys job is to sell guns, not ask people why they “need” one. Second, there is no “license” in California to buy a gun, other than a (formerly) handgun safety certificate (which was an easy 20 question multiple choice test for which all of the answers are in a booklet produced by the DOJ). And if she was talking about a CCW, well then, anyone working at a range would know that people living in LA who do not carry large sums of money or are being stalked by an ex -significant other simply will NOT get one, no matter how many Muslims move into the neighborhood. So yeah, this is a bogus article.

    • I like gun stores / ranges, where people are happy to open up the cases (regardless of how busy it is) and show you stuff. They don’t mock you while you ease into the scene and learn the lay-of-the land, the lingo, and the etiquette. They want you to have a gun, that you are really going to like (of what you’d like one for, and can afford). They only swear you off the scary ones [I remember just reading a review of a Chiappa .22 somewhere around here. . . ]. They don’t tolerate unsafe people, but they gently demand that you act safely, and they inform you (until the light goes on upstairs) what that means.

      They only people I’ve seen do anything close to the above have been those (D)bag off-duty LEO owned/run LGS and they were the self-appointed “keepers of the keys”. Luckily there are other LGS’.

  6. Anecdotal slamming of Conservatives.

    One day Conservatives might just surprise the lib_prog_comm_globalist (D)erps out there and live up the the bs meme those (D)erps are attempting to create. The (D)erps won’t make it home in time to kill their own kids before the sh_t goes south.

    But, whatever. (D)erps gotta (D)erp.

  7. Well I will say I do feel my country slipping away; not as a white guy but as a working, tax paying, law abiding citizen.

    • Same.

      Also, where I grew up, people who have 6 months of food are called neighbors. And we look right into the eyes of another person who has 6 months worth of food on hand every morning when we look into the mirror.

      I’m not one of those “six months of food on hand” people anymore. Two years of economic problems have whittled my supply down to about 6 weeks’ worth of things like vacuum-packed rice and canned food that no one in the family really likes. But hey, Mother Jones, go ahead and tell me I’m paranoid.

        • Well, it’s not like the food storage is the only thing we’re eating. It’d be gone in nothing flat if that were the case. We’re not *that* well prepared, and I do enjoy my feed. 🙂

  9. Wow what BS. NO I’ve never been to a range that lets you shoot pics of presidents-it’s the leftwing azzwhole types with kill Bush/Trump et al shirts and signs. This “dude” is a straight up LIAR…

  10. It’s red meat for the MoJo readers.

    Liberals love to stereotype gun owners as xenophobic, racist bitter clingers. This article just feeds that fantasy.

    This guy manages to pull a few examples (if they’re real, which I doubt) out of thousands if not tens of thousands of patrons over the years. At best, he’s cherrypicking.

  11. See, Robert, that’s the problem- everyone got along amiably and politely.

    Because you didn’t grab and loudly lambast the OFWGs, you’re considered one of them by default.

    Getting along with each other without demanding to know your acquaintance’s views on race, politics, the socioeconomic system, et cetera is not an option to the liberal.

  12. I shoot at this range regularly. They don’t tolerate political targets. It’s one of only about three or four ranges in OC, so it’s pretty busy. This range has had a couple of suicides over the 20 years or so that I’ve gone there, and now won’t rent a gun to anyone unless they are a member, is accompanied, or already has a gun with them.

    The stuff in that article would probably horrify my democrat, grown-up hippy mother, but it doesn’t really surprise me. Of course you’re going to have inexperienced and downright stupid customers. There are all kinds at gun ranges, and you’re bound to run into a racist or a paranoid eventually.

  14. “Mother Jones reporter Josh Harkinson, who interviewed the author and corroborated his account (as told to Harkinson below) through official documents, news reports, and interviews with two other former employees of the gun range.”

    I’m calling BS on the corroboration part, don’t think MOJO’s writers would know where to start to corroborate anything related to firearms.

