San Diego’s Best Shooting Range – EP71

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San Diegos Best Shooting Range EP71

00:00:01 – 00:05:00

Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition. It’s time for the gun guy. Tv podcast hi. This is Joel Singer. I’m the gun guy very much for listening to my podcast and supporting gun guy. Tv The way you do. I’m very very grateful obviously scheduling has gone to pot. We’re the PODCAST is concerned as well. As if you other things you know with the whole Cova nineteen stay at home thing in the state of California. It’s Kinda thrown our schedule off quite a bit so as a result whenever I can do a serious interview with somebody. I’m going to do it. And that’s what I did on the twentieth with Eric. Pratt from gun owners of America and so that put my podcast a couple of days late. So I’m actually doing the podcast on the twenty second when it was actually do two days ago and I apologize for that but we’ll get it out today and hopefully we can stay on schedule. It just all depends on how this shakes loose with the caveat. Nineteen saying now once again with the PODCASTS. Were back to having the first half of the podcast publicly available on your favorite podcast player and then we’ll also post it on the various and sundry video platforms as well show. If you don’t want to listen to it on a podcast podcast player. You can find it in video form on Youtube and gun streamer and bit shoot which I always have to say carefully in the Utah Gun Exchange facebook video and End On gun guide DOT TV for that matter. It’ll be up there as well. The second half of the PODCAST is going to be on patriotic. Only that’s a Kind of a special thing. I do for my patriot. Supporters now. What we’re going to cover in the first part of the podcast is an interview that I did at shot show with Dennis Roman and the staff at the P two K range in El Cajon California. I’ve been a member of that range. That’s before they built the building there which has been about thirty years or something and I know Dennis very well and actually teach you that range quite frequently. It’s an outstanding range. It’s actually got a one hundred yard indoor range which is Kinda cool but it is also interesting to hear about the struggles. They go through with the state of California one of the reasons I want to put these interviews up for. You is to get away from the cove nineteen stuff at some point it just becomes all pervasive and it’s nice to escape it so instead we’re going to do that interview for you. That was not a shot show. We had fun with it. And hopefully you will as well and then in the second part of the podcast on patriotic. Only I’m GonNa talk a little bit about what it’s like to grow up learning how to shoot and my experience is was boy learning how to shoot with my grandfather and my father and And others uncles aunts and cousins and so on and why. I firmly believe as a result that shooting hunting and everything that goes with the shooting sports as well as self defense and the primary reason for our second amendment is part of the American culture and part of the American way of life. And it’s very important that we never lose that but before we get started with the interview me remind you that one way you can support gun guy. Tv is to shop using our Amazon link. It costs you absolutely nothing and in an environment where a lot of folks are out of work. It’s a good thing when thanks gushed absolutely nothing in order to help us out. In that regard you can go to our website at gun guide DOT TV and just look for the Amazon banner on the top when you see that shopping Amazon banner on the top. If you click on it it will take you to the Amazon site using our Amazon link. Then all you have to do is bookmark site with that link and every time you go to Amazon. If you use that bookmark you can buy whatever you want your. Amazon prime will work. Everything works the same way. It costs you absolutely nothing but Amazon. Pays us a little marketing and it does help out a ton so please use our Amazon link when you shop Amazon? Let’s get started with the interview with Dennis. Roman and the folks at P. Two K. Dennis Romans very glad to have you here and you brought Ken and Susan with you. Can you know but we’re very glad to Susan’s here. Okay I gotta give some grief. You’re going to see him once in a while. What’s going on. What’s going on with the PT K? Range now we’re ninety seven years old so ninety seven ninety seven this year. That’s cool three years. Away from our centennial. That’d be Kinda Neat. Yeah that’s that’s a day to celebrate in California that even tops it off to well how you survive the last few years. I can’t tell you I mean they’ve been after you kind of consistently for about the last ten and other things have stabilized a little bit so we Have to learn new ways to do things and adjust and come procedures forum and make sure that all the people who want to attack your happy with what we’re doing. They’re not happy but at least it’s here. We’re trying to learn how to play their game. Better defend fend them off at some point. I’m not altogether sure that California gun owners realizes the struggles that ranges in California. Go through what.

