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of a desire to bring history back to life through education and al- lowing the public to experience firearms they have only seen in movies or family albums,” shares David McGirt part owner. David and his wife Jodie are both NRA certified instructors and Range Safety Officers. Both were raised around guns but their in- volvement took off with the inception of the Machine Gun Expe- rience. Jodie and I were members of the same gymnastics team in our youth and I caught up with her by happenstance as my husband and I sought further firearms training from a certified instructor. We found ourselves in the classroom at LMMG. Not only was the instruction first rate, and improved our confidence as we learned to safely handle and shoot firearms, but we could not help but no- tice how much fun the customers who were there for the Machine Gun experience were having. I had to find out more. So, my husband and I made an additional trip up to LMMG to interview David and Jodie for ALMetro360 . Now I can tell you first-hand that not only is the history behind the firearms fasci- nating, but firing it is just plain fun. “Even the most timid shooter will end up smiling and laughing after the experience,” said David. He was right. The extensive collection of firearms at LMMG includes not only the infamous “Ma Deuce” but also historic and modern-day, mil- itary-style firearms you might know such as the “Tommy Gun”, “Grease Gun”, MP5’s, and Uzi. According to David, the “normal” machine gun experience cus- tomer tends to be a non-firearms owner or self-described advo- cate: “They are there to experience history or sometimes just the thrill of something very different. Accordingly, the environment is based on little to no experience with firearms and allows the cus- tomers to have a very positive experience. The machine gun expe- rience does not convert people into gun advocates, but instead gives a level of respect to the generations that have used these firearms.” Just as there are varying reasons for gun ownership, there are varying reasons for visiting Lake Martin Machine Gun. Separate from the Machine Gun experience, there is a complete pistol and rifle shooting range available. According to the McGirts the typical range customers are generally citizens that already own a firearm and want to practice to maintain safe firearm proficiency, and to enjoy target shooting. “Similar to other sports such as golf, accurate shooting is a perishable skill, thus the muscle memory is lost with- out practice.” In a culture where guns and gun owners are oftenmisunderstood, David and Jodie absolutely see themselves as ambassadors. “There is a misconception that gun-owners don’t care about others. The shooting community, and gun owners in general, are 30 AL/ Metro 360 www.almetro360.com An integral part of the Machine Gun Experience is learning the history and usage of the firearms to which you are introduced.