  16. I am a former gun range employee, and I have to tell you we are ALL narcissistic liars who would say anything to get published on a big name website…This guy sounds legit to me. (SARC)

  17. I was an NRA Volunteer at the annual meeting in Louisville, KY this year. I had never done this before and it was an awesome experience. I had the pleasure of checking people in and I have it was a diverse group in both age and race and gender and all of them were NRA members. Not only that but given the fact that somewhere around 80,450 NRA members convened and not a single gun went off and the convention center was open to concealed carry. Also if you look at the crime scene maps of Louisville around the downtown crime was almost zero compared to weeks before.

  19. Yeah. BS. You always get some fringe types at gun shops and shows, but rarely is any sort of gathering place free of that. Most places are all inclusive, freedom will do that to people.

    Hell the 3 gun match I shot in July, one the competitors was Indian, with a full on teal turban and bad ass mustache out of an Indiana jones movie and in full 3 gun gear. Everyone treated him just like a regular competetive shooter, which, is exactly what he was.

    • He was a Sikh. They are supposed to be armed 24-7 so they can come to the aid of those in distress. Of he keeps witradition he is a real badass.

  21. ” It’s an echo chamber. It’s a place where people feel safe because they feel that people are of like mind.”
    That was a dead give away. Only the sissified crybabies use the term “safe space”.

  22. Been to ranges around the country and never met the liberal caricature they portray. Not buying it but I’m sure their readers will.

  24. If millions of people think it’s fine to plaster “Fvck Bush” stickers on telephone poles and car bumpers where kids of all ages can see them as well as praise a movie that depicts the assassination of Bush then I’m hunky dorey with an Obama target although I think its best to confine your artwork to a private range. I’m tired of playing by the Lefts rule set.

    6 film awards….https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_a_President_(2006_film)

    • The left operates on a different standard. For example, it isn’t permissible to call HRC a cvnt – (figure it out ha ha) but it’s totally cool to call Ann Coulter one, repeatedly, on a TV show. Not her biggest fan really but the double standard is worth noting.

  25. Of all the stupidity and lies in the article from “Mother F—— Jones” the one that pisses me off the most is the comment about somebody with 6 months of food. First off I call somebody with 6 months of stored food under prepaired( 2 years is on the right track). Secondly it’s also anti Mormon hate speech as Mormons are required by their religion to store food.
    lastly and most importantly it ignores basic history and economics. People have ALWAYS had stores of food. Usually it was on their farm or in their community. The global supply chain model of food distribution has taken away local food storage on the community scale. The peoples natural response is of course to store food on a family level. This is normal human behavior and a positive reaction to a largel positive change in the economy.

    I should also mention that the federal reserve is printing a lot of cash. This increase in the money supply also naturally leads people to stock up on durable items. It’s to be expected considering the current economy, even if you have a positive outlook.

  26. In the article, he claims that at 18, the only gun he could legally buy was a curio. That was the line that told me it was BS.

  27. “What would you call it when people have six months worth of food?”

    Someone with a pantry? Not like its a big financial commitment to get a 6 month supply in today’s world. Hell chef boyrdee is on sale at the sam’s club right now I could walk out with 6 months worth for less that $500 even counting sales tax.

    • People with 6 months of food:
      I’d call them a half hearted or flat broke Mormon, almost anyone that lives the farmer/rancher life, anyone that doesn’t want to die of starvation when mother nature decides to close the supermarkets for 6 months.

      People who own 30 guns:
      Competitive shooter, family of hunters, collector, me before I really started accumulating, someone with varied interests and some disposable income.

      People who stockpile ammo:
      Someone that understands inflation, someone that remembers the great ammo drought of 2008′-2013′ (that’s half a decade folks), a competitive shooter, someone that loves plinking, someone with 30 guns (2000 rounds / 30 guns is only 66 rounds per gun, not even enough for a day of plinking unless you bring lots of guns).

      All of the above: I call them free.

