Franck - From Switzerland
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Franck, wilkommen zu TGT! I spent 6 months at Uni in Bern and traveling through Switzerland. You'll find Texas very different but will enjoy it a lot. Once you're here hit me up and I'll show you what Texas is like! My chance to pay it forward for all the hospitality I got from the Swiss.
breakingcontact
TGT Addict
Y'all Houston types meet for lunch? Plug Franck in and take him to the range.
Franck if you make it up to Austin let me know and we can hit the range.
Franck if you make it up to Austin let me know and we can hit the range.
Mexican_Hippie
TGT Addict
Howdy!
You definitely need to let us know when you're coming in. There's renting guns, and there's shooting friends' guns at the range. With our group, there's plenty of options if you want to shoot something other than the grey Austrian bricks. Welcome to Houston, sorry for the Libs.
Your English is EXCELLENT. It's better than many, many people on here whose first language is English.
First of all: THANK YOU guys for the warm welcome! I really appreciate it - And am even more excited to come to Texas. Awesome spirit.
Please let me answer to everyone - So the post may be a little bit long.
Let's start with the fun part. Moonpie asked for pictures of Switzerland and of where I shoot. So basically, in Switzerland, there are two shooting ranges categories: The private one (very expensive, about 1$ per minute) and the "public" ones. The public ones, are owned by the Swiss Army - But can be used by civilians under certain conditions, for training and instruction purposes. Those are cheap.
So as you already know from my last post, Switzerland has 4 official languages. I'm born in the german speaking part but live in the french speaking part. This is 10 minutes from where I live, it's called "Lavaux" and is near Lausanne, who is near Geneva. These are all wineyards (white grapes).
To give you guys some context, Switzerland is a 8 million people country. So approx 4 times the population of Houston. But 10 times it's size. As you see, we are a small country. Texas is 270'000 square miles. Switzerland, only 16'000 square miles. About 15 times smaller than Texas. And considering 50% of our country is unsuitable for modern human activity (mountains), our population density is quite high. At least, we consider it too high for the quality of life we strive for. In 20 years, we went from 6 million people to 8 million people, due to immigration.
Getting back to shooting. This part will make more sense to people who read my introduction post.
At the military ranges, we mostly use so called "KD Box". It's very safe (20cm of pure concrete on each side) and you can do almost everything inside. From pistol combat shooting, to assault rifle CQB, shotguns, you can bring cars their and even learn the basics of long range rifle shooting (you just make the target extremely small) and you can work at 25 yards.
It looks like that. Not sexy, but it gets the job done. That's where I spend most of my Saturdays, providing free non-profit training to civilians, and off duty police & army.
Why do we do it? Because we consider that freedom comes with responsibilities. We have quite a free law regarding gun ownership (even if we lost most of our rights, including CCW in 20 years - It's still the best law in Europe). And we have no gun violence problems. And we want to keep it that way. So our duty as citizens is to provide education and awareness. We are extremely strict about the 4 safety rules and try to teach that guns are not the problem, but that they can be the solution under some circumstances. But for a gun to be the solution, one needs to be trained, educated, and mentally prepared. Just owning a gun is not enough.
As we live in an unique democracy - People rejected by vote all the attempts of the leftists to restrict them. But we can only keep it that way, as long as we are a peaceful society. If legally owned guns would one day become a public safety issue, no doubt that a majority of people would vote to restrict their ownership. And you know what? I would have no problem with that. Because I value our democracy more than my personal opinions and interests. That's why I'm spending time, money and energy to do my best for it not to happen by doing what I do: Educate people and help them to be responsible and free citizens.
Combat shooting, is a holistic approach. Goal is to be prepared to as many realistic scenarios possible. Even if you get flashed by 500 lumens strobe in your eyes. We are mammals. And under stress we reproduce what we learned. That's why training and proper professional instruction is crucial. Once SHTF, it's too late to improvise: The famous rule of the FBI: 3 meters, 3 seconds, 3 shots. That's 80% or 90% of self defence shooting situations in the world.
We are open minded, and also use american rifles. Good thing with the AR15 system, even if I'm not as familiar with it than with our Stgw90 - It's how light it is. About 5.5Lbs. When our Stgw90 is 9Lbs.
When you have to carry that shit for ten days in the mountains, sleeping in the dirt, with 500 rounds of ammo, you would be happy to have a lighter rifle and your arms say thank you. But the Stgw90 has some significant advantages over the AR15 as well. At the end of the day, it all comes down to choices and compromises.
And this bike trip must have been absolutely amazing (I'm a bike rider as well
).
I'm moving to texas early august 2016. And I'd be glad and happy to meet any GunTalk member !!
Just need to figure out if and how I could get a gun myself.
I'll be there first saturday of October for sure, already wrote it in my agenda !
