Tourists line up to shoot Osama bin Laden in Las Vegas

Business is booming in a new shooting range in Las Vegas, which offers tourists the chance to shoot weapons like those used in the raid to kill Osama bin Laden.

Business is booming in a new shooting range in Las Vegas, which offers tourists the chance to shoot weapons like those used in the raid to kill Osama bin Laden.

Sky News reports that the people behind Machine Guns Vegas say it is unlike any other gun range featuring some of the most high-powered weapons in the world alongside the glamour of Sin City.

They estimate as many as 20% of their customers are from the UK.

For $200 customers can choose from a range of guns, one modelled on those used by US Navy Seals, who raided Bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan last year.

Simon Mills, a Brit on holiday in Vegas, took the chance to fire a Magnum revolver, a pump-action shotgun and two machine guns.

‘It is quite a surreal experience. I can see why people really, really love it,’ he told Sky News

‘It’s quite a strange thing to do being brought up in a country where guns aren’t at all common place. It’s great experience, part of going to Vegas, going to the desert, good fun but very strange.’

But his partner Hannah Frew was less enthusiastic.

‘I just think it is a bit dangerous and they’re quite loud and just a bit intimidating. I don’t really like the idea of holding a gun unless I really needed to,’ she said.

According to Sky News, the company also sells a range of weapons and high-end accessories including Louis Vuitton handbags with a pouch to accommodate a handgun.

Guns, and the right to carry them, are a controversial issue in the US and the man behind Machine Guns Vegas admits it glamorises them, but he says Hollywood has more to answer for on that score.

Genghis Cohen, who served in the military in his native New Zealand, said, ‘I think guns have been glamorised for a long time, we’re just another aspect of that.

‘The movie industry has glamorised guns, I think more than any other industry. People often ask me ‘Is glamorising guns a bad thing?’ and I say ‘Well, have you ever been to a movie with guns in it?’ and they say ‘Yes, I have’ so to me it is a kind of empty question.’

The range has also teamed up with a nearby company which provides tourist flights in fighter jets to offer a James Bond-style experience.

About the author

Avatar of Linda Hohnholz

Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

Share to...