Would you host a kid's party at a gun range? Texas Gun Range to Host Kid Parties

Nanci and David Prince, pictured, are the
owners of the Eagle Gun Range in Lewisville, Tex. The gun range is set
to open at the end of summer 2012. (Courtesy David Prince)

Instead of bowling alley or laser tag birthdays, Texas parents will soon
be able to host parties at a less traditional venue, a family-friendly
gun range set to open this summer.

The range will have two rooms for children's birthday parties so the
young partygoers can attend a class and then fire a few rounds before
cake and presents.

"A lot of people don't know how to shoot a gun so we're providing
education and training for shooters of all ages," range owner David
Prince told ABCNews.com. "They have birthday parties with go-karts and
trampolines -- with proper education before going into a gun range, why
not a birthday party?"

The Eagle Gun Range in Lewisville will be a 24-lane facility targeted
toward both avid and novice shooters. Children eight years and older,
who are tall enough to shoot over the shooting table, will be able to
fire at the range. According to Texas guns laws, parents or guardians
must give written permission for children under 18 to possess or fire a
weapon.

"They'll be in the classroom, walk into the range, shoot, go back to the
classroom, and have cake and ice cream," Prince said. "There's no
pinata. It's not festive like that. There are safety glasses, ear
protection, and that's the only time they test the gun."

Prince said that both parents and children will attend a safety class
taught by a National Rifle Association (NRA) certified instructor before
going anywhere near a gun.

"A parent or guardian or NRA instructor will all be in arm's range," he
said. "There's no child that will be walking around with a gun at a
birthday party."

The young children will be shooting BB guns and .22 pistols and can move up from there as they get older.

"We're reaching out and trying to educate people so they understand
there is a responsibility that goes with the right and privilege to bear
arms," said Prince, 62. "It's a responsibility to learn how to do it
effectively and safely."

"It's been 30 years since a gun range was built in Dallas," he added.
"There's huge demand and little supply so I reached out to meet the
supply. This is all parent-driven. We're not going out pulling kids off
the street. Parents are coming in and want this for their children."

Prince said he has received hundreds of emails from supportive parents
who want to bring their children and said he does not know of any other
range that offers similar training and education for children.

But some parents are already expressing concern over the new party spot.

"It makes me very nervous," Dawn McMullan told ABC News' Dallas affiliate WFAA. "I think eight-year-olds, developmentally, can't tell the difference between play and reality sometimes."

McMullan is an East Dallas mother of two boys who has been involved in gun control advocacy.

"To put it in a party or game atmosphere just seems to not respect a gun as much as we should respect guns," she told WFAA.

The Eagle Gun Range has found itself at the center of a national debate
over gun rights, discussions about how young is too young and even a
source of material for comedians.

On "Jimmy Kimmel Live," the comedian joked, "The range says kids, for
them to be able to shoot, they have to be eight years old and need to be
tall enough to see over the shooting table, but other than that, the
only rule is no shooting in the bouncy house."

Kimmel also shot a spoof video where a Chuck E. Cheese's became a Chuck
E. Norris and children ate cake off of guns and took aim at each other.

Prince said the range is "thankful and blessed" for the attention and he enjoyed Kimmel's skit.

"We thought it was hilarious," Prince said of the sketch. "I don't care
for him as a comedian, but that particular skit was funny."

Prince maintains that what he is doing at the range is no different from
the Boy Scouts' being trained in rifle shooting or children playing
video games with guns.

"[Kids] have been aiming and shooting guns forever with video games. Why
not use a real gun and let them know what the differences are? It's not
a toy. They need to know that. How are they going to know that if we
don't tell them and show them?"

The gun range is scheduled to open later this summer.