West End Gun Club 'public' access now restricted

[ocabj]

Here's what I have been told from a friend of mine that operates the High Power "Across the Course" match at West End.

The regular firing line at the West End facility that was open to the public on Fri, Sat, and Sun is no longer open to the public. If you are not a member, you may use the firing line if you are with a member. If you are not a member, they have something called 'limited' membership. I'm assuming this is different from standard membership.

Unfortunately, the West End website (http://www.wegc.org) has not been updated with this information.

If there are any West End members here that can provide more details, please reply to this thread.

If I find out anymore before then, I'll update here.

[cali-man]

I tried to go this Saturday. They now offer a limited membership that allows you to shoot on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on those days only. Cost is 50 dollars the day you sign up. It is valid for one year from the date of signing up. After that it cost only 5 dollars to shoot. You can bring up to 2 guest with you. I cant remeber how much it will cost them to shoot. Rangemaster said it would probably cut down traffic around 20%. Full membership is still 180 dollars a year I believe. They should update their website and state this.

[phish]

They must have gotten tired of the spray 'n pray crowd messing up the target frames.

[DirtySanchez]

I stopped by on Sunday, there were only 2 people on the range. I spoke with the range master, he told me basicly the same thing.

[ocabj]

I tried to go this Saturday. They now offer a limited membership that allows you to shoot on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on those days only. Cost is 50 dollars the day you sign up. It is valid for one year from the date of signing up. After that it cost only 5 dollars to shoot.

This is pretty much the same pricing structure as Inland Fish and Game. Except for the limited days you can shoot.

[ocabj]

They must have gotten tired of the spray 'n pray crowd messing up the target frames.

I should have replied to this thread with an update.

The reasoning behind the members-only range accessibility is due to tax status.

WEGC is a non-profit organization and they are only allowed to make a certain amount of money from non-members while still retaining their non-profit tax exemption.

Since they got a lot of traffic from non-members, they were at a rate to exceed this threshold. Thus, the enacting of the 'limited' membership classification.

This actually benefits shooters since you can get access to the main firing line for $50 a year plus $5 per day you shoot. If you ever go to to West End more than 4 times a year, this immediately begins paying for itself.

$15 * 5 = $75

$50 + ($5 * 5) = $75

[phish]

^ It's always better to have more traffic than not enough.

[caduckgunner]

I've never been there, but if it keeps the ghetto out, it's worth my $50.