Pistol shooting in competitions or for practice is conducted either under cover, in the open, or partly under cover. The latter is much the best way, so I will keep this to the last.
An open-air range can only be installed in the country, away from buildings or annoyance to others. Even then it is not immune. Just before the war several rifle ranges in England were ordered to be closed because they inconvenienced golf players, and of course golf is much more important than shooting.
The present automatic pistol with its heavy charge makes such a noise that it can only be shot in an open-air range, well away from houses. The objection to such a range is that it takes so long to get to.
Instead of being able to fire a few shots at odd moments, as in Paris, a man who has a few minutes to spare must take a train into the country, wasting time and money getting there and back, and he can therefore only shoot if he has a whole afternoon free and “money to burn.”
It requires great keenness in pistol shooting to endure all the discomfort of waiting for trains, standing in the wet, etc., for the sake of a few minutes’ shooting.
The usual indoor range practice is even worse.
It is true it is “only round the corner,” and takes only a few minutes to get to, but when you do get there!!!
The range is in a part of a building too dark and uncomfortable to be used for any other purpose.
If a narrow underground dungeon is too bad for a wine or coal cellar, a brilliant idea strikes the owner of the property: “Why not turn it into a public shooting gallery, and make it pay?”
The gallery is run on the pay, pay, always pay, and receive nothing, principle.