The UP-side to the Zombie fad.

[xl_target]

Gun sales are stronger than ever in the US. This Black Friday, the FBI NICS system folded several times due to the extremely high volume of calls for checks on new purchases. AR-15's, AK types and other semi-autos are extremely popular. The larger the magazine capacity the better. Anti-gun establishments have faded to the point of irrelevancy. Their members and contributions have disappeared and they struggle with almost no operating capital. It is only a biased media that still keeps quoting the mouthpieces of these practically defunct organizations.

Zombie Events

Midway Stadium, Minneapolis. October 2012.
http://thesocial-lights.com/tag/zombie-pub-crawl-2012/


Events like this are extremely popular
http://blogs.citypages.com/blotter/2012 ... wl_day.php
http://zombiepubcrawl.com/2012/


There have been zombie events scheduled in cities all over the US. High school and college age kids dress up as zombies and go out on the town, en masse. Gun ranges team up with manufacturers to sponsor zombie nights on their premises with lots of zombie targets. Zombie Osama's have become quite popular lately . The recent zombie fad/craze with movies, special shoots with zombie targets, zombie paraphernalia etc has been decried as stupid and childish. In a way it is. However, since it is no longer politically correct in many circles to shoot anything alive, it is apparently still OK to shoot zombies because they are already dead. Even the anti-gun folks can't bring up their usual arguments because every "knows" that it is the best interests of every one to put a zombie out of its misery, right?

Well actually, there is an upside to the silliness, at least according to Dave Workman who expresses his opinion in a article written for the Examiner.

The zombie craze may be the worst thing that ever happened to the gun prohibition lobby, and not just because it might wipe out one of their core constituencies. Zombie games and zombie guns, not to mention zombie shooting, is introducing a new generation of shooters to the fun of recreational shooting. In the process, they learn muzzle and trigger control, firearms safety and even about firearms maintenance perhaps without even realizing it.

All of these things drive anti-gunners up the wall, because they can’t demonize a popular fad the same way they demonize middle-aged white guys who sit around campfires in hunting camps, or who have firearms in the home or on their hips to defend against criminal attack.

And here’s the really bad news: Even if there is not an apocalypse, all of those new shooters now own precisely the kinds of guns that gun banners want to erase from the landscape. Just like their smart phones, laptops, I-pads, credit cards and other modern accoutrements, these new gun owners will not let go of their zombie guns, and they just might wake up one morning and realize what gun control is really all about.

Read the article here

[Motorpsycho]

The Zombie Apocalypse fans are a major gun nuts , I have seen the guns owned by them on a thread at Zombie Hunter forum.

This is one of my all time fav thread on the internet!! You have been warned

http://zombiehunters.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2833


MP

[a__v]

The Zombie Apocalypse fans are a major gun nuts , I have seen the guns owned by them on a thread at Zombie Hunter forum.

This is one of my all time fav thread on the internet!! You have been warned

http://zombiehunters.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2833


MP

Soooo....manyyy...guns!!!! Zombies beware!

[xl_target]

Traditionally, the focus has been on hunting, pest control, etc. Then gaming became popular and organizations like IDPA, IPSC, SASS had great success. Today's youngsters do a lot of informal paper punching and plinking. The people who attend the Zombie shoots, favor the AR-15 as their rifle of choice and prefer handguns with large capacity magazines. Tactical accessories like lights, lasers and red dot sights have become very popular. Ammo sales have gone through the roof, especially for the .223 Remington cartridge. This, even with a two front war being waged by US forces overseas. Once US troops leave the middle east and Afghanistan, I'd be willing to bet that .223 ammo prices will drop a bit. 9mm and .40 S&W are the most two popular handgun cartridges with this group. You do see some .45 ACP but it seems like its mostly the middle aged guys who prefer this caliber. 12 ga. is the dominant caliber for shotguns.

Once they have been used for harmless target shooting, it's going to be very hard to convince the user that the gun itself is the problem.

Motorpsycho,
Cool link!

[timmy]

You do see some .45 ACP but it seems like its mostly the middle aged guys who prefer this caliber.

Since "the old guard" never passes in zombie culture, I guess its continued use is assured?

Seriously, what goes on at a "zombie shoot"? Is it a contest of some sort? Do the contestants dress up in those costumes that the pictures portray?

This is all I know about the zombies:

[youtube][/youtube]

Can you fill me in a little, please?

[xl_target]

Ok first of all let me say that I don't know if this goes on in the rest of the US on this scale but I have seen photos of other shoots all over. A zombie shoot is just another excuse to shoot. It is a modified 3 gun type of shoot where a bunch of people get together, go through many different stages with rifle, shotgun or pistol. Often they compete for prizes and $. These events are sponsored by various manufacturers.

Take a look at this one called Outbreak Omega. it was put on at Ahlman's (the place where I went for the Customer Appreciation Day). Scroll down the page and you can see the sponsors. Supposedly something like $100,000 in gear and prizes. This shoot is hugely popular.

Here is another one at the Aurora Sportsman's Club at Aurora, IL: http://www.thezombieshoot.com/

Here is an example.
[youtube][/youtube]

and another:
[youtube][/youtube]

The previous generation was raised on Western's and War movies. This current generation was raised on Horror movies.
So Zombie shoots are as popular with them as SASS (Cowboy Action) shoots are with the older guys.

Here is what The Zombie Shooters Association has to say about it:

WELCOME TO ZOMBIE SHOOTERS ASSOCIATION!
Home of a new fast paced shooting sport, geared towards the new shooter as a gateway to safe, competitive, firearms fun. Seasoned shooters will also definitely find many challenges to improve their game. Please check out the rest of the site, we are continuously working to improve it, it is evolving daily…

.

