Range etiquette (AKA Common Sense)

Howdy,
I would like to start off by stating "I do not get off on impeding on the rights of others". So if the range does not have a no cell phone policy then it is an annoance to me and I would not push the issue any further. However equally worth stating is : " there is a time and a place for everything". The range is a place to improve your marksmanship skills pure and simple. I understand that there are people who work on call and if it is an important/business call I don't have a problem with it.
My issue is rudeness pure and simple. To yell on a phone while people are sighting in is rude !! I appreciate the fact that there are those whom have tunnel vision and can block out everything else but the target, I'm not one of them. If a guy I don't know is pacing behind me while I'm holding a firearm in my hands it definately poses a distraction.
There is a reason why people don't talk while someone is teeing off in golf or serving during tennis or volleyball, the gun range deserves that same consideration.
 
Guys, guys, don't get me wrong. In no way am I advocating any laws against cell phones or when or where they are used. I do the things I do because I do respect my fellow human beings. Maybe that's a stupid thing for me to do but that is the way I was raised.

I don't care if you are annoying me as you're yelling/speaking into your phone, just don't get annoyed when I start making comments in the background that I know the person on the other end can hear :D. (j/k all, don't beat me up for that comment :) ).

Wayne
 
"I also don't agree with government regulation of cell phone use in automobiles (I don't care how many people get rear-ended). Or mandatory seat belt and motorcycle helmet laws. I don't want or need a lefty politician taking care of me, and then making phoney excuses for enacting laws that infringe on my rights."

Amen, Brother!
 
Lotta amen's around here. So we don't like seat belts either, eh? Fine.....let's bag them too. Problem is, you "non" seat belt wearers now need to devise a way to personally eat your pro rata share of the jacked up auto insurance premiums we seat belt wearers are going to have to help pay to cover your additional personal injury claims when you consistently get your brains knocked out by doing something stupid. Stupid, as in not wearing seat belts. I love personal freedom.....but when your quest for "absolute personal freedom" costs everyone else $$$'s.....we gotta talk.

U.F.O.
 
Isn't it sort of hard to talk when you are supposed to be wearing ear protection?

If it's an emergency, you can take it outside. If you just want to take the call, stepping out should not be a problem. A quick "I'll call you back" is also appropriate.

I don't see the problem with using one, as I'd think that loud BANG! BOOM! noises would be MORE irratating, but, like I said, what about ear protection?
 
UFO:

A> I wear seat belts anyway, and I wear a helmet when riding a motorcycle anyway -- not because of the law, but because I think it is wise. I don't think that the government needs to be involved in forcing people to be wise.

B> Your argument assumes that the taxpaying public would be held financially liable for people engaging in foolish activities. I deny this. Actually, I recognize that is the current case, but it shouldn't be. That is actually a socialist/collectivist policy, and I oppose it. I think that people should be held financially responsible for their own choices in life. It should be a matter between the individual and their insurance company. Yes, I object to paying for other's stupidity, just like you do. But I don't see where the government should be coerceing that money from me. Your solution is to forbid the activity, like how Mommy and your teacher forbade you from running with sissors. Mine is to allow it, but not to pay for the fool's folly, since free adults don't need Mommies. Let the idiots who engage in that sort of thing pay for it out of their own pocket, perhaps with higher insurance premiums. Sorta like how people with poor driving records should pay higher premiums as they are more of a risk. Same thing about smokers. That way the more wise and prudent of the population still pay lower premiums, which is a win-win situation. The people who want to engage can, and the people who don't don't have to pay for it.

So, no, your assertion that it costs everybody $$$'s isn't true, not in a truely free society (which is not what we currently have). For the freedoms of that free society comes with increased personal responsibility, which balances things.

Meaning, if you do something stupid, you are liable. If you can't cover your liability (out of your own pocket, or by insurance), tough taco. You lose.
 
The easy way to please both sides is to have the insurance only cover the person who has a buckled seatbelt. The data could easily be recorded on the vehicles computer with the other codes.

If a person doesn't want to buckle up, he takes the risks alone. It's an agreement between the insurance company and the insured. The government has little business there.
 
gb, I would take your view of a better society in a heartbeat. In a perfect world that's how it should be.

XB, that plan works for me. That would encourage personal responsibility without Govt. interference.

U.F.O.
 
I feel so cheated now......

