Last week, a local range and pro shop, Colonial Shooting Academy Virginia Beach posted an announcement to Facebook that they were changing their name to Freedom Shooting Center. Considering the local area once hosted a company named Academi which concentrated primarily on military and government training, some confusion is understandable. I’d also say that the acronym for Colonial Shooting Academy probably wasn’t the best choice in today’s hypersensitive environment. No matter the name, the team and facilities are first class and it’s worth a visit if you find yourself in the Tidewater.
Their statement:
Our mission at Colonial Shooting Academy Virginia Beach has been to “Promote responsible gun ownership and attract new people to Shooting Sports”. We consider it a great privilege to participate in serving and growing the shooting community. In our quest we have been met with challenges, but one in particular has been the most prevalent. Many have informed us they thought Colonial Shooting Academy is a private facility and that the ranges were not available to the public, but rather reserved for professionals such as Law Enforcement and Military units.
The first step we are taking to overcome this challenge is beginning on November 20, 2018 Colonial Shooting Academy Virginia Beach will begin doing business as Freedom Shooting Center. Our team is very excited about the new name and we want you, our most loyal members, to be a part of this new development. Our team takes great pride in serving the best members and their guests. It is members and guests like yourself that embody every sense of the word community and make it more like family.
We consider ourselves very fortunate to be a part of the Shooting Sports community. Preserving all things that make it a great sport is important to us. We want to share everything that we love about the Shooting Sports so that new people can enjoy it too. We have the privilege of serving members and guest that are truly the best ambassadors for our community.
Freedom Shooting Center will continue to deliver exceptional service, competitive pricing, and a comprehensive product offering to members and guests. There is no immediate action required for members. It is simple, the next time that you come in; just swap your current membership card for a new one and check out the updated membership benefits.
We appreciate your business, and if you have questions, please contact us at 757-227-9130 and check out our updated website at FreedomShootingCenter.com.
Sincerely,
Skyler Thomas – Manager
Freedom Shooting Center
I’m only speculating here. The original CSA started here in Richmond in 2012 when they took over an old furniture store. CSA has been cited in a number of non-shooting specialty publications, b/c they do an outstanding job. The second location (VA Bch), may in fact be suffering from name confusion, though I don’t think it stems from Academi (or its earlier renderings). Good luck to them.
When there several times when I was in the area, mostly for some IDPA shoots. It is a very clean and well organized store with decent inventory. The staff are much more knowledgable than the Fudd’s you get a lot of places. The ranges are pretty nice as well.
Went.
Well, I’m new to the area and this looks like a great place to have some fun! I’m not usually a fan of indoor ranges, but I’ll take what I can get.