Pistol Club is just one of the plethora of student organizations that make up the culture of Michigan Tech, making the university standout strongly amongst others. Michigan Tech is one of the few universities in the country that have a range for not only students, but local citizens as well, and Pistol Club is one way for people to access the range in a safe and fun manner. It was the range that brought a handful of the club’s current senior members to Michigan Tech in the first place, and it was Pistol Club that has allowed many more to enjoy their interests with like minded peers. All of the student members enjoy the relaxation the sport of shooting brings them, such as Range Officer and first year civil engineering major Darian Reed, who finds that Pistol Club to him is “a little bit of fun, it’s a stress reliever personally. Come here and there are all these classes and just being able to shoot at a target for a little bit is good. On top of that I’ve always had a little affinity to guns in general.” While it is a plus, the club is not only for those with a natural affinity to guns as Pistol Club is open to the public and even the untrained.
Anyone and everyone can come to Pistol Club, as they can join the club for a nominal due or even learn about firearms, allowing for people to have a whole host of experiences when they walk into the Student Development Complex range. The main tenants of Pistol Club are the promotion of education and safety before anything else, so they insist on giving any new visitor basic firearm training.
This training is performed by anyone of the club’s Range Safety Officers, who are members of the club that have, out of their own pockets, become certified to teach gun safety through the National Rifle Association. The short training sessions are a blessing to all visitors, as the RSOs have encountered experienced shooters with incorrect knowledge of their firearms; as senior member and RSO of the club Matthew Bugajski put it, “we have to basically reteach people that thought they knew what they were doing and we basically had to reconstruct the way they did stuff because we want good habits in place of the bad habits.” The basic training is also great for beginners as it provides an excellent learning environment with other students who are eager to share their interest and knowledge, which is excellent when it comes to easing any qualms visitors may have with firearms.
President and senior member Kyle Huyser’s favorite part of Pistol Club is “teaching people, [that’s how] I’m spending most nights and it’s usually a pleasant experience… It’s rewarding when they pick it up pretty fast and are actually understanding what’s happening and they’re having fun with it while doing it safely.” Many of the people that come to investigate Pistol Club come because of a curiosity of guns due to a lack thereof in their own culture.
There is a lot of multi-cultural diversity to Pistol Club from one of their main turnouts, international students. Longtime member and RSO Jake Munie finds that one of his favorite things about the club is “meeting the people who come down here… It brings people together that actually have a common interest, if you look down here you got so many people from different places of the world that you honestly wouldn’t meet anywhere else.” Pistol Club represents a piece of American culture that many of the international students studying here can interact with which is quite different from their cultures of origin, making it important to Michigan Tech’s cultural identity and diverse offering of experiences.
For those who are interested in learning more about Pistol Club, feel free to visit them at the SDC rifle range from 8 to 10 pm on Thursdays and Fridays, or 12 to 2 pm on Saturdays and 8 to 10pm on Sundays during their group shoots. For various inquires, feel free to check Pistol Club’s involvement link online or email Kyle Huyser at kmhuyser@ mtu.edu.
