If Only Gordon Gekko Had A Gun

Masters of the universe trade company picnics for the opportunity to blow away inanimate objects at a shooting range — think Gordon Gekko with a semi-automatic — explained in full in “Now, Accounting Can Get Its Gun”:

This past summer, members of a Manhattan law firm went on a field trip to Danbury, Conn., where they spent an entire day at a range without swinging bats or golf clubs. The members of Kobre & Kim LLP were there not to hit and hack, but to lock and load, and to experience the thrill of firing pistols, rifles and even submachine guns.

“We do very aggressive litigation and trial work,” said Michael Kim, a partner in the firm. “So we prefer an activity that dovetails nicely with that aggressive culture, and hitting a little white ball on the greens doesn’t do much for us.”

In the last few years, a growing number of professionals like Mr. Kim are abandoning traditional company outings like softball, golf or fishing, choosing instead to escape the pressures of their busy workdays by blowing off steam – and rounds of ammunition – at shooting ranges that give corporate retreats some of the atmosphere of military attacks.

. . .

Russ Savage, a Manhattan lawyer who took a shooting holiday earlier this year, said that some of the men and women who have pulled the trigger on the increasingly popular excursion, especially those in the world of high finance, may have done so to gain “a feeling of empowerment.”

“For major corporate executives whose job it is to lead, this is a much more powerful way for them to maintain a sense of aura than by simply taking their people on a company picnic,” Mr. Savage said. “It’s an exhibition of strength and power.”

That said, the question remains whether this is a healthy activity to engage in:

“They might not be the best thing for a society that is already way too aggressive,” Dr. Kenneth Porter, a Manhattan psychiatrist, said. “When you look at what is in the media, and what kids growing up are exposed to, something like this could have a negative effect on the overall mental health of the population.

“However,” Dr. Porter continued, “shooting can be viewed as a legitimate sport and can be seen as a constructive outlet to express aggression, so it cuts both ways.”

Then, the reveal:

Seconds later, Dr. Porter, sitting at a picnic table at the Highland Lakes site with his fiancée and her son, picked up a long-range rifle and began firing at a wooden bull’s-eye, shell casings flying behind him as he squeezed off round after round, his body recoiling slightly after every blast.

“Before today, I thought something like this was unequivocally harmful,” he said. “But now I’ve learned otherwise.”

No word on whether the Postal Service has plans to institute such team-building exercises, for obvious reasons.