Shooting

I think going to shooting ranges as a hobby should be a new trend.

I'd thought this before but remembered the idea the other day when I saw that scene in American Beauty:

CAROLYN (cont'd): I was soooo stressed out.

LEONARD: Know what I do when I get that way?

Carolyn SITS UP for this, eager to learn from the master.

LEONARD (cont'd): I fire a gun.

And then they go to a shooting range and she loves it.

Apparently stressed-out bankers and lawyers have already discovered this hobby.  But what about all the young cool kids?  Why don't they try it? It's certainly a million times cooler than stupid overdone bowling.

And easier to do than you think!  For some reason -- perhaps because guns ARE FREAKING DANGEROUS -- I assumed that most shooting ranges were tucked away in backwoods-type places, inaccessible to major metropolitan areas.  But no!  It turns out that, if I wished to, I could go to the West Side Pistol Range ("conveniently located in the Flatiron District" (!!)) and fire a gun myself, today, because apparently "in the City of New York one does not need a permit to shoot a .22 caliber rifle."  Word!  

The only problem is, you probably aren't allowed to get drunk and then go.  That may be what's enabling bowling to continue to win.  In fact, that's got to be it.  But still -- I think it could catch on.

LEONARD: Oh, you have to try it. Nothing makes you feel more powerful.