Rich Chinese Come to Practice in a Florida Firing Range

choi

Hannah Gardner, 'Gun Tourism' Booms in US; In restricted China, enthusiasts come here to lock and load. USA Today, Apr 10, 2017 (front page).
https://www.usatoday.com/story/n ... s-tourism/99121058/

Quote:

(a) "Honolulu attracts target shooters from Japan, which has stringent gun-control regulations, and Las Vegas has many firing ranges available for domestic and foreign visitors.

(b) "Although weapons control laws in China date back to the third century BC, China was awash in firearms when the communists came to power in 1949 — the result of resistance to Japanese occupation and a protracted civil war.

"The government confiscated some arms in urban areas but allowed farmers to keep two rifles for hunting.

"Tighter controls were later imposed but they were largely ignored. After pro-democracy demonstrations on Tiananmen Square were crushed in 1989, the government moved to toughen enforcement and in 1996 passed a law that formally banned citizens from owning guns.

"In 2008, just months before the national shooting team cleaned up at the Beijing Olympics, the rules were widened to include further restrictions on replica weapons.

(c) "Ironically, China['s state-own manufacturers] is one of the world's largest small-arms producers. * * * China North Industries Corp. owns one of the country’s few public shooting ranges outside of Beijing.

Note:
(a) online title: In gun-taboo China, tourism to US firing ranges grows.

(b) "Dickson Wong * * * arranges tours for groups of other Chinese gun enthusiasts to travel [from Beijing] to DeSoto County, Fla, so they can shoot at firing ranges. * * * Wong's club in Florida"
(i) DeSoto County, Florida
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DeSoto_County,_Florida
(was named for Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto)

The county is 5 o'clock to Tampa, by about 50-mile air distance.
(ii) Hernando de Soto
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hernando_de_Soto
(c 1495 – 1542; de Soto's North American expedition ranged throughout the southeastern United States searching for gold, and a passage to China; section 4 De Soto's exploration of North America: map)
(iii) The Spanish surname Soto is "from any of numerous places named Soto or El Soto, from soto grove, small wood."  Dictionary of American Family Names. by Oxford University Press.
(iv) I fail to find Mr Wong's business in Florida, or Beijing.

(c) lock and load (v): "The expression comes from American GI's during the second world war and refers to loading the M1 rifle for imminent combat. The phrase means to insert a full ammunition clip into the rifle, then lock the bolt"
https://www.collinsdictionary.com/submission/3737/Lock+and+load