While I don’t expect or hope to ever need it, as an American, I would like to be prepared to resist as much as necessary if needed. It’s looking like it might be needed at some point here.
I’m looking to get a rifle or two for that specific purpose just in case. Can anyone recommend specific brands/models and/or features I should be looking for? I’m disabled in a way that limits my ability to hold anything heavy, so lighter weight is good. I have a revolver, but that’s probably not the best for standing up against a repressive regime.
I plan to train with whatever I get, of course. Thanks in advance.
Edit: There way too much information here for me to reply to it all individually, but I would like to say thank you to everyone for your very helpful responses.
Sure, there’s a world of difference between catering to the fascists and a place that asks patrons to leave their politics at the door. But how is someone from a marginalized group supposed to know which range is going to be welcoming and which merely walking through the door is an invitation to harassment or worse. I’m not necessarily specifically addressing the OP, but anyone in this position who simply doesn’t know where to start.
As an example, local to me is an excellent facility that is utterly poisoned by the clientele. Not only politically, but the (lack of) range etiquette that has developed in that political sphere is frankly, dangerous.
Two key rules were drilled into my head growing up around firearms: treat every gun as if it’s loaded, and guns are not toys. I don’t see those rules being respected among the right wingers, even many with the training to know better.
If the range is not vigorously enforcing safety, you don’t want to be there regardless of politics. This is one of the reasons I mentioned RangeUSA. Both of the stores I’ve been to, there’s a range safety officer on the back line all the time, and they take their shit seriously. I was transferring loose rounds into an empty package “caddy” outside of the lane, and a guy stopped almost immediately to check that I wasn’t loading magazines. Another guy gave me shooting advice because he’d been watching what I was doing. And I’ve seen all sorts of people in there every time I’ve gone, both customers and employees.
Just like anywhere else, you’re not going to know unless you go in, or if you’re able to talk to people who already have. Google reviews can be helpful; I know there’s a couple of places in my area that I’m avoiding on that basis. Of course, you will probably have more luck finding a “clean, well-lighted place” in a populated area than in a rural one, but again, that goes for everything, not just shooting ranges.