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WHAT'S
THE STORY?
The
DEF CON Shoot is a public event that happens just prior to the DEF CON
hacker conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. It
is an opportunity
to see and possibly shoot some of the guns belonging to your friends
while taking pride in showing and firing your own steel, as well, in
a relaxed and welcoming atmosphere. We choose a spot, then we rent tables, canopies, and bring all the necessary safety equipment and amenities. All you need to bring yourself and (optionally) your firearms.
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WHERE
IT ALL GOES DOWN
The 2023 DEF
CON Shoot will take place at...
Pro Gun Vegas
12801 US 95 South
Boulder City, NV 89005
For
specific directions to the shoot site you can drop the following Lat/Long
coordinates into a GPS device... 35.95814764, -114.92240996
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WHEN
IT HAPPENS
The
DEF CON Shoot takes place on Wednesday prior to the start of DEF CON. In 2023 it will be August 9th.
The Shoot has historically been three 75 minute
shooting sessions, each consisting of repeated periods involving about
12 to 13 minutes of shooting, followed by 2 or 3 minutes for cease-fire
and target prep. That gives everyone time to reset
targets, etc.
Wednesday, August 9th
Staff Setup - 10:00 - 11:00
Registration Opens at 11:00
Intro & Safety - 11:45 - 12:00
Session 01 - 12:15 - 13:30
Session 02 - 13:45 - 15:00
Session 03 - 15:15 - 16:30
Cleanup - 16:30 - 17:30
Thursday, August 10th
no DEFCON Shoot
Go enjoy the rest of DEF CON, BSides, and Black Hat
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WHO CAN ATTEND?
You do not have to be a registered attendee of DEF CON, Black Hat, BSides, or a member of any organization to attend our event. As long as you agree to comply with the terms of our Code of Conduct laid out at the bottom of the registraion page, you are welcome. New shooters and veterans both attend regularly. You can attend with your firearms, of course, but folk without guns of their own in Vegas may have the opportunity to try gear from others in attendance or to inquire with the ProGun range about whether rental firearms are available.
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WHY
WE DO THIS
For
many years, the DEF CON Shoot was a beloved part of the world's largest
hacker convention. Gun owning geeks would rally together in Vegas for
DEF CON and -- in between the talks, parties, and general goings-on
in Sin City -- they would take the time one morning to head out in the
desert and blow off some steam by letting loose with loads of ordinance.
Organized by CHS, a venerated DEF CON Goon, this event took place
year after year until 2005. As
is so often the case with events at DEF CON, times had changed and the
event had outgrown its surroundings. For a number of years, there was
no DEF CON Shoot... the ranges where it had taken place in the past
had been swallowed up by the city's suburban sprawl and folks just needed
a break.
Deviant Ollam
frequently used to gather some of his friends for trips to
local rental ranges like The Gun Store or American Shooters, but because he has only been attending DEF CON since DC8 he missed out on a
great deal of the earlier fun. In 2008, Deviant restarted the event and acted as the primary coordinator, whipping up enough gun enthusiasts'
support to see this sort of high-powered good time continue happening for the next eleven years.
The 2020 Shoot did not take place due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the lack of an in-person DEF CON conference that year. In 2021, several of the long-time DC Shoot attendeed restarted efforts and gathered tenatively in the desert once again. In 2022 the event returned in full force, now with longtime staff member C.S. at the helm, with assistance from Deviant and several other mainstays from prior years. We look forward to welcoming everyone who wishes to attend in good faith and high spirits as we start to reclaim our legacy of fun events and welcoming attitude on the firing line.
The 2023 Shoot will be run entirely be C.S. and his designated new crew of assistants, but you can reliably expect to see lots of old-time faces there since everyone wants to keep being a part of the fun!
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WHOA,
THAT'S A GREAT DEAL!
We're not trying to run this like a profit-generating business, but starting in 2011 we established a small registration system
for people to gain access to the event and reserve shooting lanes. This
was necessary in order to manage the number of people (or at least plan for the number of people) and to keep the line from becoming unsafely
crowded. Also, that was the first year that we started to have significant
overhead (in all senses of the term... both in costs as well as sun
shade for the participants!)
DEFCON Shoot 2023 Registration Page is Here
On-site
cash registration is possible, but space is not guaranteed. Historically,
the most dedicated folk have opted to pre-register!
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WOOT!
I'M GAME!
So,
you think you'd like to participate in the newly-revitalized DEF CON
Shoot? That's great! We look forward to you joining us. Use the above
link to pre-register and then swing on over to the DEF CON Forums or
hit C.S. up on Twitter to
ask about an invite to our Slack instance where you can connect with others about any questions you may have. Ride sharing,
t-shirt designs, camping arrangements, and more are all discussed in Slack.
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WAIT...
AREN'T VEGAS CASINOS SUPER SCARED OF GUNS NOW?
Yes...
by all accounts, most casinos (and casino-hotels) in Las Vegas are now
all wary of one of their guests being the next deranged shooter who
tries to sew mayhem from a window. There is news coverage as well as anecdotal chatter from
folk who report that guests are being subject to greater scrutiny if
they have Pelican cases, long cases, etc. However, it should be noted:
1.
Many Vegas hotels have had a no firearms policy for a while now
2.
You're still very unlikely to get much scrutiny if your luggage doesn't
look "firearm-ish"
In
any case, we suspect that a lot of you may become familiar with something
that lots of us more heavily-armed folk have known for years when staying
in Las Vegas: many mainstream casino-hotels will allow guests
to check their legal firearms with the security office during their
stay. Many of us have done this before at multiple hotel properties. Simply call ahead so you know what is expected at the casino,
then plan a little more time in your schedule to accommodate this part
of the process. Or stay in an AirBNB or a shitball place nearby like
a Siegel Suites, the Circus Circus Motor Lodge, or a Travelodge. We're betting they don't care at all there... they just want their $56 per
night and prefer you to not leave used heroin works in the potted plants
outside.
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WOW!
LOOKS LIKE YOU ALL HAD FUN!
Yes, indeed...
it's always a great time when you get a bunch of gun people together.
We
don't update these gallery links much anymore, because now you can always
check Twitter for
the hashtag #DEFCONshoot to see what folk share.
Here
is z0rlac's video montage from the 2012 DEF CON Shoot...
z0rlac's
video
There
were some great videos shot at the 2011 DEF CON Shoot...
Here
is a video montage from the 2009 DEF CON Shoot..
.
deviant's
video
Here
are some photos from the 2008 DEF CON Shoot...
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WHERE