00:05:00 – 00:10:00

What kind of stuff do you guys have to fight in California on a regular basis that in a free state were Richard is out there in Arizona that he wouldn’t have to deal with? We just have a lot more agencies that pay attention to US and since there’s only eleven ranges in San Diego that when you have two full time people. It doesn’t take very long to cycle through all them from hazardous materials division or Environmental Division and to be the thing that we have the biggest fear of in our probably our biggest enemy in the future is going to be environmental. The environmental stuff is constantly getting tighter and changing. There’s a new law that just came out and it’s effective January first that if you have your blood drawn and you test twenty or above micrograms per deciliter that it’s an automatic. Three Day Osha visit. So I’m not talking about just for shooting ranges but if you’re a shooter and you work at Joe’s crab shack and you end up going twenty. They’re going to go to Joe’s and hammer them for an automatic OC- inspection and you never win. Okay it has value the of course the fact that you you pop this level of lead in your system has nothing to do with Joe’s crab shack so you’re right but that’s the new law so interesting. Welcome to the People’s Socialist Republic of California in spite of all of this. I’ve been a member of cases before the building was built. I don’t know how many years ago that was. It was before Ken was born. It was I’m sure they’ll I doubt that very seriously very close getting big before both of them. Yeah Yeah is there your horse up when you got there now was a shetland. Pony couldn’t afford a horse story when they came out with sliced bread. That’d be great. Yeah you should have seen me dragging my feet on the ground sitting on the pony to stick a doll. I’ve been a member there. A long time in in the rain has come along tremendously since she took over general manager. So I want to compliment you on that. Thank you very much. It’s a dentist. It’s a totally different range than it was the day you can’t show. I don’t tell you that very often so tell you now publicly. You’ve done a tremendous job sponsorship. No but I’m just I’m just telling I’m just telling the truth just telling the truth what what’s new at. P. Two K. That you might want to let people know about well. The last twenty four months we put that members only range. That’s only for members. That’s been a pretty big hit. We have that Virtual Target System v Twenty three. That’s been really well. We’ve had very successful leagues with it. So we we really enjoy that. They both they both have shot the losers. Are you still beating everybody on the virtual range like you were the day I was there? I’m not beating everybody but I’m giving it my best. Shot actually was skunk and everybody it was. It was hilarious. I loved it. That was great. And that’s that’s pretty much the newest stuff that we have. So there’s you know right now. It’s trying to keep your head above water with all the challenges that have been out there and the downturn in the shooting industry and the over saturation from the Obama years so now just Kinda recollecting and running a business again and trying to figure out what product mix works. And how you compete against online and a lot of those types of things and then our our firearm selection is diminishing every year because of the California list. I mean well now. They’ve made it the whole ammo thing. Is We gotta be a little bit of a nightmare for you guys to if you shoot at the range. You don’t have to do anything. You just have to bring back the empty box to us. You don’t do a background if you have that. So for the people who are coming in rant. That isn’t affecting them but for sales it affects it. And you know it takes fifteen minutes do transactions so when you’re selling fifteen dollar box of AMMO and it takes fifteen minutes due at Labor wise and then you have to print four sheets of paper and take a photocopy. Id and we get a thumbprint. We don’t get at them. Okay whatever it is. I mean it’s like how do we raise the cost of Ammo to cover the Labor? That’s on there. Where where where’s the? Where’s the dealt on it? I don’t know where that is yet. So we’re just kind of living with it seeing how it goes and but the I’d say the biggest challenge we have is all the farms we have our fifty at least fifteen year old technology of not twenty year old technology and we don’t get that customers like the rest of the states have where they see something in the in the magazine they go. Oh my Gosh I want that. That is so cool when they come in and then we have to explain to him. No you kind of missed out on that. They’re not legal. Why aren’t they legal in California? Where have you been yeah? What planet are you living? Yeah it’s got to be an interesting thing for you for you guys to come to shot. Show walk around and see all this stuff and realize that you can’t get it. I mean that’s like a an entire parade for four days of stuff that you can’t get to can’t sell yeah. How Weird is that? Well there were some beanie babies and a couple of other things out there. Well okay hold it up.

