Columnist Barb Henderson: Trapshooting a mainstay in Las Vegas

Barb Henderson

Friday, Feb. 6, 2004 | 10:19 a.m.

Barb Henderson is an outdoors enthusiast, freelance writer and producer/host of outdoors radio television programming. Her column appears Friday in the Sun.

Pull!

A simple word that has been used by shotgunners for about five decades at the Las Vegas Gun Club, a word to send clay targets flying.

The Las Vegas Gun Club opened its doors in the 1950s, for both local and visiting shotgunners, providing a trapshooting facility for enjoying the sport.

This popular gun club has been known by several names through the years -- the Sahara Gun Club in the '60s, the Mint Gun Club (used as part of the popular historic Mint 400 off-road race) in the '70s and '80s, and the Las Vegas Gun Club since 1986.

During the '60s and '70s, trapshooting tournaments were at an all-time high, then in the early '80s they started to decline.

"We are missing a whole generation of tournament shooters," said Steve Carmichael, who owns the Las Vegas Gun Range. "Tournament shooters probably average 55-60 years of age, and most just don't compete anymore like they used to."

Carmichael, who took over the operation in 1990, is no stranger to trapshooting. He holds seven National Trapshooting Championship titles and has had a position on 13 All-American Shooting Teams. He was honored by the shooting industry in 1996 when he was inducted into the National Amateur Trapshooting Association's Hall of Fame.

After he took over the operation of the local gun club, Carmichael knew that some changes were needed and additional opportunities would have to be added for the shotgunners. One of the largest decisions made was to remove half of the existing trap fields to upgrade the facility.

Today the Las Vegas Gun Range offers 14 trapshooting fields, two skeet-shooting fields, one five-stand station, 10 sporting-clay stations and one international bunker station.

Future plans for the gun range include; expanding the Sporting Clays to 13 stations and to add a 25-yard handgun range.

One of Carmichael's goals would be to increase the membership to 500 from its current level of approximately 440. Even with that level of membership, the club would continue to remain open to the public with the same hours and safety requirements it has for members.

Carmichael believes one of the largest accomplishments for the facility has been teaching the sport to others.

"We have several excellent instructors," he said. "We also host a scholastic program for children from sixth through 12th grade. Good grades are a must in order to participate."

The Las Vegas Gun Club is at 9400 Tule Springs Road, approximately 13 miles northwest of the city off highway 95. You can reach the range by traveling to Durango Drive (exit 93), turn right, go about 2 miles and follow the gun range signs. For more information, call 645-5606.