Governors Gun Club — Restaurant in Kennesaw

If you’re new to shooting, or just learning at ranges I would NOT suggest this place for you. It is not a place conducive to learning, or practicing if you are not already and established and talented shooter. The establishment is nice, however, fines were not disclosed when signing up for the membership. Fines are also not enforced consistently or equitably, and you will be fined exorbitantly if you make common errors like raging ceiling or ground. We had a new shooter with us on a visitor pass who tagged the ceiling on accident, which was a $30 fine each time. This I think is the biggest issue for us because a range is where new shooter’s SHOULD be able to go to learn, and having fines like this only increases nerves and stress for new shooters. There was no attempt at assistance, education or improvement support from the employee, only very annoyed notifications of the fines we were “racking up”. We’ve gone to several ranges in the area and this is the only place so far that seems to have this punishment.

While shooting a 556 with ammo we’d shot here three times before without issue, we were fined $100 for the “wrong” ammo on the fourth trip, mind you we would have happily purchased the correct ammo for shooting at the range at any point if we’d been told, but wanting to fine us after allowing us to use the “wrong” ammo 3 times before was ridiculous, ammo we had purchased and shot at another range. Range Marshall Lee, asked to see the ammo, bc he claimed he saw sparks at the end… when we showed him the loaded mag he immediately said “that’s steel ammo it’s $100 fine” however, checking when we got home we can confirm it’s Winchester lead core, and there’s really no way for him to have visibly identified the ammo as steel without using a magnet. Which of course they did not even offer, Range Marshall Lee was immediately rude, condescending, and prideful. Not to mention they did not tell us we had to pay the fines initially, he seemed to tell us what the fines were as if it was a warning. And this assumption was further enforced when we were finished and picking up our ID’s (with range marshall Lee on the register side of the range glass) they did not indicate we needed to pay the fines then and there, again as if it had been an unnecessarily aggressive warning. No they waited until we were in our car pulling out of the parking lot to call us and say we needed to come back because they need to explain the fines further.

We decided to cancel our membership, we will drive the extra 20 minutes to shoot at Big Woods Goods as their customer service, and overall enthusiasm for new shooters education, practice and improvement is so worth it. We’ve signed us and some friends up for personal defense courses in response to canceling our membership here at governors because our new shooter friend is not only embarrassed but incredibly discouraged thanks to their attitude and the aggression in which they communicated their rules. We’d like to support a business that truly supports 2A, and people starting out as new/beginner shooters, not one that emphasizes the ability to profit of newbie errors. Sadly we’ll miss seeing our buddy grant at the register, we were looking forward to buying some new firearms from him but if he decides to work at Big Woods instead one day we’ll be his first customers.

I hope Governors takes this review to heart and reassesses the way they communicate with people learning to shoot for the first time, perhaps offering pointers and a warning before angrily fining new shooters with disdain...

As a member of this establishment, I must say the dining and shooting facilities is top notch, however, their NFA gun store personnel needs to be replaced, especially. I’ve dealt with many NFA agents in the area and by far this is the worst. Bear in mind. I’m a member at Governor’s.

After purchasing a NFA item at a charity auction on Governor’s premise, it took them 2 weeks to get back to me to on why my emails for my charity auction purchase and my ATF online account were different…and this is after I called multiple times to see check on the status of my certification process. During one of my calls, I was told, “Don’t call us. We will call you.” I had to get someone from the charity to call Governor’s to find out what was the issue. Mind you I AM A MEMBER OF GOVERNOR’S. Governor’s has all my information and could’ve simply picked up the phone and called me to clarify the issue. I don’t know a single person that uses 1 email address for everything.

