The store attached to the gun range, from the outside, looked like I expected it to: a nondescript building with bars on the door. However, on the inside, if you replaced all of the gear and ammo with multiple rows of Xbox One cases, it could've doubled as a GameStop. People shuffling aimlessly, waiting to enter a conversation? Check. People who know an almost unlimited amount of technical knowledge and spout off facts while clerks half-listen? Check. Items that are meant for hardcore users beside items for people that think that "gun" is spelled with two vowels? Check. It was GameStop, except in GameStop half your time isn't spent shooting in a dark room at a picture of a golf course or a nipple-less human outline.
Gun culture is also a lot like video game culture when it comes to the span and types of interests. Guns are a little harder to get into (but barely) and video gaming is the second-most-popular thing on Earth (damn you, oxygen. We're coming for you next year, though). They attract similar kinds of passion. You can talk about them in regular conversations, but both game stores and gun stores have the same "refuge" feeling. You don't have to worry about going overboard in your explanations or your jokes. It's a grand exhale.
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Usually during sniper practice.
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