

The range is located beneath an abandoned strip club. Aaron SmithĮstablished in 1964, the range and gun store is located in a neighborhood overrun by gazelle-like models, weekend shoppers, curbside panhandlers, meandering tourists, street hustlers selling Gucci sunglasses out of garbage bags, and tourists drinking mimosas in pandemic-compliant structures in front of restaurants. inconspicuous that few pedestrians realize there's a gun range beneath their feet.

The Westside Rifle & Pistol Range is one of two surviving gun stores in Manhattan.

It’s so inconspicuous that pedestrians on the sidewalk don’t realize that people are shooting rifles and pistols right beneath their feet, in an underground range the size of a bowling alley. The other New York gun shop, the Westside Pistol & Rifle Range, is an institution in lower Manhattan. Illegal guns come into the city from the Iron Pipeline, a network of traffickers who purchase firearms in comparatively lenient states like Florida and Indiana to resell illicitly in New York, as well as Chicago and Washington, D.C.
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Gun violence has spiked in New York and other cities during the coronavirus pandemic, prompting President Joseph Biden, a Democrat who owns guns, to deploy federal task forces to crack down on gun trafficking. New York has rigorous gun control laws compared to other parts of the country, aimed at preventing crime. (When asked about this, the NYPD directed this reporter to its handgun permit website.) But he said that it’s difficult for Chinese immigrants with limited English to obtain NYPD permits, even with his help as a translator.

Gong said that he’s seen increasing numbers of Asians and Asian-Americans buying guns for self-protection against the proliferation of hate crimes. Jimmy Gong, the owner, said the permitting process can take more than two years. New Yorkers with NYPD pistol permits often buy them at gun stores outside the city, like Jimmy’s Sportshop in Mineola on Long Island. The retailers blame a city law that requires permit holders to buy a handgun within 45 days of receiving their permit or lose it, making it impractical to keep them in stock. Neither of the city’s gun shops keep handguns in stock. There are no assault rifles at the Beretta Gallery - they’re barred by municipal gun laws. Most people don’t want to walk around New York City with a gun.” “Most people don’t come in and pick it up themselves. Some customers will walk into the story, buy a gun and leave. Permits are $140 for rifles or shotguns, or $340 for handguns, with a fingerprint fee of $88.25. To buy one, the buyer must pass a background check conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and must have a permit from the New York Police Department. Aaron SmithĪside from those eye-popping prices, the Beretta Gallery also sells hunting rifles and shotguns for less than $1,000. The Beretta Gallery is located in a five-story brownstone on Madison Avenue and is one of two.