Count on me, I'm looking forward - As I literally don't know anyone in Texas.
I have no idea what to expect...
Please feel free to ask me any question you'd like or share any feedback related to what I wrote ! And thank you for reading .
Please let me answer to everyone - So the post may be a little bit long.
Let's start with the fun part. Moonpie asked for pictures of Switzerland and of where I shoot. So basically, in Switzerland, there are two shooting ranges categories: The private one (very expensive, about 1$ per minute) and the "public" ones. The public ones, are owned by the Swiss Army - But can be used by civilians under certain conditions, for training and instruction purposes. Those are cheap.
So as you already know from my last post, Switzerland has 4 official languages. I'm born in the german speaking part but live in the french speaking part. This is 10 minutes from where I live, it's called "Lavaux" and is near Lausanne, who is near Geneva. These are all wineyards (white grapes).
To give you guys some context, Switzerland is a 8 million people country. So approx 4 times the population of Houston. But 10 times it's size. As you see, we are a small country. Texas is 270'000 square miles. Switzerland, only 16'000 square miles. About 15 times smaller than Texas. And considering 50% of our country is unsuitable for modern human activity (mountains), our population density is quite high. At least, we consider it too high for the quality of life we strive for. In 20 years, we went from 6 million people to 8 million people, due to immigration.
Getting back to shooting. This part will make more sense to people who read my introduction post.
At the military ranges, we mostly use so called "KD Box". It's very safe (20cm of pure concrete on each side) and you can do almost everything inside. From pistol combat shooting, to assault rifle CQB, shotguns, you can bring cars their and even learn the basics of long range rifle shooting (you just make the target extremely small) and you can work at 25 yards.
It looks like that. Not sexy, but it gets the job done. That's where I spend most of my Saturdays, providing free non-profit training to civilians, and off duty police & army.
Why do we do it? Because we consider that freedom comes with responsibilities. We have quite a free law regarding gun ownership (even if we lost most of our rights, including CCW in 20 years - It's still the best law in Europe). And we have no gun violence problems. And we want to keep it that way. So our duty as citizens is to provide education and awareness. We are extremely strict about the 4 safety rules and try to teach that guns are not the problem, but that they can be the solution under some circumstances. But for a gun to be the solution, one needs to be trained, educated, and mentally prepared. Just owning a gun is not enough.
As we live in an unique democracy - People rejected by vote all the attempts of the leftists to restrict them. But we can only keep it that way, as long as we are a peaceful society. If legally owned guns would one day become a public safety issue, no doubt that a majority of people would vote to restrict their ownership. And you know what? I would have no problem with that. Because I value our democracy more than my personal opinions and interests. That's why I'm spending time, money and energy to do my best for it not to happen by doing what I do: Educate people and help them to be responsible and free citizens.
Combat shooting, is a holistic approach. Goal is to be prepared to as many realistic scenarios possible. Even if you get flashed by 500 lumens strobe in your eyes. We are mammals. And under stress we reproduce what we learned. That's why training and proper professional instruction is crucial. Once SHTF, it's too late to improvise: The famous rule of the FBI: 3 meters, 3 seconds, 3 shots. That's 80% or 90% of self defence shooting situations in the world.
We are open minded, and also use american rifles. Good thing with the AR15 system, even if I'm not as familiar with it than with our Stgw90 - It's how light it is. About 5.5Lbs. When our Stgw90 is 9Lbs.
When you have to carry that shit for ten days in the mountains, sleeping in the dirt, with 500 rounds of ammo, you would be happy to have a lighter rifle and your arms say thank you. But the Stgw90 has some significant advantages over the AR15 as well. At the end of the day, it all comes down to choices and compromises.
Damn, I'm impressed ! I wish I'd know US as well as you know Europe !
And this bike trip must have been absolutely amazing (I'm a bike rider as well
). I'm moving to texas early august 2016. And I'd be glad and happy to meet any GunTalk member !!
Just need to figure out if and how I could get a gun myself.
Thanks for the tip!
I'll be there first saturday of October for sure, already wrote it in my agenda !
Hey Cryption! That's awesome, I hope you enjoyed your stay in Switzerland.
Count on me, I'm looking forward - As I literally don't know anyone in Texas.
Thank you Southpaw, can't wait to discover the Texan gun-world !
Thanks Breakingcontact. For sure I will. I may come 1 week before my semester starts at UH, and I will have the week-ends free to discover Texas. Which I really want to do. I don't travel half the world to stick in one city!
Awesome, Thank you Savage !
Please tell me more about the cultural shock
I have no idea what to expect... Again: Thank you Brains! Can't wait. Indeed, the friendship between gunowners is unique. And I hope to have the chance to shoot with texan. Shooting and owning gun is all about sharing in my humble opinion (sharing freedom, knowledge, protection,...). And I don't want to be on my own somewhere in a range, talking to no one.
