Gun tourism in the U.S. is on the rise as foreign travelers from countries with restrictive gun laws seek to experience an aspect of the American way of life they typically only see in movies.
“With gun laws keeping high-powered weapons out of reach for most people – especially those outside the U.S. – indoor shooting ranges with high-powered weapons have become a popular attraction,” the AP recently reported.
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The recent accidental death of an Arizona firearms instructor by a nine-year-old girl who was firing an automatic Uzi is hardly making a dent in the booming business, despite the dangers associated with it.
Japanese tourists are going to the ranges of Waikiki, Hawaii, while Europeans and Australians are flocking to Las Vegas, where shooting ranges have been around since the 1980s but have flourished in the past few years, according to the AP.
“People have a fascination with guns,” Genghis Cohen, owner of Machine Guns Vegas in Nevada, told the AP. “They see guns as a big part of American culture, and they want to experience American culture.” He estimates about 90 percent of his customers are tourists.
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The story mentioned that shooting ranges in the U.S. are catering to this fascination with guns. One dusty outdoor range in Las Vegas known as Bullets and Burgers Adventure touts its “Desert Storm atmosphere,” while other businesses stage weddings in their ranges and sell souvenir t-shirts full of bullet holes.
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