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Old April 27, 2005, 09:43 PM   #1
RCPractitioner
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Join Date: March 12, 2005
Location: Dallas, TX
Posts: 95
Did I do something wrong? Range question

I have been to the rifle range much to many times in my life to count, however, my most recent trip has me perplexed and I am looking for opinions. I arrived at the range (a range that I frequent) during a cease fire and went downrange to hang a couple targets. Afterwards I took my rifle out of the truck (magazine out, chamber open) and placed it in the rifle racks along with everyone else's rifle. I then took my ammunition out of my shooting bag and placed it on the bench to secure the bench I wanted. As I placed my ammo on the bench the rangemaster some distance away hollers: "everyone behind the line"! I obey, go behind the line and wait until he says the range is hot you may commence firing. So I pick up my rifle lock and load and begin firing. As I'm shooting someone taps me on the shoulder, it's the rangemaster. He leans down and says "do you understand that there is no handling of weapons with people downrange?". I reply yes and he says "good if I see it again you're out of here". I reply back I was never handling a weapon with people downrange, and he insist that he "saw" me do it. I tried to explain that the only handling I did was to remove my rifle from the truck and place it in the rack. The rangemaster (an elderly gentleman with thick glasses whom must be new because I have never seen him before) gets in my face and proceeds to scream like a drill sergeant "HEY, I saw you do it! You should have left the rifle in the truck until the range was hot. Do you have any questions!". I am at this point feeling both humiliated and more than a little ticked off. I figure out that this guy is pointless to argue with or try to convince otherwise so I sternly reply "no". To this he continues his YELLING "Good, if you do have any other questions refer to rule #2!" he points to a sign with rule #2 stating: "The rangemaster is in charge". I for one have never had anyone question my gun safety and it quite frankly bothers me that he did as I have always considered myself very safe and responsible with firearms. If I had done something wrong I am the type of person who is quick to apologize and recognize mistakes. I have never been to a range where you cannot remove your weapon from your vehicle until the range is hot. It would have been one thing if I had gone to bench and fiddled with the rifle but I simply moved it from the truck to the racks which are far behind the firing line. From anyone else's perspective was what I did wrong and how should I have handled the situation any differently? I really did not appreciate this old geezer getting in my face and yelling at me like a child. Any comments/suggestions?
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