Here I was already to go into "rant" mode about guys "pitching" .308 brass without a care as to whose face is opposite the ejection port :( .....I will do it anyway :p .....Some jerk lines up at the 100yds range KNOWING his gun "spits" lead from the front and then "Nolan Ryan Expresses" .308 brass 15-20ft out the ejection port :eek: over the top of my damn near 1000 dollar Bushmaster......You wanna talk about a code to follow, screw etiquette, lets talk just common sense :mad:! If that brass had even "grazed" my ar I woulda shoved that .308 brass up his sphyncter sideways.....
It is common sense that if your rifle "Spews" brass when firiring to either cover it with a towel, get a piece of wood to deflect the brass(range supplied), or wait and take turns with the fellow next to you! Imagine happily grouping shots at fiftey yards when a case goes flying across the top of your carry handle and nose(from 15-20 yds away like I said; now that is distracting.....That sphyncter didn't even apologize aftercoming so close to hitting me!To return the favor, I introduced him to my Bushies ak muzzle brake/ejection port by getting next to him on the 100yd line though :D

To the topic....If you can hear a cell phone ringing, the conversation being said, or are worried about what the guy next to you is legally doing then..........YOU AIN'T DOING ENOUGH SHOOTING :p !!!!!!
 
"To the topic....If you can hear a cell phone ringing, the conversation being said, or are worried about what the guy next to you is legally doing then..........YOU AIN'T DOING ENOUGH SHOOTING !!!!!!"

Right On! That, and you might oughta think about getting better ear protection!
 
gb,

I take it that you don't have "wolf ears" :D (oh, if not, get some, they are GRRREEEEEEEEEET!).

With the wolf ears, the normal voices of people are clear as day and you'd be surprised what you can pick up with them. So people using normal muffs and plugs may not hear (or barely hear) the conversation, I can and it's like the person is speaking directly to you (if they are close anyway) and yes, it does cause a distraction "oh yes my lovely bunnytail. give me kisses, mimimimimim (kissy noises), I love you too pookybuns" (actual overheard conversation :barf: ).

Wayne
 
Let's see if I can keep this short. I wear my seat belt because I can't afford to pay the fine on a fixed income. I really resent that law being imposed upon me. To those who cite insurance rates, may I ask you to quote me the overall property/casualty company difference's in bodily injury loss ratios in any state since the inception of mandatory seat belt laws.

I've lived at a time when there were NO seatbelts. We drove high powered V8's, and never gave it a thought. If anyone was injured in an auto accident, and they were at fault THEIR insurance rate went up, not mine! When they were not at fault, the rate went up on the guy who caused the accident. It's the same today, and insurance rates are just a phoney left excuse to keep us under governments thumb.

Now before someone reminds me that traffic has increased since my heyday, I would tell you in 1957 traffic was bumper to bumper at times on Route 128 around Boston, and still is.

I'm outta here!
 
i actually don't mind cell phones at the range. when i go, i go to practice drawing and firing from concealment in order to stay proficient with my carry piece. if i ever have to actually use it in self defense i can't exactly ask everyone around me to hush while i aim and fire. might as well learn how to shoot decent while people are yacking away on their phones, hot brass is pelting you in the forhead, your buddy is tapping you on the shoulder telling you to look at his bullseye, other people shooting magnums next to you etc. alternatively, if you don't buy that philosophy, when he's not looking, tape his phone to your target and ventilate it for him.

Bobby
 
Wayne:

Nope, I've just got "conventional" muffs, 30 db'ers. They seem to do the job well enough. That, and I've trained myself to tune out just about everything around me on the firing line. It comes from doing so much target archery, where you don't use any ear protection at all. We used to train ourselves to ignore everything, up to and including throwing paper wads at whoever was shooting -- sounds crazy, I know, but it pays off come tournament time.

Besides that, I just trained myself a long time ago to just tune out everything I'm not interested in. If it doesn't concern me, I ignore it, it just becomes background noise -- especially when I am busy like at work or while at the range. So, cell phone conversations close by, even when not at the range, just don't register to me. It is one of those "Mind over Matter" things -- I don't mind that others want to have a phone conversation, so it just doesn't matter to me. Whatever it is they are talking about, it isn't any of my business, and I've got much better things to do than obsess over someone wanting to have a conversation that doesn't involve me, or to get all worked out of shape over it like so many people do. Like, for instance, keeping my mind on what it is I'm doing at the time.

Oh, BTW -- Way back when, I used to have a set of those "Sonic Ear Valve" plugs, and they seemed to be pretty good at letting me hear normal coversations while protecting the hearing at the range -- ok, not as good as my current muffs, but still not too bad. Anyway, they got lost in a move and never got replaced, and now I just use the muffs.

Bobby:

Yep -- you get it. Learn to do what it is you do under adverse conditions -- even while people are going out of their way to distract you, because when it comes crunch time you sure can't be assured of "perfect" conditions.
 
You know, just from reading the replies... maybe I should use this as a training tactac. Listen to "bunnybuns" or whatever the heck you people say to your girlfriends/wives to get some that night ( :D ) or whatever, train to shoot around discussing conversations and hit the mark.

Could just work after thinking about it. I can deal with that :).


Wayne
 
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