Food truck hookups, an airy patio with a big screen TV, and a 1,000-square-foot Beretta-branded store within a store with guns and apparel.

Atlanta's first commercial indoor shooting range within city limits is officially open.

Stoddard's Range and Guns is expansive, at 34,000 square feet inside an old plumbing supply warehouse on Bishop street in west Midtown, near Atlantic Station.  Even though some of the waffle ceilings are original, the decor is sleekly industrial-modern in feel, spacious and brightly lit.

"We really wanted this to be as comfortable as walking into an Apple store," says Stoddard's co-owner Ken Baye.

Baye and co-owner Michael Halbreich may have succeeded.  On Thursday's opening day, the place was abuzz with visitors wandering in to check out the new space, as friendly employees greeted them just inside the door.

Stoddard's has 24 lanes, eight of which are training lanes, with clear partitions between each firing station so that an instructor can stand back and watch multiple shooters.  That range is also a tactical bay, at 25 meters slightly longer than the other 16 25-yard lanes, and accommodating for international competitive shooters.  Although the gun range is near a popular shopping and residential area, noise is not expected to be a problem, as Baye says the concrete walls are eight inches thick.

Another feature that might remind visitors of a trip to a hot computer store is the ability to play with products on display.  There is a section of counter-high bleachers with dozens of guns ready for customers to pick them up and get a feel for them.

"We have firearms here that have had the firing pins removed so they're safe.  They cannot actually be fired at the moment.  But they are the actual guns that you can pick up and hold and feel," says Baye.  "There's some information about each one of them.  It gives people an opportunity who might otherwise maybe be a little intimidated to come over here and touch and feel a little bit before they go over to a gun counter and decide to buy something."  All of the major firearms brands are for sale here.

A mother and daughter were among the first-day visitors, and were nodding approvingly at what they saw.

"It's really neat and cool.  It's got the Big Ass Fan up there," said Ashling Thurmond, whose mother interrupted her to say, "You can't say that on TV!"

"No that's the name of the company," Thurmond explained.  "It's just cool design."  Her brother is on the range's staff, and she's impressed with the location, saying that Stoddard's is unlike other ranges she's visited.

"Usually they're dirty and gross, and I don't want to hang out there," she said.  "This is cool and it's lit and it doesn't feel dark and scary."

Baye says they really want to make it easy for people to learn about guns, their storage, use, and safety requirements in an inclusive and safe environment, while providing all the amenities that longtime shooters and avid collectors want.  There is a free 30-minute orientation for newbies, and Stoddard's also offers features from training classes to a gunsmith.  He credits his wife, Alice, for the idea to install the hookups for food trucks, so customers can potentially munch lunch during their shooting visits.

"It's hard to really describe what it's like to walk in the front door and feel comfortable in a firearms store," says Baye.