Tuesday, July 27, 2004 | 10:56 a.m.
Some of the men arrive at the indoor shooting range in wheelchairs and others use walkers. A few are missing limbs lost in previous wars.
They call themselves the "Senior Militia," a group of about 20 gunslinging men mostly in their 60s, and they meet twice weekly to shoot the breeze -- and their guns.
They are vigilant about their standing date to shoot at targets because they feel that, off the range, they are the targets.
"There are so many young gang-bangers, gangs, aliens and everything else here, and they're a threat to us old people," said John McCormack, 80, who is the unofficial president of the group. "Old people tell me they feel like sheep, because they're so helpless."
McCormack and other members of the militia are part of a growing population of Americans older than 65 who are now the most likely of all age groups to own guns.
Until the 1990s, men ages 40 to 49 were the demographic group most likely to own guns, said Tim Smith, director of General Social Survey at the National Opinion Research Center in Chicago. These days, gun ownership is most prevalent among senior citizens, Smith said.
In 1982, 30 percent of Americans older than 65 reported that they owned guns, compared with 38 percent of Americans ages 40 to 49, according to a survey by the National Opinion Research Center. In 2002 that reversed, with 37 percent of Americans over 65 owning guns and 24 percent of Americans ages 40 to 49 reporting ownership.
Smith said the shift is partly because Americans 40 to 49, who reported having guns two decades ago, are now in the older age group, and the younger generations have lost interest in hunting in that time.
Eighty percent of gun owners own rifles and shotguns, the most popular hunting guns, while 60 percent own handguns, Smith said. Almost half of gun owners possess both long guns and handguns.
"The oldest adults were, at least at one time, the most avid of hunters," he said.
Now they fear they're the hunted, according to The Gun Store manager Dave Vining, who heads the store's concealed weapons instruction program.
"They're scared," said Vining. "They're afraid they won't be able to protect themselves against home invasions, muggings, robberies, carjackings."
It's not that those over 60 are more likely to be crime victims. Since January, 9 percent of robberies were committed against citizens over 60 in Las Vegas, according to Metro Police. Three percent of victims of assault and battery were also over the age of 60. People 65 and older make up 10 percent of the population of Clark County, according to the state demographer's office.
Metro Police Sgt. Tom Johnson, who heads the department for gun registration and concealed firearms permits, said he thinks senior citizens buy guns to feel safer in crime-ridden areas.
"The criminal activity in certain jurisdictions would prompt a senior citizen to purchase a firearm for personal protection," Johnson said. "Maybe the persons in that age group feel safer if they own a firearm."
Johnson said he believes gun shops tend to exaggerate the number of senior citizens purchasing guns. However, he said, Metro does not know how many people over 60 own guns, because to prevent discrimination the department does not keep track of gun ownership according to age, sex or religion.
All of the members of the Senior Militia have taken a further step in their gun ownership, going through the qualification and registration that allows them to carry their weapons concealed while out in public.
Vince Pillig, 58, one of the younger members of the Senior Militia, said he has exposed his gun twice to teens who he believed were trying to rob him.
On one occasion, Pillig said he was home alone when he spotted a few teenagers climbing over the wall of his back yard. Pillig went to his back screen door, exposed his gun and told them they needed to leave.
On another occasion, Pillig said he flashed the butt of his gun at a few teenagers at his door who claimed to be selling magazine subscriptions. They could not provide identification, Pillig said, and they quickly fled in a car that didn't have a license plate.
"They weren't selling magazine subscriptions, let's put it that way," Pillig said.
Local gun store owners said they have seen a significant age increase in their clientele in the past few years. Mike O'Donoghue, owner of Discount Firearms on South Highland Drive, said 40 percent of his customers are senior citizens.
"Whether they're conservatives or liberals, they're waking up to the reality that they're not as young as they used to be," O'Donoghue said. "They realize that the police can't be there all the time, everywhere."
Rick Gray, owner of Accuracy Gun Shop on Boulder Highway, said he has only seen a slight increase in the age of his clientele, but agreed that older generations are "just now realizing that they have to take safety in their own hands."
Gun ownership among senior citizens isn't risk free, said Matt Bennett, a spokesman for Americans for Gun Safety. The national organization believes that law-abiding adults have the right to own guns, but fears that some older adults are incapable of handling a gun in a "responsible fashion."
Bennett said gun-related suicides among senior citizens are a major concern. In 2002, the most recent year available, the National Center for Health Statistics reported that 16,882 Americans committed suicide by discharging a firearm, 36 percent of which were over the age of 55.
"Anecdotal evidence shows that these types of suicides are men who have recently lost their spouses or suffer from a medical ailment," Bennett said. "If a family member falls into this category, it may be worth considering a discussion with them about their gun ownership."
Donald Carns, a sociologist at UNLV, agreed that senior citizens who own guns, especially those who live alone, can be potentially dangerous because they often don't have adequate "social support."
Carns said people who own guns may also attract more attention to themselves.
"I think we always think of a gun as something to keep people away, but it can also be attractive," he said. "A gun could be something that pulls danger in toward you or it can be something to keep it away."
But in the end, Carns said, the personal protection that a gun provides outweighs all risks, especially for low-income senior citizens who live in dangerous areas.
"I should imagine if I weren't married and was living alone, I'd probably want a piece," said Carns, who turns 67 next month. "It's something to have there."
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