I finally got the paperwork and digitally signed it so that it could be certified by Governor’s on September 15, 2024. It wasn’t until I went on the ATF website on November 1, 2024 that I realized I had no items waiting for approval. I logged into my SilencerShop portal only to find my paperwork hadn’t been certified by Governor’s. Contacting SilencerShop via phone and email I was told the transfer agent, Governor’s, had yet to certify the document. Now I am more than familiar with the process it takes for NFA items and realize the ATF “hold” times which can take months. For one and a half months Governor’s NFA staff sat on their hands and never bother to call me to certify my all ready digitally signed NFA paperwork. Mind you I’m a member and they have my contact information. When the paperwork is ready to certify, the transfer agent would call the transferee and both would sign on to the SilencerShop and ATF websites to certify the documents. I’ve don’t this with Adventure and GA Firing Line and others in the area, so I know how this goes.

I called Governor’s at 2:30 but the NFA personnel was “out to lunch,” so I told them to call me back. The called me back at 4:42, but I didn’t pick up, because the call was registered to a number from Kazakhstan! I don’t know anyone from Kazakhstan, so with all the scam out in the world, why would I pick up a call from Kazakhstan. Fortunately they left a message and called back immediately to speak with Chase at extension 3050. Took a few calls because no one picked up until the third call.

Chase told me that my paperwork was already in process with the ATF, but he went ahead and logged in from Governor’s SilencerShop portal and sure enough, my paperwork had yet to be certified by Governor’s. It takes about 10 minutes to certify the document, but had I not checked on the status of my paperwork, Lord knows how long it would’ve taken Governor’s to realize that they had documents digitally waiting for them to certify for one and a half months. BEAR IN MIND. I AM A MEMBER AT GOVERNOR’S!

I have yet to get an explanation or apology for the delay and the horrific service from their NFA staff. The only apology I have gotten was from Governor’s liaison to the charity. BEAR IN MIND. I AM A MEMBER AT GOVERNOR’S.

Unfortunately at this same auction, I purchased an additional year of membership at Governor’s. If I had known I would be treated like this, I would’ve spent my hard earned money on an establishment that treats its patrons truthfully and more...

UPDATED due to IMPROVEMENTS at the club. from 2 to 4 stars. Lockers - are available again !

Ranges: They keep them in great shape - recently visited a few other ranges and I"m reminded of how well Governers equipment is.

Sales: They have more stock it seems and they are making improvements here - I've not had any additional experience first hand lately.

Overall: Its easy to find events calendar now, overall it seems some of the general disorganization is much better.

ORIGINAL REVIEW BELOW: Been a FMJ member for almost 2 months. Pistol Ranges are decent - ventilation seems good - ranges are clean and bright.

Rifle range - haven't been down there - they refused to allow us to tour it when we registered.

Shotgun range - looks nice - haven't used as trying to engage with someone to discuss the range, consider a shotgun purchase etc is mostly impossible.

Lockers - don't expect to be able to use one - the stories we were told varied, but it seems like lockers just aren't available and they don't know when they'll ever be able to sort out the management of the lockers. Something about too many lost keys or something - bottom line, don't count on any lockers.

Sales - YIKES - I've attempted to purchase a weapon 3 times now - and a couple different ones. These people just flat out have no desire to sell you a gun - I don't get it.

Stood staring at the counter for about 8 minutes the other day (no other customers there - just being ignored by the employees walking by).

3 times I've been sent away when trying to purchase a GSSF program gun (it's very obvious they just don't want to do it - they seriously send me away with different excuses every time). Last time I was promised a call back - which has not happened.

A Shotgun? LOLOL - ummm, just because they have an indoor shotgun setup, do NOT think you'll be welcome or able to purchase a shotgun.

When asked about potentially purchasing a shotgun I was actually told at the firearms purchase counter "yeah, we stay away from that whole shotgun thing - those guys just buy expensive guns someplace else".

Bar is nice, food is really good.

Service for food/drink is OK (amazingly great when you are with a class or accompanied by an instructor or such).

Service in the range and gun sales areas is on the bad side of mediocre.

Archery no longer in place - when asked, was told the "archery person" left and took all the archery people with him.

Ultimately - can't recommend for any type of membership, can recommend if you want to walk in, be assigned a lane,...