a man killed himself at an indoor range today

kcub

New member
That's the way it turned out. I was sighting in a rifle. I heard a weird report like a squib load, then the call for a cease fire. We unloaded and movedback away from the firearms and I saw the man down on his back with blood coming out of his nose and mouth. He had rented a handgun and then offed himself. Police had us all fill out statements. Bummed me out seeing that.
 
Wow... It can happen anywhere, anytime...

AND OF COURSE, I found the wrong news item. Sorry to correct you incorrectly. My bad. I stand by the rest of what I wrote.

The drive-by libs are making a big deal of the "rent-a-gun" feature, and decrying it as a huge proportion of gun-related deaths, per annum. Morons...

Kcub, sorry you had to be anywhere near it, and I'm glad you're okay.
 
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man that is not good sorry for you and the others who had to witness that, what range did this happen at if you don't mind me asking.
 
Reds North in Pfluegerville (north Austin suburb)

It was not their fault.

Makes you wonder about the strangers you don't know nothing about around you at a public range. I'm going to carefully watch them closer now.

I'm all for keeping guns away from criminals and mentally ill people. I believe we have to be ok about that if we want to preserve what limited rights we still have.
 
A handful of years back we had a similarly awful one very near me. Guy rented a Para 1911 and bought one box of ammo. He sent like 47rds down range and of the few left, he shot himself in the head -- right in front of a group of folks attempting to do the range portion of their carry license instruction.
 
He could have just as easily drove head on into a family of 4. Or jumped from a building and killed pedestrians.

Nothing to do with guns. It's depression.

Sad. But part of life.
 
I'm not sad, I'm angry about this! Angry at the jerk who selfishly blew his brains out at a range where someone is operating a business that benefits all of us who enjoy shooting. Risking the safety of those at the range, including any children that might be their with their parents learning to shoot! Not to mention what this act does to the guy's family who has to endure lots of publicity over the guy's choice to off himself in public at a gun range.

People like this screw it up for all of us. Thoughtlessly selfish. Pure selfishness. Y'all can be sad about it - I'm angry and not ashamed to admit it.
 
Sadly it happens all too often and then the anti gun crowd jumps on it and blames the gun. Hard to comprehend what drives someone to take such action.
 
It's hard to find any logic in such an action. I can at least comprehend and understand suicide, but I could never understand why a person would choose such a manner that will have such an adverse affect on others. Were they purposely trying to damage others, or are they just that thoughtless and uncaring about others?

I think everyone has faced depression at some point, and can even understand losing the will to live, but most would not want to make others suffer for their decision to end their life.
 
From mehavey:

It's the Gun Range Loophole don't you know ?



From the linked article:

"But federal background checks aren’t allowed for rental customers. “When an individual is acquiring a firearm for rental purposes, the individual is not expected to remove the firearm from the premises,” explained Stephen Fischer of the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services. “Therefore, no firearm background check may be conducted by the NICS because the person is not ‘possessing or receiving’ the firearm for personal use off of the firearm owner’s property.”

I'd like to see a legal eagle's opinion on that. Not that I'm advocating more background checks, but if it solves a problem (allegedly), why can't a gun range have access to the NICS system?
 
People like this screw it up for all of us. Thoughtlessly selfish. Pure selfishness. Y'all can be sad about it - I'm angry and not ashamed to admit it.
People that are in that state of mind are obviously not always thinking rationally, it could have being spur of the moment who knows.
 
This has happened at least a few times at an indoor range near where I live. They have a policy now where you must already have your own firearm before being allowed to rent one of theirs. Seems like a good idea.
 
I don't really care why someone committed suicide at a gun range. Everyone has problems, but it is WRONG to make your problems someone else's. I look at it this way, at the very least, the guy was acting in a very reckless manner with a gun, violating a whole host of range rules. Now, if someone did that at a range you were shooting at, just didn't actually shoot himself, how ticked off would you be at that person. Why do we give some idiot a pass on reckless behavior just because he actually killed himself?

If we stop feeling sorry for people who do this kind of thing and talk in terms of their stupidity, selfishness, reckless behavior, and total disregard for gun safety and the people around them, then just maybe the next person will think "Hm, will people think I'm a complete butt-head for blowing my brains out at a gun range?"?
 
I'd like to see a legal eagle's opinion on that. Not that I'm advocating more background checks, but if it solves a problem (allegedly), why can't a gun range have access to the NICS system?

IMOP thats just a way to try to deal with a symptom. The guy blowing his brains out at a shooting range is a symptom. Like taking an aspirin for the pain of a slipped disk.
Our time, efforts and treasure would be better spent working to tackle mental illness. If we can help some of these people who suffer from depression.
We not only take a bite out of the cases who would rent a gun and blow their brains out.
We might also save some who would have hanged them selves in the shower, ect. There by helping more people and families. Would have a positive impact all across the board.
Instead of rubbing salve over the mark hopping no one sees it.
 
I doubt most people contemplating suicide would even show up on a BGC. I've dealt with someone threatening suicide, and there's very little the authorities do about it (luckily they didn't go through with it). A lot of people never make their intentions known to others. Some do want to make their death affect as many people as possible.
Once they are set on the decision, not much can change their mind.

Someone above mentioned other ways such as head on collisions, that probably happens more than we think. I've read about two cases where the suicidal person survived and they admitted to doing it intentionally. Sadly the victims didn't live.

I really hate to politicize any event like this, but unfortunately, others will. Suicides have nothing to do with guns, except as it is only a means.
 
If we stop feeling sorry for people who do this kind of thing and talk in terms of their stupidity, selfishness, reckless behavior, and total disregard for gun safety and the people around them, then just maybe the next person will think "Hm, will people think I'm a complete butt-head for blowing my brains out at a gun range

You obviously know nothing about depression that can strike anyone at any time. There for the grace of god i.
 
2ndsojourn said:
I'd like to see a legal eagle's opinion on that. Not that I'm advocating more background checks, but if it solves a problem (allegedly), why can't a gun range have access to the NICS system?
A pause for the COZ said:
IMOP thats just a way to try to deal with a symptom. The guy blowing his brains out at a shooting range is a symptom. Like taking an aspirin for the pain of a slipped disk.
+1, and perhaps more importantly, it would be a step down the slippery slope towards requiring a NICS check every time a non-licensed person wants to TOUCH a gun. Enact this, and the next thing you'll hear about is the "Borrowed Gun Loophole" and then the "Buddy's Gun At The Range Loophole". :mad:

Needless to say, it would be VERY bad for growth of the shooting sports to require folks to jump through legal hoops just to try out shooting.
 
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