Shots fired at Republican Club event

feature 2, guns, Issue 12, Kaitlyn Baldwin, Melanie Al-Amir, Republican Club, Richard Nixon, Campus Life - By Kaitlyn Baldwin on Thursday, December 1, 2011 - 04:46

Whittier College’s Richard M. Nixon Republican Club took a trip to the Orange County Indoor Shooting Range on Sunday, Nov. 20 as part of the club’s monthly activities. The event was sponsored by the Republican Club, and was open for members and any interested Whittier College students.

On Sunday night, members and nonmembers carpooled to the gun range which is located in the City of Brea, about 30 minutes away from the College. Each person had to fill out a release waiver, which outlined the risks associated with shooting at the gun range, and waived Whittier College’s liability if any injuries were to occur.

Not all of those who attended were familiar with shooting a gun, and taking this trip was their first time shooting. When first timers were asked why they decided to attend the event and learn how to shoot, many had similar responses. “The ideal of being the Renaissance man and being skilled in those particular areas is why I’m going,” senior Brian Garfield said. “This is just another skill I want to learn.”

Others were more familiar with the process of the gun range. “I’ve been shooting guns all my life, where I’m from it’s pretty common to go out to the gun range for fun,” first-year and Republican Club member Greg Carlson said. Most of those who attended had already had some sort of experience and were able to enter the shooting areas first.

When entering the gun range, each participant was asked to fill out a form that promised their cooperation with the range’s policies and agreed to abide by their certain regulations. Those who were coming for the first time were given a short tutorial on how to use the guns, which included a revolver, semi and a rifle. After this process, each person was given a set of protective ear muffs and glasses and sent into a separate room that had the targets.

Each person got to use three different guns on three different targets, and got to keep their bulleted pieces of paper afterward as a souvenir. “I did much better than I expected,” Garfield said. “I did much better with the revolver and the rifle. I would definitely do it again though if I get the opportunity.”

The Republican Club meets every other Monday, when they discuss current political issues and plan for Club events. “The club does more than just activities like this,” senior Republican Club president Danielle Richards said. “Right now we’re looking into doing holiday cards or maybe sending care packages; I have a friend that is a Marine, and we’re going to try to see what the best way to help them out is, versus just trying to do something out of the blue. We’re in contact with people to make sure we’re actually doing something that’s good.”