Guns, Emirati Style 2

I spent a fair amount of time at the Sharjah Golf and Shooting Club during a recent assignment to the UAE. I found there were three basic categories of shooters. First was the serious shooter. This was either a civilian enthusiast or a policeman who wanted to improve their hand eye coordination. Second was the young stud (always an expat) who would bring their girlfriend (also an expat) to shoot, probably in the hope that the excitement of holding something warm and powerful in her hand would lead to something sexual. And finally there was the Emirati thrill seeker who wanted to shoot the .357 magnum. He typically couldn't hit the back wall but it made a big noise and had a big recoil. After 25 rounds, his hand hurt so bad that he went home. The .357 will soon be retired as the UAE police have decided that no private gun club can have anything larger than 9mm.

The club is sponsored by an international oil company. I was surprised to see its logo prominently displayed on the firing line. The photo above was taken from the club web site. If you go there now, this photo has been removed. I guess the image of their logo juxtaosed with Arabs with guns was not PC.