00:10:00 – 00:15:02

What did you get over here? That you guys got brought. His stuffed toy was actually had that made its record. Oh you had that me I drew. This is primary you can follow him on. A Granite Primer two nine. Oh and I drew him and I sent him to buddies and then they created him so he’s a little stuff frat Koon and he’s our little range mascot and he does little funny little things at the range and you can see it all on instagram. Asca we do not use him as a target. We do not use him as a target. Although there’s a lot of people that make jokes about that but I will beat them them. I’ve seen you shoot. I’M NOT GONNA make jokes about using it as a target. That’s terrible terrible thing. The opinions expressed by the denier. Always right unless they’re all good. How long have you been working with ranging Going on eleven years now. Wow really yeah I remember when you started. I’m getting old. My daughter just turned thirteen. I really to. Yeah Oh my gosh. And how long have you been working at the range now? I’ve been there since two thousand and four longtime. Yeah I think. Nick was in middle school or elementary wasn’t born yet. At that point it was at high school elementary. That would be nice. Yeah no that would make me No I would make the younger new. Yeah Dennis maybe I should say wasn’t elementary school. I don’t really know how’s it going for you. So far has been very good. It’s been very good so we lose some new products that we can actually bring into California. We just found some pretty eight nine millimeter. A ours that they’re going to configure for us to be able to us because we ramming nine millimeters for sale. At is going to do some stuff for us that With the polymer receivers where we can have a price point A. R. which we haven’t been able to do and try to push some more a ours back out there that people enjoy and even with the limitations on them because they gotta be California tweaked errors not recognizable in any other state. Yes although CMG sent me there nine millimeter conversion thing with the Pax. Yes that’s a very cool product. That’s very cool product. If I’ve got one if you WANNA play with if you don’t have one or you showed it to me before you shot it and he hadn’t shot it yet so probably put a thousand rounds for that thing. That’s that thing runs like a Swiss watch and is it using their own max uses. They sat me actually sent me their own management. They’ll also don’t know if it uses PEMEX five five six. Oh there’s a yeah that’s so you can you can either get them back from them or you can They’ll send an insert. And you just basically take the floor playoff. Take this Spring and follower out insert. There’s but for playback on a MAG if you’ve got a gen two or greater or newer pemex it virtual pemex immediately and virtue automatically to ten rounds. So it’s California California legal. There’s a little thing you can. If you’re in a free state you can Clinton you know an increase that that that number pretty much. It’s a ten round MAG or it’s not a ten because you bought it during freedom but then natural hold every research that no I would never say a thing. I take that back not me. Hopefully Free two-week extends after they go back in here again. Judge Benitez we had Chuck Michelle her earlier and he was. He was very hopeful about that so I thought that the news from him was very good. So we’ll see we’ll see how that turns out but he seemed to be very hopeful about some of the stuff at the Supreme Court. Obviously the new your case and some of the things that are sitting with the night circuit now that the the the structure that court has changed a lot because trump so he seemed to be very positive. So that’s more positive than I’ve heard him. Being on a lot of things. That was very good so I thought that was pretty good. I’m hoping for those a lot of those things to change. The problem is once they everything. I’ve seen the past ten years once they say yes. It’s okay you never hear about it again. It gets tied up in some legal and I don’t know where that we were supposed to get rid of the ten day. Ten twenty four hour period waiting period and they were talking about If you had a C W would be able to buy in and walk out if you already have. I don’t know where that went. And we don’t either and it’s it’s one of those mysteries like well. They said they overturned it where to go and no one can answer the question. I’ve been trying to buy a gun to walk out all that time and neither Susan nor can will let me do you that hanging from traditions blacked out against well. I did buy a an m one so I was able to buy that. Just take it because they had to put it on my put it in my book and and give the guy that was. Kinda cool but I mean other CR guns. I can’t do it now. It is what it is. How many of those are left out there? And how many am I going to buy most of those get scooped up by other people and in the midst of all of this though? The Rain is awesome.

