KXTV News 10 — Sacramento

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February 1, 2001

It’s called Front Sight, but foreign journalists have dubbed it Gun City, USA. The nickname is appropriate. Located in the Nevada desert west of Las Vegas, the Front Sight development will be the first community in America built specifically by gun enthusiasts for gun enthusiasts.

It’s the brainchild of Dr. Ignatius Piazza, a former chiropractor who transformed a love for shooting sports into a 550 acre firearms training facility. If he has his way, the present weapons training camp will eventually evolve into a desert community, complete with school, store, restaurant and airstrip.

The Nevada location is no accident. Piazza moved the facility from Bakersfield, California, to take advantage of Nevada’s more liberal laws regarding the ownership and use of semi-automatic and automatic weapons.

Piazza refers to Front Sight as a Disneyland or Pebble Beach for the nation’s 80 million gun owners. He also claims the community will be the safest town in America, with virtually every citizen well armed and schooled in marksmanship and shooting techniques.

News10’s Tim Daly traveled to Nevada to take a look at the Front Sight facility. His full video report can be viewed by clicking on the link at upper left. If you'd like more perspective on the Front Sight development, click on the link below. News10.net is also offering information on firearms laws in California and Nevada, as well as links to web resources concerned with the Front Sight community, gun laws, gun control, and gun rights advocacy.

Much like a resort community built around a golf theme, the Front Sight development will revolve around shooting sports. Dubbed Gun City, USA by journalists, it will be a community built by and for gun enthusiasts. The community will include shooting ranges, firearms training facilities, an on-site gunsmith, an armory and more.

Here’s an overview of the Front Sight Development:

Location: The Front Sight facility is located on 550 acres of land in the Nevada desert, 48 miles west of Las Vegas.

Cost of the Development: Total cost of the development is expected to be approximately $25 million.

Number of Units: When construction is complete, there will be 177 living units in the Front Sight community.

Lot Size: Home will be sited on one acre lots.

Cost of Lots: Home sites within the development are expected to sell for about $275,000.

Shooting Resources: When completed, the development will be home to 12 shooting ranges from 25 to 150 yards, one 400 yard rifle range, one 1,000 yard rifle range, nine 360 degree live-fire simulators, an underground training simulator with over 400 yards of tunnels, a five story SWAT tower, a 5,000 square foot video training simulator building, 6,000 square feet of classrooms, a 2,700 foot celebrity training center, and a 7,200 square foot combination armory and gunsmithing facility

Other Amenities: In addition to the shooting-related resources, the community will also include a restaurant, man-made lake, convenience store, K-12 school, 7,200 square foot martial arts gymnasium, a rappelling area, and a 5,000 foot airstrip.