Dean Carr's passion for shooting sports has helped fuel what could be called one of the city's biggest small-business success stories of the last decade.
What started as an online-only shooting supply company in 2013, and grew into a small bricks-and-mortar store on Argyle Street in 2015, now fills a 14,500 square foot retail space and shooting range near Highway 401.
And with that, the owner of Select Shooting Supplies hopes to bring even more people along for the ride.
Carr opened the public side of Range 519 in August, offering the only target range in the region where anyone over the age of 12 can shoot real firearms in a state-of-the-art facility, under safe supervision, no license required.
In August, Range 519 became the fifth public range in the province and only the second in southwestern Ontario.
Packages that start at $100 for a one-hour session include a safety briefing, instruction and fully-supervised experience with a selection of firearms.
Range 519 also has a 17-yard members-only range where licensed gun owners can practice the sport.
“We have clergy, bankers, lawyers, doctors,” Carr says of the regular members that come to the range to maintain their targeting skills.
But the public range is all about the fun experience.
“It’s a lot harder than people realize,” says Carr of the challenge that attracts people from all walks of life. “We get a lot of people from parts of the world where firearms are taboo.”
So far, special occasions and celebrations are big reason customers come to the range, with 50th birthday celebrations among the top group experiences.
Carr recalls one family that was looking for fun diversion after a funeral. The woman who suggested it was in her late 70s and “she probably had the biggest smile when leaving the building,” he says.
Carr says more packages and themes are in the works with an emphasis on date-night customers.
At only four months in, they’re just getting started, he says.
The odd person walks out of the range saying the sport isn’t for them, he says, but he’s never heard someone say they’d wished they never tried it.
“Safety is our job,” Carr says. “Fun is your job.”
Range safety officers accompany each group or individual to provide a full briefing on how to safely handle and discharge each weapon.
Emphasis on safety is paramount, including a requirement that range safety officers maintain close proximity with customers at all times, right beside them in the range stalls.
It's one of the distinct differences anyone who’s been to range in the U.S. will notice.
Carr says after being around firearms his entire life, safety has always been his top priority. The golden rule of the sport is to never point a firearm at a person, loaded or not. He says it goes against every ounce of firearm safety training he's ever had.
That's why targets that come even close to resembling human attackers are prohibited in Canada.
Use of firearms in Canada is also not generally accepted as a means of self defence, Carr adds, unless it's for law enforcement purposes.
At Range 519, the T-shirt target is the most popular take-home souvenir they offer.
Canada also prohibits many of the weapons made popular in film, including James Bond’s Walther PPK, so, anyone looking to tap their inner John Wick or Dirty Harry might have to make due with an alternative firearm.
But there are still several legal options to choose from.
Available firearms include a variety of pistols, shotguns, scoped rifles and semi-automatic rifles.
Carr's goal of opening a range has been in the works since the Argyle store opened its doors.
Back then he used to drive by the former home of Apex Cycle at 200 Preston Parkway thinking the building would be perfect location.
As soon as he heard Apex was on the move, Carr reached out to his real estate agent to put in an offer.
It was the start of a “very difficult” journey that involved getting zoning and site plan approvals from the city, applications for a range operating license from the chief firearms officer of Ontario, and final sign off from the RCMP.
The building had to be engineered to meet ballistic standards, a process that added tons of concrete to the structure to ensure if a round goes in the wrong direction, it can't leave the range envelope.
Other safety features include bullet proof glass and solid walls between each stall in the member range.
In the public range, bullet proof dividers on either side of the stalls help focus the less-experienced shooter’s attention on the target ahead.
Baffles in the ceiling are designed to deflect stray bullets and the concrete block sidewalls are held together with structural grout.
Each range also has 36,000 pounds of crushed rubber as a sloping backstop where bullets enter at a minimum depth of three feet.
Carr had planned to open Range 519 within a few months after Select Shooting Supplies moved into its new location in March of 2020.
But even with COVID throwing a wrench into those plans, he admits his initial timeline may have been a bit optimistic.
Delayed approvals dragged on for months and then there were public health protocols to follow.
Carr finally opened the member range in February 2021 but had to jump through further hoops before the public range could open its doors in August.
One design element that worked in Carr's favour in COVID times is the building's extensive ventilation system.
It's a requirement to rid the range of toxic fumes from spent gunpowder, but now, with heightened concerns about keeping the air flowing in indoor facilities, it's a feature that makes Range 519 one of the safest indoor activities out there.
Carr says the system, built to National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety (NIOSH) standards, pushes 15,000 cubic feet of air through the ranges every minute, exchanging 35 per cent fresh air and passing through three filters, including HEPA.
For the range mechanics, Carr went to Utah-based company Action Target to design, manufacture and install the range equipment.
The programmed track system provides a dynamic experience since the targets can be set to spin, advance or retreat at random or timed intervals to increase the challenge.
COVID may have slowed customer traffic, but Carr says he’s very happy with where the business is heading as interest in the sport grows.
"We're family owned and proud to be in Cambridge," he says.