00:15:03 – 00:20:01

So if you haven’t been to the two K. Ranji listening this energy. If you’re in San Diego you gotta go it’s fabulous range it’s out in East County and you can go golfing and go shooting in the same day. Because of great golf courses out there to get two courses within a mile and a half we have the one hundred yard indoor range for long guns we have twenty five yard anything range rifle pistol shotgun and black powder and then we have the two clay target range outside with trap and a five stand overlay which cool. That’s my son’s favorite part. Is the whole trap thing. I don’t blame him the only thing he doesn’t like about trap and skeet like that is Susan regularly out shoots him and that’s the problem but it is what it is it is what it is. I try to keep the lights on in like that. California’s kind of tough. Do you have plans for the future for the range to do new things to it. Once money becomes available. Well we WANNA our next. Probably major thing is to Redo the layout inside the The store because it’s a little bit confusing for somebody new to come through. So we we want to have it a little bit more friendly when you come into. We just put some new lighted signs in and upgraded though so they look a lot better than they did before. When you coming up in the evening hours you know where you’re going instead of the rope lights that we had on and before. So now they’re like It’ll be interesting to see how they are with the bugs in the summer but One thing I want to compliment you on debt. I know complimenting you a lot but I I attend ranges as you might imagine ranges. A lot of times had gun stores tend to be populated by good old boy gun. People again is right and show Ken. How does that other than the gun guys? I mean how does that affect customers? You know when I think about it I think you gotta show me watch the gun or they want to go shooting for the first time and they walk into a place and they’re not always not always treated with open arms. That makes sense. You guys don’t do that. How did you get there? How did you? How did you come upon the idea of being more? What would you call it family friendly maybe or new shooter? Customer service orientated. Listen to what. The customer has my hold. As a management philosophy tried to hire anybody from any industry because they usually already have some type of regiment that they’re used to doing so it’s very difficult to teach them to be nice. So if I hire somebody who nice at a gun store yet. I should arrange. It’s a foreign concept so we try to hire people who have good customer service skills and then teach them more about the firearm stuff and it seems to. It works to as much Ken. Several people have worked for me. Never touched firearm before they came there and now they’re deputy sheriff’s or they work for PD or some of the other things where they didn’t they never had any idea of commercial. Firearm stuffs that some of the customers get upset over that because they may not be as knowledgeable but at least are being treated with respect and they’re not being hounded on the whatever. The sales person happens to be hocking that week. With the I use the Glock. You need to use a glock personal bias or Yeah so that makes life easier. I I’ve always been impressed. By the fact that new shooters come into the range and seemed to be feel feel comfortable there. That’s not always the case. Wherever you go I mean a lot of times. You go to the -cational. Yeah we I mean we always treat the new shooters like. Everyone has to start their everyone. Everyone who’s ever shot has to start there and it blows our minds when they come in and they say had went to this other range and they wouldn’t let us shoot their unless we got some classes. I and it’s like okay so in order to go it it just. It defies logic that you wouldn’t want to go help them out to be have the best experience again. Well actually you do that. She can do it. I’ve seen it on the rain helping people that have no idea which the gun the bullet comes out of and you know making them say but have you ever saw me. Thanks because I usually try to stay in my office as much as possible. The I know you’re actually new C. You very audibly. Eventually I Joel here. Okay yeah they’ll go out be nice storm. What shooting straight and always right on target. This is a gun guy to heap. Podcast you’ve done a lot of changes with the trap range of somebody’s listening has been to three or four years which changed with that while the roads paved all the way up including the parking lot there while it was kind of part gravel a many many years it was just dirt. Yeah that was quite accomplishment. You know when I got there and I told them what the plans were and we drew everything up and said this what we WANNA do. I remember a lot of people saying that will never. You’ll never get the road paved. You’ll never get the parking lot paved you’ll never have running water. All these types of things they have and now it’s like. Hey we have running water. You’re bathrooms I remember the porta-pottys were there. We shut up against a hillside. It’s a totally different world.

