Brian Pfleuger
Moderator Emeritus
I'm either not everyone or you have a strange definition of accident. The only accident I've ever had at the range is missing my POA. I'm guessing most others here would take exception from your statement as well.
Idiot creates close call on range today
- Thread starter Wallabing
- Start date
I'm either not everyone or you have a strange definition of accident. The only accident I've ever had at the range is missing my POA. I'm guessing most others here would take exception from your statement as well.
Ill admit I made a newbie mistake once upon a time. My range is a free public one so you get all kinds of nut cases up there. I had just made my transition from rifle shooting to handgun shooting and I knew all the safety rules such as clear and hot, down or downrange, never handle a weapon while people are down range, loaded or not, however, I did not know your only allowed 6 rounds in a handgun at the range. So there I am, HK USP 9mm in hand, 15+1 one, making sure it fed ok 
. I was told nicely that I could get in trouble with that many rounds, and its never been a problem since.
. I was told nicely that I could get in trouble with that many rounds, and its never been a problem since.Although it's been a long time since I've been a newbie to shooting, I remember very well my first shooting experiences. The first thing I learned was "HOT" "COLD" meant. I can honestly say that I've never, EVER done one of the following while handling a gun or shooting at a range:
1. "sweep" an area with the muzzle of my gun
2. point a gun at an individual
3. walk out on a range when it was still HOT
4. have an accidental discharge while shooting or while cleaning my guns
5. shoot anything that wasn't down range
6. have a gun hit me in the face for not holding it properly
7. suffer any injury or cause injury to others as a result of shooting
I started shooting .22 rifles when I was 7 years old and handguns when I was about 14. My parents didn't own guns so I had to get my training elsewhere. Gun Safety is a mindset made up of a very healthy dose of respect, ritual, setting and following personal safety rules and other people's rules, no matter how stupid you may think they are.
1. "sweep" an area with the muzzle of my gun
2. point a gun at an individual
3. walk out on a range when it was still HOT
4. have an accidental discharge while shooting or while cleaning my guns
5. shoot anything that wasn't down range
6. have a gun hit me in the face for not holding it properly
7. suffer any injury or cause injury to others as a result of shooting
I started shooting .22 rifles when I was 7 years old and handguns when I was about 14. My parents didn't own guns so I had to get my training elsewhere. Gun Safety is a mindset made up of a very healthy dose of respect, ritual, setting and following personal safety rules and other people's rules, no matter how stupid you may think they are.
There are two ranges close to my house.
One is a state owned range run buy a master shooter who enforces pretty strict rules. He allows me to shoot ass fast as I like on the pistol range but slowfire only on the rifle range with no high capacity mags. ( He is setting up another shooting area for rapid shooting rifles like my AK. ) The range is clean, safe, and I have had very few problems there. I avoid it right before deer season when all the yokels come out to sight in their deer guns but other than that it is a great place to shoot. Pistol range up to 50 yards and rifle range up to 1000.
The other is also a state owned range but there is no range master, no one watches the range. Its covered with trash and spent brass. I've seen every safety violation there is at this place. People walk downrange on a hot range, they don't sweep the firing line with their muzzle they will just have their muzzle pointed at you and don't give it a second thought. One day I went to that range and there was a guy shooting at a target at the 100 yard berm. The 50 yard berm is right next to it and there were two guys standing down range about 10 feet from the target shooting. So the guy at the 100 was shooting right past their heads at his target. They told me to go ahead and start shooting, they didn't mind, "Just don't shoot us, ha ha". I told them the easiest way to assure that was if I didn't do anything that STUPID. I'd wait until they were done. They all got mad, put their guns away, and left. That was probably the smartest thing they did all day.
One is a state owned range run buy a master shooter who enforces pretty strict rules. He allows me to shoot ass fast as I like on the pistol range but slowfire only on the rifle range with no high capacity mags. ( He is setting up another shooting area for rapid shooting rifles like my AK. ) The range is clean, safe, and I have had very few problems there. I avoid it right before deer season when all the yokels come out to sight in their deer guns but other than that it is a great place to shoot. Pistol range up to 50 yards and rifle range up to 1000.
