Zombies lurk at the end of a gravel road in Virginia. And they must die.

Around the country, gun enthusiasts are turning pop culture’s fascination with the undead into a fun — and socially acceptable — target. They are joining zombie eradication teams and snapping up zombie targets, zombie ammo, zombie gas masks and even zombie-killing textbooks, which correctly illustrate the only way to execute a zombie: with a head shot. (Aiming for the pelvis will at least slow them down.) Late last month, nearly 1,000 people gathered on 200 acres in Minnesota for Outbreak Omega, an annual event of simulated zombie attacks where shooters even rode in a local SWAT team’s armored truck.

“It’s politically incorrect to shoot human targets,” explained Larry Ahlman, the longtime owner of Ahlman’s gun store, the host of the Minnesota event. “And it’s getting politically incorrect to shoot animal targets. It’s a little boring to shoot circular rings all day. But nobody can find a place in their heart for a zombie. So it’s really the perfect thing to shoot.”…

The prepping community, which encourages people to save and prepare for the apocalypse, is using zombies for recruitment. “To protect and sever” is the motto of the Zombie Response Team, a Texas prepper group. “How do we accomplish this?” the group’s Web site says. “Through educating each other about how to be prepared for any disaster that may come our way, including a zombie apocalypse. As they say, if you can survive a zombie apocalypse, you can survive anything.”