A typical idea for a fun date among college students may include dinner followed by a safe, predictable romantic comedy at the Paradiso and topped off with a trip to an ice cream parlor.
Blasting a .38 caliber handgun at student-friendly rates at Range USA in Bartlett could be a refreshing hiatus from the typical night out.
Friday night is Date Night at Range USA. For $39, two people can enjoy time on the firing range (generally set up for one hour) with two boxes (100 bullets) of ammunition and targets provided as well. Two meals are also provided by the Liberty Grille, the facility's restaurant.
In addition to Date Night, the range drops range fees down to $7 per person on College Night Wednesdays and free range time for women on Thursdays for Ladies' Night.
Range USA staff claim the Date Night clientele is steady.
"Most of our business comes from regulars, but we usually get anywhere from 10 to 15 young people down here on Friday nights," said the employee, who only offered his first name, George. "If you're into guns, this would be a fun, safe place to enjoy your time."
Shooters can often be seen playing pool at the billiard tables near the grill after spending time practicing their marksmanship skills.Scott Kilby, owner of Range USA, 2770 Whitten Road, said he thinks shooting is fun and that, once safe practices are learned, it can be a hobby.
"The people who come in here like shooting," Kilby said. "Many of them grew up shooting and come here because it's just plain fun.'If those safety and skills practices need learning or refining, instructors at Range USA University can teach them.
The facility teaches skills ranging from self-defense and street smarts to licensing and legal need-to-know information.
The handgun classes range from beginner level for those with little or no handgun experience to upper division courses requiring stronger familiarity with firearms.
Others include a pepper spray class, which focuses on how to properly use pepper spray, the types of situations to use it and the physical and mental effects pepper spray will have on an assailant when administered.
Kelly Scott, a sociology freshman at The University of Memphis leaning toward a major in non-profit social work, said she took a hunting safety course as an adolescent and considers shooting fun, except for the firearm's kickback that typically occurs after a round is fired.
"I would consider going to a shooting range," she said. "My dad and my brother go a lot."
Guns are generally a good thing, said Courtney Ellis, an exercise and sport science major, as long as care is taken and they are used as a form of defense.
"For self-defense, I think guns are good," Ellis said. "I just don't like random people having guns. That's when it could get dangerous." Paula Ortega wasn't privy to the idea of going to a shooting range for fun.
"I really don't like guns," said Ortega, a business management major. "They scare me."
