Carson City gun shop involved in community, set for background checks

Rudy Hindelang’s vision for his gun shop is to encourage the community to buy locally manufactured supplies at a reasonable price, while educating his customers about gun anatomy and safety.

“I knew some people in local law enforcement that had a difficult time purchasing quality ammo,” he said. “Then, I had a vision of supplying people what they need at a cut-rate price.”

Established in February 2015, Battle Born Ammunition & Firearms now sells more than 140 products of caliber in stock and offers a package of free ammo when a rifle is purchased. The gun owner claims he’s one of the most advanced professionals in ammunition manufacturing in the west coast, as he develops ammo for rifles, as well as tuning ammo.

The 700 square-foot shop is busy thanks to the locals, and five-star reviews on Google and Facebook. But now voters have approved an initiative to tighten gun background checks in Nevada on Tuesday, Hindelang hopes he can keep his vision of a low-price shop, compared to retail giants.

“It’s going to increase my business,” he said. “But that’s because I’m going to have to charge for transfer fees.”

Hinedelang said fees could go up $50 total for transfers and background checks. It’s different from a sale.

“It’s not a bad law,” he said. “It’s poorly written. It makes people seem like they are criminals when many aren’t even thinking about those intentions.”

Despite the election results, Hindelang still plans to pursue his vision with other features. He hired his friends, a married couple, to the Battle Born team as a way to go beyond his business goals.

Kristy Scott is the first female to work for the business and was formerly in law enforcement. Her husband, Jim, works for the state.

Together, they’re bringing education and comforting perspectives to further connect with the community.

“We believed in and wanted to contribute to his vision,” Kristy said. “I was looking to go back to work at the time and this kind of fell into our laps. Having the same goal as Rudy of delivering top quality customer service sealed the deal. My background in law enforcement is essential to this job and I can provide a female perspective to this business not there before. It’s a great learning experience at this point.”

“If something doesn’t work with a customer, we’ll have nightmares about it,” said Jim.

When it comes to education, Hindelang and the Scotts take time to show employees how to use their guns, how to clean it, and other recommendations.

But when it comes to giving back to the community, the business is planning to contribute to the Girls Scouts’ newest badge of gun safety education. They also partnered up with the First Shot training range in Dayton by helping teach classes.

“With my experience being held at gunpoint, my goal is to help anyone with a similar experience feel comfortable,” Kristy said. “We want to reach out to people. We’re excited about this.”

Some of the local dollars circulating through Battle Born goes to youth sports in the area. Hindelang, a father of three 13-year-old triplets, is a youth football coach in Dayton.

The business also is partnered with Going Places Ink, a Northern Nevada company who provides support to people with disabilities, by selling their handmade jewelry. This holiday season, the shop is planning to donate food to the Veterans of Foreign Wars program.

However, Hindelang said there’s still more work to do to complete his vision, such as online store, which is expected to launch soon. “I still don’t like the way it is,” he said. “We need an online store that not only provides gun equipment, but camping needs as well.”

“It’s the people’s gun shop,” he said. “We’re good, old fashioned customer service.”

The new shop is open weekdays from 9 a.m. until 5:30 p.m., Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Located in the Colonial Village plaza, the store is located west of El Pollo Loco.