Shooting A Fully Automatic M249 SAW
Not that there’s any other kind of M249 SAW, mind you. The title was chosen as a “grabber” title. Marketing, dontcha know.
If you’ve ever stayed in Las Vegas, you know all too well that the hotel rooms, casinos, and every place in between bombards you with advertisements. Mostly for casinos, time shares, and shows. The one thing in the little discount book in the hotel room that actually got my attention was the advertisement for fully automatic weapons.
Normally, I’m not a fan of guns. Having them around makes it too convenient for someone to commit murder in the heat of the moment. I mean, seriously, how many people do you actually know that can honestly say they needed a gun to ward off a criminal? One in a thousand? One in one hundred thousand? Compare that to the number of “accidental discharge” deaths or domestic disputes that ended in a gun related homicide.
Having said that, I would gladly jump at the chance to shoot a fully automatic weapon in a controlled situation. I had to call to see what it was all about. The folks over at The Gun Store in Las Vegas happily answered my questions.
- Yes, you really can rent fully automatic weapons.
- No, they aren’t illegal - If you purchased them before the assault weapons ban of 1994.
- Cash or credit card is all you need.
- They have just about every automatic weapon you’ve ever heard of.
- Prices as low as $25 for 50 shots.
That’s all I needed to hear. I hailed the next cab I could find (really tough in Vegas), and high-tailed it over there.
So many choices! AK47 Assault Rifle, UZI SMG, Thompson M1A1 SMG, Colt M16 Carbine, M3A1 “Grease Gun”, Stemple “K”, STEN MKII, H&K MP5, Madsen M50, MP40 “Schmeisser” and many more. I had a hard time deciding on which one I wanted to shoot, so I chose three. My first choice was from several of my favorite video games - the M249 SAW Mini Machine Gun.
The employees at The Gun Store were very accommodating. I fully intended on making a video of the experience and putting it up on Metacafe, and they were happy to allow it. Keep in mind they will let anyone with cash or credit rent, handle, and shoot a fully automatic weapon. In the post 9/11 environment, that is very trusting of them.
They also let you choose the target. I picked the obvious choice - Bin Laden:
The video game clip is from FarCry, a fantastic FPS game with an equally amazing sequel in the works.
Oh - the woman’s voice making fun of my shooting is that of my loving wife.
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