  28. Every range in my part of California (I’m in one of the major areas, not in the part that wants to secede) there is a blanket rule against targets that look like humans. No zombies. No silhouettes. No animals at many of them. Hell, one range officer had a guy take down an oval shaped target because it had a flap on it that, if you squinted real hard, could said to look like a neck. He was apologetic but said it was because they didn’t need another reason for local progressives to try and shut them down.

    I’ve heard the occasional political talk at the range, but it’s usually about how Gov. Brown and those thieves in Sacramento are out to ban everything.

    Now the gun shop I go to sometimes, the guy who runs it defected from the Soviet Union back in the day and he’s got some opinions… But the rest of this article sounds made up.

    • In Germany you’re not allowed (by law) to shoot any target that represents a human: no pictures, no drawings, no silhouettes.

  29. the first time I had actually seen somebody post a picture of the president as a target. I told them, “Look, you can’t do that.”
    Awwwww…..shuckie durn!

  30. What would you call it when people have six months worth of food? What would you call it when people have 30-plus guns? What would you call it when they are stockpiling ammunition?
    Seems like reasonable and sensible people to me.

  32. I think there’s going to be an influx of Muslims coming in from our southern border and then they are going to start killing people.”
    I dunno about the Southern Border thingie, but the Muzrats killing people is not much of a prediction. Sort of like the predicting the sky is blue.

  33. It’s often instructive when you take a look at what the left is thinking. When you do some things are readily apparent. It’s not guns or violence that they are opposed to, it’s us. Guns are simply a symbol of those that engage in wrong think and won’t bend a knee to their enlightened world view. The hatred and vitriol directed towards us is of the nature one would expect for child molesters and wife beaters. Simply put, they view us as an abomination to be eradicated. A stroll through the comments section on any liberal site makes it clear no small number of those people would happily send armed men to kick down our doors.

  34. Um, last I checked, “the gun industry” ≠ NRA.
    The “gun industry” is not fanning any flames, dumbass.

    And yeah. Completely fabricated. Orgy of evidence is orgy.

  35. I call shenanigans, too. Here’s the real story:

    When the firearms instructor at the range near Piru asked each person in the class why he or she was there, Fischer ticked off several reasons and mentioned the Pink Pistols.

    “What is the Pink Pistols group?” a man asked.

    There was a pause.

    “We’re — a gay gun group,” Fischer said hesitantly. He tried quickly to explain.

    “No, that’s awesome,” the man said, nodding reassuringly.”

    Interest in the Pink Pistols has increased since the Orlando attack, with new chapters springing up across the country, including the West Hollywood chapter and another one in North Hollywood. There was such an outpouring of support from firearms trainers, many of them straight, that the Pink Pistols’ website now has a map listing LGBT-friendly firearms instructors in every state.

    On the other hand, the real discrimination and intolerance comes from the LGBT gaystapo:

    The Pink Pistols has received a mostly negative response from the broader LGBT community, she said. Some LGBT centers, she said, have even specifically banned the Pink Pistols from using their facilities.

  36. The change started when Bill Clinton was in office and that sort of thing wouldn’t have happened when he started twenty years ago? Bill Clinton was well into office twenty years ago, no?

  37. The worst part? The article’s author’s bio states he is from Texas and now resides in San Francisco. Talk about putting oneself directly into the crocodile’s mouth…

  39. Wait a minute…. are you trying to tell me that a story on Mother Jones might not be completely factual? That it could be in part, or even wholly, made up? Pshaw! Next you’ll be telling me there is gambling in this facility.

  40. Most of their writers/readers must be from NYC, or something. Stocking up on food seems ridiculous to them?
    I guess when you live in a tiny little 200 square foot apartment, 6 DAYS of food would fill the place up quickly. Not to mention being able to actually afford food after paying the $2000+ monthly rent for said tiny apartment.

  41. As a former journalist, I can assure you that not only does Mother Jones make shit up but so does 80% of the rest of the press.

  42. No range I visit lets people use pictures of people as targets. But, mine did kindly let me use my colleges “plz send us munneezz, alumns” letters and crap for target practice. 🙂

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