The other is also a state owned range but there is no range master, no one watches the range. Its covered with trash and spent brass. I've seen every safety violation there is at this place. People walk downrange on a hot range, they don't sweep the firing line with their muzzle they will just have their muzzle pointed at you and don't give it a second thought. One day I went to that range and there was a guy shooting at a target at the 100 yard berm. The 50 yard berm is right next to it and there were two guys standing down range about 10 feet from the target shooting. So the guy at the 100 was shooting right past their heads at his target. They told me to go ahead and start shooting, they didn't mind, "Just don't shoot us, ha ha". I told them the easiest way to assure that was if I didn't do anything that STUPID. I'd wait until they were done. They all got mad, put their guns away, and left. That was probably the smartest thing they did all day.
Composer_1777
Moderator
The range i go to is strict and helpful (outdoor) it was my buddies first time shooting and the Range master came and gave him a session on shooting just out of common courtesy. Very awesome range and they won't even let you sit rifles down without the chamber locked and on the rack. Guess i'm lucky... jesus.
Had the opposite of yours several weekends ago at our range.
Range director called a cease fire and put up the sign and every one got up from there long guns and several people walked down range to work on there targets,,, I was one of them.
I was placing a target on the back board and started hearing some yelling behind me.
Looked behind, there was this gentleman on his bench, gun on his shoulder looking down the scope at the target. He was setting two positions down from where I had been shooting from.
He quickly got up from his gun.
When I got back to my position he was arguing with the Range director that he had not done any thing unsafe, the gun was not loaded (But the bolt was closed I heard later) and he was just looking at his targets.
At our range when a cease fire is called you step away from your gun (Which he had) and you are not to mess with them in any way when some one is down range and the cease fire still in place.
He permanently lost his use of the range,,, not for the mistake,,, people will make mistakes and that’s something we have to put up with, but after arguing with the range director for over 10 minutes, the range director reached over and pulled his range card and told him to leave.
He looked around for some one to back him up and found out he had no friends that day. Called us all a couple of names that I won’t share here, since I want to continue to be a member of this great forum, and he left.
Range safety and rules cant protect you from stupid people, keep your eyes open.
Range director called a cease fire and put up the sign and every one got up from there long guns and several people walked down range to work on there targets,,, I was one of them.
I was placing a target on the back board and started hearing some yelling behind me.
Looked behind, there was this gentleman on his bench, gun on his shoulder looking down the scope at the target. He was setting two positions down from where I had been shooting from.
He quickly got up from his gun.
When I got back to my position he was arguing with the Range director that he had not done any thing unsafe, the gun was not loaded (But the bolt was closed I heard later) and he was just looking at his targets.
At our range when a cease fire is called you step away from your gun (Which he had) and you are not to mess with them in any way when some one is down range and the cease fire still in place.
He permanently lost his use of the range,,, not for the mistake,,, people will make mistakes and that’s something we have to put up with, but after arguing with the range director for over 10 minutes, the range director reached over and pulled his range card and told him to leave.
He looked around for some one to back him up and found out he had no friends that day. Called us all a couple of names that I won’t share here, since I want to continue to be a member of this great forum, and he left.
Range safety and rules cant protect you from stupid people, keep your eyes open.
Interesting. Everyone seems to be slamming the silly patron...but not the range itself. I am far more curious why it happened in the first place.
Did anyone investigate WHY the patron thought there was a cease fire? Since everyone is required to wear hearing protection, what visual indicators are in place for quick and easy discernment that the range was HOT (there have been many instances where I have been on a "hot range" where there was no actual gun fire happening for whatever reason...reloading, discussion, scope sighting, etc.). One example of a visual indicator would be a lit red light in each stall and another red light visible from all lanes behind the firing line.
Finally, WHAT if anything was done to preclude that mistake from happening again?
Did anyone investigate WHY the patron thought there was a cease fire? Since everyone is required to wear hearing protection, what visual indicators are in place for quick and easy discernment that the range was HOT (there have been many instances where I have been on a "hot range" where there was no actual gun fire happening for whatever reason...reloading, discussion, scope sighting, etc.). One example of a visual indicator would be a lit red light in each stall and another red light visible from all lanes behind the firing line.
Finally, WHAT if anything was done to preclude that mistake from happening again?
Every village has it's idiot. What is scary is that he probally drives a car too, and I hate to give you nightmares but he's probally breeding. At least when he's doing something stupid like that he's only putting himself at risk.
