Calgary shooting range closes after 25 years; owner blaming gun regulations, rent
Posted Oct 3, 2024 5:56 pm.
Last Updated Oct 3, 2024 7:33 pm.
“Goodbye, farewell and amen.”
Those the parting words posted on Facebook for Calgary’s The Shooting Edge, a shooting range and firearm retail store, that is closing after 25 years.
Owner J.R. Cox said Thursday his business is ceasing all operations effective immediately, citing restrictive gun regulations, diminishing membership, and soaring rental costs.
He believes the closure of his range will leave a hole for Calgary gun enthusiasts. With the closure of The Shooting Edge, there are now only a couple of ranges in the city.
“It’s going to be tough for shooters in Calgary,” he says. “I hope they get out and support the other two clubs. I hope they go memberships and go survive, cause while we’re competitors, we got into this industry because we believe in the shooting community.”
Weighing in on the business closure, Canada’s National Firearms Association (NFA), a group advocating for gun rights, posted on X, saying “sorrow.”
“The Shooting Edge was not the first to succumb to this, and it’s not going to stop until Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government is defeated,” says NFA executive VP Blair Hagen.
The owner of another Calgary gun shop, Straight Shooters, struggles to see why there is a problem with his type of business.
“Having law-abiding gun owners enjoy their hobby in a legal fashion doesn’t hurt people,” says Dennis Sorensen. “We have thousands of guns come in and out and we have legal owners who enjoy them and nobody is hurt.”
Cox told CityNews earlier this year he was sitting on $750,000 worth of inventory he couldn’t sell due to the slow rollout of the federal government’s buyback of assault-style firearms that were banned after a 2020 mass shooting in Nova Scotia.
Ottawa said last year they signed a contract with the Canadian Sporting Arms and Ammunition Association (CSAAA) to work with businesses and retailers that currently hold inventory prohibited under the May 2020 order-in-council.
With files from Dione Wearmouth
