People interested in getting into guns have a new place to start.
Lincoln Parks and Recreation is offering firearm programs at their shooting range on 10th Street and Military Avenue. The range is a former Navy shooting range that has been converted for public use.
The range has five 50-foot shooting lanes and a steel-angle backboard to ensure projectiles deflect into the sand.
The program offers classes in BB gun and pellet gun basics as well as an advanced course for anyone age 8 and older.
College students are welcome as well. Wednesday nights from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. are open shoot times, where anyone over 18 years old is welcome to come and shoot. The range will even provide the gun.
Blair Debban, a junior mechanical engineering major, said he enjoys hunting and shooting recreationally. He is a member of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Rifle Club, and said he finds shooting relaxing.
He got his first gun, a Daisy BB gun, when he was 9. He said it got him into recreational shooting.
"The thing about BB guns for young kids is there's no noise and there's no recoil so kids aren't going to be scared of it," he said.
"It's a good starting point."In addition to youth BB gun and pellet gun courses, the public range also offers adult lessons for gun handling, open shooting for .22-caliber rifles and .38-caliber guns, and a cowboy class, in which attendees dress in their best old-west attire and learn about guns of the frontier before trying their hand at shooting.
Terry Holthus, range manager for Lincoln Parks and Recreation said in all of the classes, safety is paramount, and everyone must undergo proper safety training before being allowed to shoot. Ear and eye protection are provided.
After a spree of BB gun vandalism in Lincoln last year, Holthus said the range would be a positive thing.
"People blame us for teaching people [to shoot], but owning a gun is an American ideal," he said.
Lincoln Police Capt. David Beggs agreed.
"I would consider it a healthy outlet," Beggs said.
Holthus said most people who come to shoot are recreational gun enthusiasts. Some hunt, but many come simply for the pleasure of firing off a few rounds.
"You have a whole breed of people that are target shooters," Holthus said. "Having a gun and being able to shoot is a freedom that people enjoy."
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