00:20:01 – 00:25:01

So yeah that cleanup stuff has been great trap. Range is The equipment has been maintained better. So we’re not having as many things as there used to be an. We upgrade a lot. We got rid of a lot of the older machines. It’s been a few years and we’re trying to keep more newer machines and and his aides are aging out. Get rid of him sooner than try to band aid them and put them together. We do have some new voice pool equipment on the lower range and we have new voice bull equipment that in the next month or so be installed on the upper range so when the individual shooter comes out. I don’t have to have an employee standing in the entire time pushing the button and I know people like that but with the cost of labor and California and all the overhead. It’s really beginning to make quite a difference. Syllables mixed now worth having the shotgun range after care if it’s tough to do because the Schalken ranges they’re they’re really more of a loss leader by time you get the cost of the machine to electric city. The insurance that the plot of land they take in there and the Burj. Those have gone up up up. So that’s been that’s been a challenge so but we’re glad it’s era people enjoy it. We do have leagues. The Leagues have been exciting. We usually run between four and five leagues a year. And they’ve had They’ve had real good success not R. E. Twenty-three League that Virtual Target League has worked out really. Well wait a minute. You have a League for the virtual target schools to evenings. The next one starts Next week next Tuesday which is Twenty eighth or something like that twenty eighth and it’s that’s been great eight weeks guys come out. They shoot multiple games and the scores are very very close on there. You have to have at least at least four magazines so it. It’s a lot of fun looking people. Yeah that sounds like now can’t have you done. Are you winning in the last one came in? I know they can’t shoot a ticket. Oh yeah okay. They tend to be too close to call for everybody. Nobody nobody gets a score at all. And I’m finally at the point where I’m probably GONNA buy a firearm for my first time and then I’ll be able to go out and shoot the league to yet I. I didn’t know that you were ever a shooter and I said no that you could shoot. Actually what you don’t know about Dennis as you don’t get to shoot that much anymore. But I do remember a day when you were a phenomenal shot. But it is a little bit like Like ride the bicycle. Hopefully so you get to shoot a little bit. That’d be kind of Nice. Yeah well I don’t know if we’re out of time or not. I don’t think we are kind of mind the time because we’re going to. We’re here the press room at Show and they’re GONNA ask us to be quiet because they gotta do their their award thing but we do have about five or six minutes left. What what would you like if you had an opportunity to tell people who don’t have never been to peach? Uk before what would you tell that we’re family friendly? That’s one thing for sure. We do bachelor parties and birthday parties and reenlistment parties and a lot of corporate events for people that come out We do have agencies that use a facility. So there’s a lot of open space for that We have a full fully stocked store where we have over six hundred guns on display all California compliant which means you have the same gun six right yes the fact that you got the two thousand six hundred California play. Guns is good for you then we stock most calibers of ammunition and we have a lot of accessories in there. We have Wi fi if you’re waiting or one hang out a bunch of TV’s running if you’re bored yes a lot of visual media and send to arrange a San Diego Kennedy are true. You still got that monitor or somebody else get somebody else got that. Yeah but okay. I knew that was on the west coast on the West Coast. Phil for an indoor outdoor. We are the largest facility. That’s pretty so they’re everyone else’s either outdoor indoor and we have both put together which makes it nice and you know it’s climate controlled so people are coming out when it’s cold outside it’s cold in the range or when it’s one hundred degrees right. Yeah you guys got a classroom there too. Are you doing classes? Yes we do education. It’s really picked up quite a bit so we do a lot of basic classes for people who’ve never shot a fire before we do a basic rifle class. We do an introduction to handgun introduction to shotgun clay targets boards than we do a thing called real world shotgun. All those classes are less than seventy five dollars to for somebody get into includes everything they don’t need to bring anything they just show up. And we get him out there and get him under seventy five bucks Outta include the fire. Everything firearm ammo range to the whole. Everything for an introduction class so to be able to get him in and get their their whistle wet and what they want to do and then they can move different levels from there. But the the introduction classes have been our most successful introduction to hand can today sixty nine dollars includes everything they shoot four or five different firearms depending on on what we have that day so they get to shoot a twenty two caliber nine millimeter and a thirty eight special and get to try single action. Double Action Revolver and they get shoot automatics.

