Scary day at the range.

[MP Freeman]

Went shooting over the weekend with my Brother. Had a great time too. Put hundreds of round through some of my guns. My new "loaded" M1A is FANTASTIC!!!!

<Rant On> But this is a rant about range safety. We were shooting at the pistol range and there were some other fellas there as well. All the targets had fallen and I yelled "CLEAR" and everyone else yelled "CLEAR" as well. We all unloaded, locked and placed our pistols on the deck and My brother and I went forward to set up the targets. Now as I place the last target up, I look up and one of the guys is holding his pistol!!!!!! And I'm still down range!!!! The pistol was unloaded, but I thought all guns were loaded. Next I move as fast as I can and get back to the line and gather my things and leave.

As I was packing up my car I noticed the following, another guy was on the pistol range. And he was holding his pistol vertically, pointed straight up to the sky, right next to his right ear. Bad form, and practice. Good habit to blow your head off. Pistols should always be pointed down range. Another guy emptied his 9mm and removed the magazine and then turns around with pistol in hand and is pointing it back at us!!! He just spun around real fast and his arm whipped out and the gun was pointing out. I saw another guy carrying his .45 in his hand as he walked around the range. PUT THE GUN IN A HOLSTER WHEN CARRYING! Another bad form. We were also talking to a guy about his .45 and he pulls it out and points it straight at my Brother while showing it to us. COME ON!!!!! If someone gets shot, we can kiss the range good-bye.

We left and went to the free-fire range where no one else was. I felt much safer there. My brother plans to say something to the club about these incidents. I have never seen such gross unsafe practice in my life. From now on if I see ANYONE using unsafe habits, I will be the first to say something. <Rant Off>

Has anyone else EVER seen such dangerous practice? How do I go about saying something if I see it again? Again I was just amazed and slightly scared to see such sloppy handeling of weapons.

Regards
MP

[George Hill]

Moving to Lock and Load.

------------------
You might laugh in the face of FEAR... but unless your armed, its a nervous, unconvincing, little laugh.

[KaMaKaZe]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by MP Freeman:
Has anyone else EVER seen such dangerous practice? How do I go about saying something if I see it again? Again I was just amazed and slightly scared to see such sloppy handeling of weapons.
Regards
MP[/quote]

Most certainly.

If it is an open range.. I don't know what I would do. I would hesitate to bring it to the attention of the Park Rangers for fear that the range would ultimately be closed. I would also fear to mention something to the individuals invovled for fear of retaliation. If they are irresponsible enough to wave a gun around without any problem, then I'm sure they wouldn't feel too bad pointing it at me with harmful intentions.

If its a pay-range, I would contact the management of the establishment. This might get you somewhere.. or not. I refuse to visit (what was) a close range for similar reasons. A gentleman was shooting his .357 wildly (simply put). He was several lanes down so I ignored him.. Until I saw something punch through the back of my target coming up range.. allowing me enough time to duck and catch a flattened .357 slug in the back of the head. ..everyone nods in agreement as to say "So thats what happened to him.." ANYWAY.. I brought it up and they completely blew it off. Nevermind the growing welt on the back of my head oozing a small amount of blood. In fact, they attempted to confiscate the slug that I recovered (after all, it was laying at my feet) and toss it. With a quick turn of the head, I reached behind the counter and fished it out of the trash.. said a few choice words and left the range never to return.

I knew I was in trouble when:
1. I "got shot" and it hurt like hell.
2. The prick doin' the shootin' bailed IMMEDIATELY upon learning what happened.
3. Guys at the shop COMPLETELY blew it off and tried to ditch the "evidence" (if there was any to begin with)

What amazes the most is how I managed not to shoot myself at the time. I was shooting my beloved S&W .38 with a target trigger/hammer. The thing has about a 1lb pull, single action.. and when I ducked, it was cocked and pointed at an already-bad kneecap.

*sigh*

Suppose this puts me up there with you, FUD.


BTW, thats:
ED'S Gun & Tackle Shop
2727 Canton Road , Marietta
(770) 425-8461
http://www.edsguns.com/

Eat your heart out.

------------------
God, Guns and Guts made this country a great country!

oberkommando sez:
"We lost the first and third and now they are after the Second!(no pun intended)"

[This message has been edited by KaMaKaZe (edited September 05, 2000).]

[mk86fcc]

Oh my. The stories I could tell about Navy firing ranges. Suffice it say there's a reason we typically don't let our sailors load their weapons when they're on watch.