Doing my best to make myself understandable. It's the least I can do as a proof of respect. Happy it works.
Please feel free to ask me any question you'd like or share any feedback related to what I wrote ! And thank you for reading
.
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Welcome to TGT and to Texas when get here .
There is almost always a group getting together to shoot some where and if you can
make it you are more than welcome to shoot what we bring .
would be great to meet when you get here.
The pictures are very nice , love the vineyard area.
There is almost always a group getting together to shoot some where and if you can
make it you are more than welcome to shoot what we bring .
would be great to meet when you get here.
The pictures are very nice , love the vineyard area.
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Welcome Franck. There's some nice ranges in the Hill Country if you get out this way. Also, if you are ever in College Station (a couple hours from Houston) there is a great indoor range called Champion Firearms. It is next to a Starbucks and it is only 10 dollars, unlimited time, and gun rentals are only 5 dollars. After shooting, you can then go next door and have some coffee. Just buy your ammo at the nearest Walmart while you are doing other shopping.
I've actually been fiddling with a Swiss made rife for the last few days. It's a SIG SHR 970, a bolt action chambered in 7mm mag. Have any experience with this rifle? It seems to be well made. Haven't taken it out to shoot yet.
I also have some Sig 556 rifles, which you probably know are based on the stgw90/sg55x series. I like mine and they are reliable as hell. They are a little lighter than the Swiss rifles. Since you have experience with ARs, I'd love to hear what you think about how they compare with the Swiss rifles, especially in cold, mountain conditions.
Also, noticed the Glock in the picture. So let's hear it, do you prefer the Glock 17/19 or the classic p220?
I've actually been fiddling with a Swiss made rife for the last few days. It's a SIG SHR 970, a bolt action chambered in 7mm mag. Have any experience with this rifle? It seems to be well made. Haven't taken it out to shoot yet.
I also have some Sig 556 rifles, which you probably know are based on the stgw90/sg55x series. I like mine and they are reliable as hell. They are a little lighter than the Swiss rifles. Since you have experience with ARs, I'd love to hear what you think about how they compare with the Swiss rifles, especially in cold, mountain conditions.
Also, noticed the Glock in the picture. So let's hear it, do you prefer the Glock 17/19 or the classic p220?
Franck Houston is one huge spread out International city. Different parts of the city will hold different cultures. It's great if you like eating different foods from around the world.
Houston is also a huge liberal city. A recent thing that came up was to allow transgender people to use whatever restroom the felt like using. It was voted down. Liberals seem to outnumber conservatives inside the loop.
Crime is most likely higher here then you are use to. Not as bad as some other major cities in America, but IIRC we rank in the top 50.
Accents you will hear while in Houston can be a bit overwhelming. As you apologized for your english (which reading seems fine) your accent might have some questioning where you are from.
Weather can be a straight up bitch! Flooding in the city of Houston can be a problem. The heat & humidity suck.
Houston is also a huge liberal city. A recent thing that came up was to allow transgender people to use whatever restroom the felt like using. It was voted down. Liberals seem to outnumber conservatives inside the loop.
Crime is most likely higher here then you are use to. Not as bad as some other major cities in America, but IIRC we rank in the top 50.
Accents you will hear while in Houston can be a bit overwhelming. As you apologized for your english (which reading seems fine) your accent might have some questioning where you are from.
Weather can be a straight up bitch! Flooding in the city of Houston can be a problem. The heat & humidity suck.
Hello Franck. Your skills and dedication to shooting and gun rights are quite impressive. I hope the Swiss patriots can survive all the economic/political intrigue being foisted upon the world now. You've got the IMF and BIS in your country so I'm afraid the banksters have a strong foothold there.
I'm in San Antonio about 3 hours west of Houston. I'd be happy to give you a tour of The Alamo, where many fought and died for liberty against overwhelming odds. After that, we can grab some delicious Mexican food. If you are married and if you have children, they are all willkommen as well. You can contact me via private message.
I was born and raised in Houston and I'm glad I don't live there now. However, the city has many good things to brag about. For example, the largest cockroaches in America, high humidity 360 days per year, and a long succession of political tyrants in the mayor's office. Ha! There really are many cool things about Houston. I hope you will benefit greatly from your time there.
I'm in San Antonio about 3 hours west of Houston. I'd be happy to give you a tour of The Alamo, where many fought and died for liberty against overwhelming odds. After that, we can grab some delicious Mexican food. If you are married and if you have children, they are all willkommen as well. You can contact me via private message.
I was born and raised in Houston and I'm glad I don't live there now. However, the city has many good things to brag about. For example, the largest cockroaches in America, high humidity 360 days per year, and a long succession of political tyrants in the mayor's office. Ha! There really are many cool things about Houston. I hope you will benefit greatly from your time there.
