We recently moved to North Carolina and we will be taking our concealed carry class within the next month. But before we do that, I wanted to get a little more comfortable handling a pistol. So, I googled gun ranges near our area and found Point Blank Range. I was reading some of the reviews and all were stellar. I took note about the air filtration there as some places are known for not having good air quality. However, PBR lived up to the great reviews. I’ll expand on that a little more below.

When I entered the building through the sliding doors, there were several staff to greet me, first with a smile, then with a gasping look followed by them asking me to keep walking…faster. What I didn’t know was that there was a snake that had followed me in. The staff handled it in a very professional manner and they immediately removed the snake from the premise. I’m not sure if it’s a common thing in NC for snakes to hitch a ride with people and follow them into buildings, but they certainly knew how to handle it. They kept me calm, not alerting to me what was following me in until they could take care of it. (Note they also walked me out to inspect my vehicle for snakes after class as well) They were awesome! But my fondness of the range didn’t end there..

As I mentioned, I was there to take a class, specifically the Beginner Handgun Fundamentals course. The instructor, Greg Morris, was phenomenal! He was very personable and extremely knowledgeable. The first part of the class was classroom-based. Normally, classroom discussions aren’t that exciting, but Greg kept it interesting and engaging while helping us all learn. The second part of the class was hands-on in the range. Since there were six of us, he split us up into two groups of three, so he could better instruct us individually. After that, we went back into the classroom to review the progression and improvement of our shooting skills over the course of the 50 rounds. Before taking the class, my shots tended to be mainly lower right of the target. With the class, I was able to improve my stance, the placement of my finger on the trigger and the trigger pull, all which helped my shots get closer to the target, or on target. Also, unbeknownst to me, the way they had the targets set up was the same way they do it for the concealed carry classes. So, now I feel better about doing the shooting part of that class. Next, I’ll have to take a course there learning how to draw from a holster.

While most ranges charge an hourly fee for shooting, Point Blank Range does something different: you pay $20 and have access to shoot for the entire day! You can even leave and come back the same day and not pay anything extra. Their philosophy is that they don’t want you to feel rushed and if you aren’t constantly looking at your watch to make sure you aren’t getting close to the end of the hour, you will be more relaxed and shoot better too. I think that’s great! And so does my wallet! They also offer discounts to seniors and it’s $10 for ladies on Thursdays. I’m looking forward to taking several more classes there! Check out their website, given them a like on Facebook, and if you’re in town, go down and check them out in person and have fun shooting!

-Laura Lucado