Ojai Bowling Alley to Become Shooting Range and Fun Center
I've gotten word that Magnum Range, based in Riverside, CA, has pulled all necessary permits and will open a shooting range and family fun center in what was the Ojai bowling alley on the east side of town.
The facility will offer a full suite of gun services, including firing range, NRA-certified trainers, parent-child safety classes, and a factory parts shop. The fun center is designed to get kids excited about gun use, while demonstrating proper safety techniques, and will include a light-beam shooting gallery, bow-and-arrow workshop and a laser tag venue co-sponsored by GoArmy.com.
"We are proud to open our sixth shooting range, and Ojai is going to be our best yet," said Magnum Range President Robert Magnum. "The continuity of our industry depends on providing fun and safe venues for adults and children alike. We are particularly excited about the opening ceremonies, because the legend of rock himself, Ted Nugent, will be the Master of Ceremonies and headliner on the full day rock concert. Hope to see you all there for a great day of shooting!"
A spokeswoman for Magnum Range said that while construction will begin immediately, the retrofit will be significant, with the facility slated to open April 1, 2009.
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Comments (21)
April Fools!
Comment #1 Posted by: Lauren | April 1, 2008 08:33 AM
It's the juxtapositioning of gun range and family fun center that tips it off.
Comment #2 Posted by: spk | April 1, 2008 10:23 AM
It didn't tip me off! I thought it was for real and pretty scary stuff!!!
Comment #3 Posted by: gullable | April 1, 2008 10:50 AM
I hear that it will also have a Subway and a Starbucks.
Comment #4 Posted by: Anonymous | April 1, 2008 11:00 AM
Great post, Ty.
Comment #5 Posted by: DiDj | April 1, 2008 11:03 AM
hahaha.
Yeah, that got me for a second.
I can totally see shooting range and family fun going together. Hell, just google it - here's the first result...
http://www.familyshootingcenter.com/
Comment #6 Posted by: Tanya | April 1, 2008 11:20 AM
my blood pressure is still up, i am not seeing straight and i'm going to soo you tyler for all your worth!!
(great april fools, you friggin genyus)!
Comment #7 Posted by: El A | April 1, 2008 12:00 PM
"God, Guns and Rock n' Roll"
http://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/04/motor_city_madman_ted_nugent_s.html
Comment #8 Posted by: gun-dola | April 1, 2008 12:05 PM
Yippers, that had me going. Me bowels were a-loosening on that one.
Comment #9 Posted by: kate | April 1, 2008 12:36 PM
I received a call early this morning from one of my constituents asking me if I had heard about the Shooting Range that was coming to Ojai. I thought he read it in the Ventura County Star! I explained that I thought we already had one in Rose Valley. After I hung up I read the "Press Release" here.
Yup! I believed it!!
Dang!!! You are good!!!
Comment #10 Posted by: Suza | April 1, 2008 04:17 PM
And the traffic mitigation plan will require Magnum et al to widen the bike path to accomodate all of the children and families biking together to the Fun Center.
Comment #11 Posted by: ojai commuter | April 1, 2008 09:29 PM
I actually went to the "Magnum Range" link! Scary stuff at the bottom of page 1:
"We take our last shooters one hour before we close."
--does this mean if I'm the "last shooter," I'm "taken out?"
"We do not rent firearms to anyone that comes in alone,so bring a friend."
--Bring a friend so you have a target to shoot?
Tres tres cheesy site -- but I sure would like to "contact" that "policeman" on the contacts page (he's sooooooo cute!)
Good 'un, Tyler! I'm polishing up my bows & arrows!
Comment #12 Posted by: artemis of the wild woods | April 1, 2008 09:51 PM
Ohmigod, I totally fell for that! The Ted Nugent part was especially good. Thanks for the laugh, ura funny guy. Well done, well done...
Comment #13 Posted by: Gypsy | April 1, 2008 10:32 PM
Ohmigod, I totally fell for that! The Ted Nugent part was especially good. Thanks for the laugh, ura funny guy. Well done, well done...
Comment #14 Posted by: Gypsy | April 1, 2008 10:32 PM
oops, I was laughing so hard that I couldn't stop clicking the box marked post ...
Comment #15 Posted by: Gypsy | April 1, 2008 10:36 PM
Good Lord Tyler - I was ready to go out and get myself a pearl/crusted gun - I thought it was a great idea, I’ve always wanted to learn how to shoot! We could have an ice cream stand at the door, after the kids practiced shooting. (Organic ice cream anyone?) And yes, of course I fell for it! - anything is possible, right?
After falling for your fiasco and realizing it was April fools, I called my lawyer son in San Francisco and told him I just got a call from Oprah's staff. They wanted me on the show to talk about my “Moms Come First! Enlightened Parenting” book . Once I was on the show, I was going to make millions, so he didn’t have to worry anymore about taking care of me when I got older. He got so excited he dropped the phone congratulating me as he called his wife over. Then she congratulated me too and sent me kisses: And then Of course, I had to give them the bad new! APRIL FOOLS! - They both screamed and hung up on me. Oh well, guess it's assisted living at the Salvation Army for me!
Since you started this whole mess Tyler dear, maybe you’ll come visit me? Whatdoyasay? And bring a gun. Love you darling, dvorah
Comment #16 Posted by: dvorah | April 1, 2008 11:48 PM
Alright, I'm posting this on the April Fool's thread in the hope that one person's view of Barack Obama's following comment is correct - that it was just an early, bad April Fool's joke:
"My foreign policy is actually a return to the traditional realistic policy of George Bush's father, of John F. Kennedy, of in some ways Ronald Reagan," he said Friday.
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/03/29/837657.aspx
Unfortunately, Friday was not April Fool's Day.
Comment #17 Posted by: The Shine Is Off The Apple | April 2, 2008 01:03 AM
A family fun center and firing range?
Somebody alert the Minutemen! This is un-Americanish! Oh wait...they're already there...teaching a five-year-old to shoot a handgun and aim at targets shaped like day laborers!
Just kidding. It was all a dream! April Fools!
Comment #18 Posted by: Nev | April 2, 2008 07:38 AM
That was a good one! I think my heartbeat and breathing stopped for a few seconds.
Comment #19 Posted by: Henrik | April 2, 2008 08:29 AM
Dang. I was gonna go apply for a job!
Comment #20 Posted by: Anonymous | April 2, 2008 01:17 PM
Darn... Here I was thinking, "Wow, I wish we'd had something like this before I moved away from Ojai... that's a good use for that old building that sat empty for years..." I figured some people on this site would have negative things to say about this, though...
Comment #21 Posted by: Former Ojai Resident | April 3, 2008 05:06 PM