Welcome, Franck.
I was under the impression that the Czechs and the Finns quite enjoy their firearms. Am I wrong?
On the contrary, I'd find that fascinating. However, perhaps it would be most efficiently discussed in person.
You're already good to go. Ranges that require an ID (most do) will happily hold your passport. We have far too many international visitors in this city for ranges to turn away their business.
I'm not sure. There was a fairly long thread on that subject a while back and I think the consensus was that you're out of luck. However, I'm not positive of that.
You've made the right first step. Post on here some more and when you can send PMs, contact me.
"Training" has multiple meanings. The meaning you ascribe, which includes movement, is one that has been the cause of much consternation on this forum over the years. Public ranges that allow what you describe are essentially non-existent. (I'm sure someone will jump in and correct me on that, btw.) Private clubs are another matter. You can do formal, slow-fire paper-punching at any range and I never discourage that; the fundamentals always apply. However, it'll be a bit of work to get you somewhere you can move.
Want to shoot some competitions?
Don't apologize. You write a lot better than I talk.
Yes, you want to meet up with Savage20 and go shooting with him. Absolutely.
However, I take issue with the prices you've been quoted. Come with me and you'll be my guest at one of the clubs. I'll be happy to provide the guns and ammo, provided I have anything you might want to shoot.
Best advice so far in this thread.
Franck, Houston is a place people love, hate, or just want to pass through. I love it.
It is very spread out. (We can go into the politics that caused this result if you have any interest.) For that reason, most people will tell you that a car is a necessity. However, that may not be the case. You'll be at UofH and if you're within walking distance of a light rail station, you're in good shape. What I like to tell visitors is that half of everything worth seeing in Houston is accessible by foot or bike from a rail station. Unfortunately, some of the really important places to visit are beyond the reach of the rail, as are all (I think) shooting ranges of any type. On the other hand, the rail will take you right to one of the best gun shows around.
While you can live your entire life within walking distance of a rail station, you most certainly will need a car to do some of the things you'll want to do. Be friendly and bum a ride; you'll find Texans an accommodating bunch.
I think the biggest single culture shock will be the willingness of Americans to share. They'll tell you about their lives, sharing all sorts of personal information, without hesitation. "Reserved" is a word that generally does not apply here, at least not in the sense of public propriety you may find more familiar.Please tell me more about the cultural shockI have no idea what to expect...
The second biggest shock will the the number of fat people. Of course, you already know that. I'm one of 'em. We'll get past it, I feel sure.
Welcome - I was in your area a few months ago staying with my wife's best friend. She lives in Ballens. Definitely go to a Hicksville meet. There is usually a group of 50 of us or so and you can probably shoot a lot of different guns in a day.
Ok, double checked. With 90 days proof of residence, valid student visa and a valid Texas hunting license, depending on the selling FFL of course, non-imigrant aliens from certain countries can purchase firearms for hunting. You have to fill out the form 4473, go through the background check and copies of all proof have to be kept by the FFL with the form 4473. We have to see the originals but keep a photo copy.
This is also subject to approval by your consolate. Some countries do not allow citizrns to purchase firearms in foriegn countries. If you wish to retain said firearms upon departure and take it home with you it is dependent on approval of the Dept. of State in both countries.
So, most legal long guns, with the right documentation, yes you can purchase. Most handguns, not unless you can convince the FFL you are going to use it for hunting.
Hunting license in Texas. Texas Parks & Wildlife does not consider you a resident until you have been here for 6 months. You would have to get a non-resident hunting license. $315. If someone gives you a resident license, the you have an invalid license, which is illegal, and makes purchase of the firearm illegal.
Summary, as far as I can find;
90 days residency.
Valid hunting license for Texas.
Fill out the form and pass the background check.
And find an FFL that will do the sale. And finding an FFL could be the hardest part.
sent from an idgit coffeeholic
This is also subject to approval by your consolate. Some countries do not allow citizrns to purchase firearms in foriegn countries. If you wish to retain said firearms upon departure and take it home with you it is dependent on approval of the Dept. of State in both countries.
So, most legal long guns, with the right documentation, yes you can purchase. Most handguns, not unless you can convince the FFL you are going to use it for hunting.
Hunting license in Texas. Texas Parks & Wildlife does not consider you a resident until you have been here for 6 months. You would have to get a non-resident hunting license. $315. If someone gives you a resident license, the you have an invalid license, which is illegal, and makes purchase of the firearm illegal.
Summary, as far as I can find;
90 days residency.
Valid hunting license for Texas.
Fill out the form and pass the background check.
And find an FFL that will do the sale. And finding an FFL could be the hardest part.
sent from an idgit coffeeholic
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