------------------
"...and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one."
Luke 22:36
"An armed society is a polite society."
Robert Heinlein
"Power corrupts. Absolute power - is kinda cool!"
Fred Reed

[George Hill]

"If someone gets shot, we can kiss the range good-bye."

Uh - so what? The tragedy was some one got shot! And its usually not the moron that catches the slug.

"Safety On"...
Good CD. Should be required with every gun instead of freakin stupid arse trigger locks.

[MP Freeman]

George,

I didn't in any way intend to underscore the tragedy of someone getting shot. I meant that the tragedy of someone getting shot would snowball into a tragedy of closing another range and add to the already heated climate of the gun-grabbers. I just telescoped my meaning when I shouldn't have. Hey, I have a very personal concern about range safety at this particular range - I mean, my brother is a member and shoots there often.

Regards,
MP

[Herodotus]

This kind of thing happens with a fair degree of frequency at our free public ranges here in Missouri.
In fact, since deer season is coming on, the frequency will increase until opening day as all the once a year hunters take old Betsy to the range for the annual sight in. Many will bring the whole family along with every firearm they have and then the unsafe antics will begin in ernest.
My own shooting will slow down quite a bit now, as it will be crowded at the ranges. Actually, most of the people are quite nice to meet, but one fool can spoil the whole party.
Whenever I see someone at a free range that is behaving foolishly or if I just have bad feelings about someone, I just leave. I am not their daddy and I don't even try to educate them.
The pay ranges I shoot at in Missouri are all state owned and officered and they never allow foolishness with firearms to go unremarked. I like it that way if I'm paying.

[swampyMO]

Guys,

Ditto on what Herodotus said.

The public ranges owned & operated by the Missouri Conservation Dept. are top notch & first class establishments. The range officers are not only VERY safety conscious and not at all bashful about taking appropriate action, they are generally all enthusiastic hunters and-or shooters themselves. VERY good people to talk to and associate with. All government employees should be so competent.

Safety at "open ranges" is a ticklish thing, especially when you are around people you don't know. When I'm in a place like that, I constantly watch those around me for unsafe practices. In the event that I see something pretty flagrant, I usually just pack up & leave.

Safety wiht firearms must be learned. How we go about educating our armed brothers & sisters to safe & courteous handling of weapons without offending them and possibly initiating an "incident" eludes me. I just have to conclude that SOME of the ones I've seen either may already have been or someday will be a feature story on the local "10 O'clock News". I just know that I don't want to be around (either being interviewed, or being loaded into the ambulance) when the cameras start rolling.

Robert A. Heinlein said it best.... "Never underestimate the power of human stupidity".

Best regards,
Swampy

[Midwest_Lass]

I have only been shooting a few months, but had my first (and hopefully ONLY) **MAJOR** scare at an indoor range last night. This is not my "regular" range, but one about 20 minutes away who has "Ladies Night" on Saturday nights.

Yesterday, my friend and I attended an IDPA Training Seminar and had a WONDERFUL time. Really learned A LOT, and loved the chance to shoot outside. Can't wait to go back next month!!

On our way back from the IDPA Seminar, we decided to stop at an indoor range that had Ladies Night. I'd been there twice before, and it had been quiet both times. This time however, was not the case.

We went in the range and it was fairly busy - probably 8 - 10 ppl shooting. We took up our stations and were plinking away.

When I turn around, there's a guy sitting on a table/bench directly behind where I'm standing (he's about 6 feet behind the shooting stations) - and inserted a full mag into his gun. He racked the slide and a LIVE ROUND came flying out (ejected). His gun was pointed directly at me when he did this. I freaked.

I unloaded, scooped my stuff in my bag, told my friend and we high-tailed it out to the front. Told the ppl what happened and they looked at me like I was nuts.... I don't know if they did anything about it or not. We got the hell out of Dodge. The two guys that were sitting behind me on the bench looked like older gang-banger types. I don't know if they were trying to intimidate me or what, but I sure wasn't going to stick around to find out.

This place is the only place I've shot at that didn't make me sign a form to shoot there. Now I'm wondering how safe that place is. I was planning on going there to check out a Bullseye League this week, but I don't know now.

Any comments?

Midwest_Lass

[mhannah1]

That is why I never go to the ranges a couple of months before hunting season, and I usually just go up in the woods.

All by myself, the only one who can do something stupid, is me