[Motorpsycho]

There is a huge industry in the US catering to the Zombie Apocalypse fans, quite a few Arms and Ammo companies having products for these customers.

Ruger LCP Zombie Slayer


Sig Sauer 1911 and P238 Zombie Edition



EOTEch XPS2 Zombie Stopper



Taurus Zombie Responder



The Hornandy Zombie Max

[youtube][/youtube]

*Image source-Firearmblog



@XL- thanks!!

MP.

[xl_target]

Zombie makeup tips.


It's also an excuse to buy a lot of gear. As you can see go through a lot of ammo at one of these shoots. SO you need gear to carry all that ammo and supplies around. LOL


[youtube][/youtube]

I guess its no different from the cowboy fad in earlier years.

The Zombie Walks that are held in various cities. Well, I guess they''re kinda like Holi; an excuse to dress up (or down) and act silly in public.
Celebrate life and youth?
It's a big deal in the Twin Cities (Minneapolis/St Paul, Minnesota). My daughter who now lives in Minneapolis (or will again when she gets back from Hurricane Sandy relief in NY) took part in it this year. They were trying to break the record (Guiness book) for the most people dressed up.

My daughter and her friends:

zombie2.jpg

[xl_target]

There are certain people who look down their noses at this zombie shooting sub culture ...



...but as Dylan Polk from Guns & Ammo puts it:

Perhaps best of all, it was a chance for non-shooters to get a real idea of what the gun culture is about: spending some time outside shooting and having fun doing it. And if it takes zombies to get folks out to the range, what’s there to complain about?

Let’s be honest: The zombie culture is no different than the Cowboy Action circuit. From shooting at humanoid targets to living out one’s own fantasies, the two cultures almost mirror one another. That much was crystal clear when the two cultures were fused together Saturday, Ahlman’s usual cowboy-styled ranges being transformed to host the living dead. The scenery fit the motif perfectly; old-style, ghost town signs and sets, haunting and abandoned, crawling with the infected, undead remains of the recently departed.

Yet for some reason, one culture is considered more legitimate than the other. To some, a shooter decked out in tactical gear with a patch reading “Zombies Suck” is frowned upon, while one wearing chaps and a Stetson hat is more acceptable.

Why is that? Just because one doesn’t fit the tastes of a few individuals, why is it viewed as nonsense, even when it’s bringing in people who may not have even held a gun in their lives? You can claim that anti-gunners will use zombies as fodder against the community, when in reality anyone that vehemently opposed to guns will use anything as fodder against shooters; so why oppose a fun, positive sub-culture that’s reaching out to non-shooters just like cowboy scene continues to do years after it began?
Read more: http://www.gunsandammo.com/2012/06/26/n ... z2E8kKhaLg

I think he's quite correct. If Anti-gunners choose to demonize zombie shooters, they'll get laughed at and ridiculed. They can't really demonize those guns without demonizing the people using them. If they come out and say :"OMG! they're dressing up and shooting paper targets depicting the undead", no one is going to take them seriously. In the meantime, you have thousands getting used to using guns safely.
The people who get the most upset at the zombie subculture are the old time shooters. Don't ask me why, the redneck costumes are no more ridiculous than a bunch of fat old boys dressed up in chaps and Stetsons. The more people we involve in the sport of shooting, the less effective the anti-gunners are going to be. The only thing stopping me from attending one of these is the large ammunition expenditures that are required at some of these meets. One of them I looked into wanted you to bring 300 rounds of rifle ammo and 300 rounds of pistol ammo!
Of course gun, ammo and gear manufacturers are all for it as it sells product.

[timmy]

Gentlemen:

Thanks so much for explaining this zombie business to me. I've thanked you both I had no idea.

XL, I hadn't gotten halfway through your first answer to me, but that I thought, 'this is no different than Cowboy Action, except with a different theme.'

I will say that my favorite kind of shooting takes two forms: shooting handguns and rifles at targets (paper, cans, or whatever) and varmint hunting. I did try some kind of combat-oriented shooting once, a long time ago, and I did alright for a first timer. But I never continued because it was too difficult to keep casting bullets and reloading for 200 to 500 round outings. (No way could I afford any other kind of ammo!)

I admit to looking into the Cowboy Action shooting thing, but it really was because I was enamored with a friend's Cimarron Arms Colt open top 1872 revolver in 38 Special (and still am) than with any kind of competition.

Having said that I'm not completely interested in this sort of shooting, I 100% agree that it is a very fine thing. If it is introducing people to guns and getting them into new hands and homes, long may it reign! Let no gun lover make a disparaging remark about it or the people who like it!

My boys and I spent a number of fun afternoons in the mountains when they were teens, blazing and blasting at pop cans with our .22 rifles. Occasionally, I'd take a handgun to break up any monotony that might form, so they would be exposed to that aspect of guns, too.

Maybe these zombie shooters wouldn't like that. So what? If it is good, clean fun and puts guns into people's hands, that should be something that puts a smile on everyone's face!

I am truly hoping that my job situation will allow me to do some events. I would love to do an American chapter IFG meet, whether it is zombie, cowboy, or jawan competition. (I've already got the RFI 2A for this last kind of competition!) If I had the money, it would be even better to come to India, buy an air rifle or two, and attend some gatherings there!

This is good news. Thanks again!

[Tango_ Charli]

There is a huge industry in the US catering to the Zombie Apocalypse fans, quite a few Arms and Ammo companies having products for these customers.

Ruger LCP Zombie Slayer
[ Image ]

Sig Sauer 1911 and P238 Zombie Edition

[ Image ]

EOTEch XPS2 Zombie Stopper

[ Image ]

Taurus Zombie Responder

[ Image ]

The Hornandy Zombie Max

[youtube][/youtube]

*Image source-Firearmblog



@XL- thanks!!

MP.

Nice guns.