Prepared Sportsman owner Tom Butel is excited for the shop's grand opening on June 24.
Local gun shop has open house
Fri, 07/14/2023 - 3:05pm
The rain didn’t stop Waseca’s new shop, Prepared Sportsmen, from having a steady stream of customers checking out what they had to offer — some for the first time — on Saturday, June 24. The shop held an open house from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. with owner Tom Butel, employee Mark Eggert, and laser engraver Jason Lynch there to greet people and tell them all about the shop.
“We were glad to have this open house despite the rain,” Butel said. “It gives people a chance to meet us and know what we’re all about.”
Butel greeted customers throughout the day, sitting at his desk and having conversations about possible future plans for the business. One of the goals he set for the shop was to offer firearm safety classes.
In addition to helping customers with purchases, Eggert spent much of his time telling customers about all the different firearms, safes, and other gear the shop offers. He also expressed excitement at the prospect of teaching firearm safety classes.
“I think a lot of people misunderstand guns,” he said. “It’s why we really want to educate people about them.”
Eggert added that at the same time, some people have to learn to respect firearms. “You always have to treat a gun as if it were loaded, and treat it with respect,” he said. “That’s why when I teach classes, I get serious. I’m a pretty nice guy, but I’m not at the beginning of these classes because guns are that serious. One split second decision can affect someone’s life.”
Jason Lynch, who offers laser engraving services at the gun shop, showed video demonstrations of how laser engraving works. One video even showed how a gun caked with rust and can be cleaned in seconds with his equipment.
“It’s insane what lasers can do,” he said. “It cleaned half an inch of rust right off that gun. We are able to pretty much restore it back to the way it was before.”
Lynch also uses lasers to engrave designs onto guns and ammo storage cases. Many of his designs are featured on the firearms in the store.
Many friends of Butel, Eggert, and Lynch also visited, with a few local law enforcement officers checking out the gear they had.
“It’s been great visiting with all the people here,” Butel said.
Despite thinking about changing the business hours of Prepared Sportsman a couple of weeks ago, Butel said that the shop’s hours will remain the same, a little bit scattered, but still open on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. “I want to keep it that way for now,” he said. “I like the hours I have because they work best for me. Maybe if the business grows in the next few months, I’ll be forced to change it.”