"Our clientele is both national and international," says Emily Miller, head of marketing for the company. "The Brits come over and the Australians. We truly have customers from all over the world. They shoot a machine gun – the ones that they've seen in movies … or shot in video games, like the AK47s, Uzis, the MP5s. Most of these are completely illegal for international customers."
Perhaps not surprisingly, the company also offers bachelor and bachelorette party options. (Bachelors are required to wear a pink tank top and skirt as they fire their weapons.) But The Gun Store also offers "Shotgun Weddings" — where couples can tie the knot on the range, then fire off five rounds on a shotgun. (Friends and family who are unable to make the trip to Vegas for the special day can watch on a Webcam.)
Even kids are getting fired up. The Eagle Gun Range in Lewisville, Texas offers birthday parties for children aged eight and older that let the kids fire weapons, after a training course.
Shotguns and machine guns are all well and good, but if you're really looking for something unique, head to Kasota, Minnesota, where you'll find the opportunity to drive a tank. And customers who really want to let off steam can demolish a car with that tank.
Six-year old Drive A Tank is the only place in the U.S. where civilians are allowed to get behind the controls of a tank. For as little as $400, customers drive the Abbot FV433 (a British Army armored fighting vehicle) through a wooded course. For an extra $549, they're able to drive over a car and crush it.