Sounds like a darwin award contender. I think part of the problem is there are too many safegaurds in place, idiots survive to reproduce and take out others in thier wake.
We all do stupid stuff at times, but some people have to keep raising the bar.
Sounds like a darwin award contender. I think part of the problem is there are too many safegaurds in place, idiots survive to reproduce and take out others in thier wake.
We all do stupid stuff at times, but some people have to keep raising the bar.
This sounds exactly like the same thing that happened to me about a year ago. I just set down my rifle bag and was getting my 10/22 out (remember it like it was yesterday) and some idiot walks directly from his car to the target during live fire. Same after effect. Some people...
Dave_Shotgun
New member
It's idiots like these that put the rest of us rational, civilized human beings in danger. I will be getting my first shotgun soon and will be going to a shooting range for the first time. I just hope that the range is properly run and has a good Range Officer.
Catfish25p2000
New member
I belong to a private club that does not have a R/O. The club I belong to is not a blasting club, it is a competition club, so they assume that the members have some sense of range safety. A few months ago, we had a guy walk right past the rifle range, right past the sign at the pistol range that clearly states "no rifles, pistols only", and procede to shoot FMJ's out of an AK at 15 yards at our steel plates. He not only destroyed the plates, he also left the range in an ambulance with one eye less than he came with. He had either a ricochet come back and hit him in the eye, or part of a steel plate come back and get him. Last I heard, he was still in the hospital. Dumb ass!
Wow. I have my own range at my house. So many of your stories are strange and unfamiliar. I can relate to the "THUG, TACTICOOL, and NORMAL shooters" usually the people I invite to shoot with me are informed of my range rules. treat gun as if it were load etc. and I don't have many problems. I've had some turn towards me with a live weapon, usually their first time out. Easily corrected, but still not fun. I've banned one person from my range period for not respecting me, my firearms, or my rules. he fired two of my pistols one in each hand not really aiming, then tracked them across my house, aimed them at me. then dropped them both on the table. Needless to say guns were packed up locked up and he was asked to leave.
I was at a outdoor range one day the range was called cold so people could go down range to change and check targets I look down the covered shooting area and see a guy with two of his friends picking up a rifle and moving it to another shooting station.I told him that you do not touch a weapon while the range is cold he acted like I said his mother was working the streets almost escalated to a bad situation. Luckily there were a lot of other members there to help him understand his mistake.I do not go to public ranges any more its just to my friends house now it is worth the drive .
.I told him that you do not touch a weapon while the range is cold he acted like I said his mother was working the streets almost escalated to a bad situation. Luckily there were a lot of other members there to help him understand his mistake.I do not go to public ranges any more its just to my friends house now it is worth the drive .Brian Pfleuger
Moderator Emeritus
I must admit that I'm glad there aren't any public ranges in my area, although, the private ranges are entirely unsupervised so it's maybe not much better. Paying money for access doesn't make you smart.
Manning Munitions
Inactive
My opinion......you shoulda...........well lets just say he wouldnt have done it again
6 round limit in a handgun; 10 rounds in two minutes is rapid fire...
I've heard some odd range rules before, but those two are way up there.
Question for those whose ranges have such rules: How clearly are they posted? Are they on waiver forms? Are they on the walls?
How consistent is enforcement?
I've heard some odd range rules before, but those two are way up there.
Question for those whose ranges have such rules: How clearly are they posted? Are they on waiver forms? Are they on the walls?
How consistent is enforcement?
Trashcan-man
New member
Is this a common rule. I have to say I've never read or heard this in my life. I am semi new to range shooting. I shot a lot as a kid on my grandfather's ranch until I was about 16 and am now getting back into shooting after a few years off. My dad was a marine and was strict on safety so I'm a very safe shooter but like I said we didn't go to many shooting ranges.
I have to say you guys really sound lucky to me. I live in Tallahassee, FL, we have 2 ranges. The 1st is the rifle and pistol club and costs a little over $200 a year to be a member...I don't have that kind of cash so I'm stuck with...#2 which is a public range in national forest. No range officers, no supervision what so ever. I've seen everything from gang bangers practicing for their drive up's but literally shooting out of their car windows, to the tacticool guys. I now go during the week before 10am...apparently the stupid people don't like to wake up before then to go shooting, so usually I'm there alone and safe.
