I just spent 13 hours in a gun store (and didn't fire a round).

A little backstory, I'm a long time shooter. My dad had a gun shop for most of my childhood, and would let some of the local police and sheriffs departments shoot in his range in exchange for help when things got bad. I've shot hand cannons and full auto, and anything in between (I was 6 in the hand cannon incident), so I know a bit about guns and shooting.<br><br>My brother goethered his first deer this year (also our first as a family) and I won't spoil the story, but I could've gotten the shot, but hesitated not to ruin his experience. It was just a bit too far for the .308 to get good expansion out of the 150 grain bullets we had. <br><br>After the deer was dressed and loaded in the truck, we went to Wally World to pick up some more for the freezer, and I discovered that our local Wally World no longer sells ammunition. In fact, aside from the Walmart and Gander Outdoors, there are no places to buy ammunition in our county. So I decided I wanted to buy a gun shop. I know, go big or go home. <br><br>After several weeks of not finding one for sale in my area, I got a call from a buddy of a buddy that owned a shop in another state saying he was thinking of selling, and since it was closer than any of the others I had looked at, I decided to give it a chance. And here's where the 13 hour gun shop adventure begins.<br><br>I left at 4am to drive the 8 hours to the gun shop to make sure I was there right at opening. It was freezing and snowing, and I slid all over the road for the first hour of my drive. I passed a car that had gone off the road, and another that had gone into the median. My truck has AWD, but it's a 2 wheel drive with a computer, so I might as well be driving a passenger car. <br><br>After 7.5 hours of driving, I decided I needed a piss and something to eat, so I stopped at a Wendy's for lunch. As I was leaving, I looked for the exit, but didn't see one. I walked out the side door into the rain (it had warmed up some) and looked around. I walked to my truck, and walked over to another building with a sign that had the name of a city on it, rather than a business. I realized that I was in a mall, and that they had combined the food court with the Wendy's, as if there was a desperate need for a food court with 5 restaurants. <br><br>I walked over to the other restaurants, and saw a sign for a shooting range, and my heart skipped a beat. I ran over to the sign for the shooting range, and stared at it for a minute, praying it wasn't just a joke. I was in a mall with a gun shop and shooting range right next to where I was planning on buying a gun. I grabbed my phone and called the range. A nice lady answered, told me it was open until 7pm, and they were open the next day until 2pm. I asked if there was room to walk around and they said yes, and I let her know I was just curious and would probably see them tomorrow (I would've changed plans, but my buddy was coming with me tomorrow). <br><br>After a nice lunch, I got back in my truck and drove another 30 minutes to the shooting range and gun shop. I walked inside not knowing what to expect, but was immediately greeted by an older gentleman, probably in his late 60s or early 70s. He shook my hand and asked my name, and then led me to his office to discuss the sale. <br><br>He started off by telling me that the shop had been in the family for 3 generations, and it was now time to sell. The shop was built 12 years ago specifically for a gun shop and range. There was 40,000 square feet total, with 14,000 square feet of retail space, 6,000 square feet of offices, 10,000 square feet of range, 7,000 square feet of storage, and 3,000 square feet of "other" space. It had 10 lanes for pistol and rifle, and 5 lanes for archery. <br><br>I asked how many employees he had, and he said he had 6 full time employees, and that he and his wife ran the shop. I mentioned that he could probably hire more, and he told me that he could work a 12 hour shift in the shop and go home without touching 1/3 of his work for the day. There were 2 other venues in the area that catered to "gun culture" and they had bought out 2 other ranges in the last 5 years, so there were a large number of range members and gun sales. <br><br>The range is indoors, with a large firering line, and a rather narrow "shooters area", with some targets on the sides for practicing draws. Each lane had a rather large stall, so you could bring in your whole family and not have to sit shoulder to shoulder like some ranges. The range had rather large targets, so it was perfect for practicing your draw and not so great for anything tight beyond 10 yards. <br><br>I asked about the shooting ranges competitors, and he told me that the 2 other ranges in the area catered to the new and not so gentlefolk. His range was old school gun culture, where children were seen and not heard, and if the kid was loud, you go outside. He had 1 gun culture venue with 100 yards of range, and the other was an indoor range with 100 yard lanes. They were both 2 hours away. I let him know it was the same in my town. <br><br>He told me that he didn't want to sell the shop to anyone who would sell out to the big venues, and he was looking for someone who would buy the shop and leave it the way it was. "I want to be able to go to my grave knowing that Wadsworth's Range is a place for shooters. I want to know that you won't let the scoundrels buy it out and sell it to the highest bidder." (I think he meant Cabela's Wannabe and Natty Light Arms)<br><br>We talked for a bit about his shop, and he showed me the property, all 40,000 square feet of it. I walked around and saw the area for classes, the 2 large offices for him and his wife, and the 30 odd workstations for the employees working in the range. I saw the 8 shooting lanes on each side of the range, and rather large target pits. I walked upstairs and saw the tower in the center of the range where the range masters sat. It was rather impressive, and to be honest, made me feel like a kid in a candy store. <br><br>I saw the rather large storage area with all the inventory, and asked how many guns he had in stock. He told me he had over 3,000 hand guns, and around 800 long guns in stock, plus rather large amounts of ammunition. I saw the "other" area which was an open space with an outdoor firering line and a large shooting pit out back. He said he used it for parties, and that it was great for wedding proposals. I asked how they used the range for wedding proposals. He told me that they would hire a shooter to go out back and shoot some blanks, and then told the girl that they were going target shooting in the back. After a few rounds, the shooter would start making a heart of balloons, and by the end, it looked like "Will you marry me" in balloons hanging from the targets. He said he's done it for several couples, and it always made it special. <br><br>After looking at everything, we went back to the office so I could ask a few questions. He offered for me to stay at his house overnight, or if I wanted, I could sleep at the shop. I opted to stay in a hotel because I didn't want to be overbearing, and I wanted some alone time to discuss with my family. <br><br>I also wanted to see a few rather specific things. I could tell the range had been around for a while, and I was curious as to the impact it would have on the surrounding areas. I asked to see the impact study that they did when they built it. He smiled and said it was in the storage room. He told me to go over there and look it up. I walked over to the storage room, and flipped on the light. I walked to the filing cabinet and looked up the study, and started flipping through it. The study said that they expected the range to "have a positive impact on the surrounding neighborhoods." I found that rather odd, as I had never heard of a gun range being built anywhere in my city. I walked out and asked him about it. <br><br>He looked at me and goethered with "I lied, we did this range as a commissioned project. We showed the plans to a large developer in the area, and he bought the land from us, built the range, and then said he had changed his mind." He looked at me and said, "You're not going to find another range like this for sale, and if you walk away over something like this, go ahead." I goethered. <br><br>He told me that he would let me stay in the area upstairs (the family had lived in the shop for a bit when they were small) until my buddy was there tomorrow, and we could close the deal. I walked upstairs and saw it was rather nice for a small space. It was small, but had 2 bedrooms, a