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The Rice Thresher
6100 Main Street (MS-524)
Houston, TX 77005-1892

It happens more often than you might expect.

No, there is no Rice Mafia and no armed robbery plan. The group of gun-toting Rice students consists of members of the Rice Shooting Club, and if you see them taking off with their guns on a Saturday afternoon, they are probably going to the American Shooting Centers' range off of I-10 and Highway 6.

The approximately 15 club members shoot recreationally at the range about every week or two, where they take target practice with pistols and rifles. In addition to using the pistol and rifle ranges, they can also shoot skeet with shotguns.

"Pistol and rifle [shooting] is the most popular," according to Jones College senior and club Vice President Clint Epps. The range has 50-foot and 25-yard pistol ranges and 50-yard and 100-yard rifle ranges. The club owns two shotguns, four pistols and five rifles, and members also bring their own guns. The range also has skeet and other shotgun games.

Although Rice once had a competitive shooting team, Epps foresees no plans for the club to enter any competitions in the near future. With only 15 members and no one trained as a shooting coach, Epps said that competitions are a "big hassle" and the club should stick to recreational shooting.

Epps believes the club has a diverse membership. "We have some people who have never fired a gun in their life when they started, all the way up to people who cut their teeth on a shotgun." According to Epps, about one-third of the club is female.

As well as allowing members to shoot, the club also organizes a "day at the range" every semester. On these days any interested student can shoot with the club for free after a systematic safety demonstration presented by the club.

"We really can't stress safety enough, especially because of our affiliation with the university. If one person screws up, that could ruin it for everybody, not to mention if somebody gets hurt," Epps said. "We want to make sure before anyone picks up a gun on the club, they understand exactly what they're dealing with. It's not something to be afraid of, but it's something to be respected."

"You always need to keep your mind about you when you're handling a firearm. It becomes instinctive pretty easily," he said.

No license is required to target shoot or own a gun in Texas, but the club requires safety instruction before anyone shoots at the range for the first time.

Although federal law prohibits the possession of a firearm anywhere on a college campus, there are loopholes that allow the club to store firearms locked underneath the gym. The club does take precautions; only club officers can check out the guns from the equipment counter, and they can then only be carried unloaded from the gym to private cars to be taken off campus.

Epps estimates that he has taught 30 to 40 people how to shoot while he has been at Rice.

Jenn Stein, a sophomore at Jones, learned about the club from Epps and has gone to the range several times. "I really didn't have too much experience before," Stein said. "Clint taught me basically everything."

"I enjoy the rhythm and concentration of shooting. It's a skill you can develop," Stein said. "It's a good time."

Dave Benham, a Jones junior and club member for two years, also had little shooting experience before joining the club. "Once my uncle in South Dakota took me shooting and showed me how to fire a gun," Benham said.

Now, however, Benham visits the range "pretty much every week. It's something to get proficient at -- like shooting pool," he said. Benham, who is an ROTC cadet, also enjoys shooting with the club because the ROTC program no longer uses any firearms.

"One of the important functions of the shooting club at Rice is to expose people to firearms in a safe and positive environment. I love to shoot and would like to continue to be able to shoot, but so many of the people making decisions don't have any experience with firearms. Things like this give people the opportunity to try them out," Epps said. "People at Rice are going to be in the position to make decisions about firearms."

Epps has been interested in firearms almost all his life. "When I was nine years old, I started hunting. I got my first shotgun at that point, and I just grew up on a farm around firearms," he said.

According to Epps, Rice had a competitive shooting team in the 1960s. Although there is no longer a competitive team, the club still has five of the old target rifles, which still work.

After a long period of inactivity, the club resurfaced about six years ago. At that time the club could still shoot at the indoor range located underneath the gymnasium. The range was closed in February 1995 because it violated the fire code.

Now the club has an agreement with American Shooting Centers in which members can shoot for free after the club pays an annual fee.

Epps hopes that the club can "maintain a good active membership, keep the interests diverse and get as many people involved as we can." Interested students can contact Epps at 630-8442 or send e- mail to buzzard@rice.edu for information about the club.

"We'll take anybody with experience and if you don't have experience, we're happy to instruct, too. Anybody is welcome to come out any time," Epps said.

This item appeared in the Features section of the April 4, 1997 issue.