00:25:01 – 00:28:27

So it’s nice for them to kind of get an idea of what they can look forward to if they’re gonNA get more into shooting or if they’re going to defend themselves or what they WANNA do. That’s a great class because it gives them a lot of experience and a lot of things wide variety of things. That’s kind of cool. It does. It really also helps them make educational purchases you know instead of just buying whatever somebody told them to go out and buy then they get to try the revolver and the handgun and at the beginning of the class. We ask all the students if they think they’re going to like the revolver better or the semi auto better and every time at the end of the class it switches one hundred eight. They were wrong under tight. That’s hilarious and then we see know the. Cw that that you’re doing. Yeah we’re seeing a lot more people coming in to do that and practice to get their CCW so that must be success in San Diego to be able to see how. We’re actually coming in to do that. Now where it used to be. You’d have one person every six months every four five months. Yeah now now you’ve got a bunch of the thing San Diego’s I know sure. Of course now could shuttering making it right now. You can have three guns on your permit. And he’s considering a raising that to six. Oh is that determined by the county that’s determined by the county If it’s in the statute but now for example up in Orange County. You can have ten so the sheriff’s just kind of doing what they’re doing but my the word. God is that the sheriff’s department is strongly considering making a change this year to six. What is it hurt being able to do that. If you gotta go to qualify heard it all but it’s just a matter of them making l. Well don’t get me started because in my opinion the Second Amendment is your permit. You shouldn’t have to genuflect in front of a government forty and pay them a fee to exercise a constitutionally protected right but that’s a whole different conversation we’ll be here on what we never saw. That red zero tastes me. No no in. But that’s it. I mean what’s Nice about that as I am seeing you know. Gore has been very resistant to the whole. Cw thing for a long time but at some point you see the handwriting on the wall when you got fifty six counties now out of the fifty eight hundred issuing a what. And where is it San Francisco La Right? Everybody else is issuing at some form and every year it seems more and more of them are pushing closer and closer to shall issue what. I’m seeing San Diego doing. I’m hoping it’s true is nudge. It closer and closer to shall issue as they have the it seems to. I don’t know this perfect. It seems to me like what he’s doing is adding capability to process permits an Asiatic capabilities opening it up a little bit more rather than opening it up and having getting bombed and not having enough people to process. I I see that too I. Yeah so I’m encouraged by that. I really am encouraged by that. So that’ll be. Hopefully it’ll be more business in. Well I think we just ran out of time are edging by the Banger over there. Thank you very much guys for coming. I really appreciate it. You’re welcome have a great. We have a great show and have a great week issue. Thanks said well. Thank you again very much for listening and for Supporting Gun Guy TV. I’m very very grateful. Now if you’re going to be on patriots I want you to stick with me because I’m going to start the second half of the podcast if you’re listening on your favorite podcast player or to the public version on a youtube channel or video channel. Then we’re going to wrap it up here and I wanNA thank you very much for all of your support. Have a wonderful week and wherever you go whatever you do please be safe. You’ve been listening to the gun. GuyGuyTV podcast.

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