Range Rant

Many people are worried about lead contamination, especially at indoor ranges so some people wear clothes they would not normally wear (kind of like if you are painting or something). I never wear a hat normally, but will wear a hat while shooting because I don't want lead and junk in my hair.

ARUID
 
Regardless of the militia looking folks, if they showed up and are in a protest I bet they also voted as well.

I am not about to care how I look. I might be working on my pond or driveway and get board and go shooting. In mud covered cloths, dirty smelly bearded me. And a sweat stained napa or old ratty hat.

I don't care what folks wear, I care if they know and follow safety rules properly and are respectful folks.

Stereotypes are some thing people who shoot tend to think of as well, mini van mommy ring some bells? The parents scared of a bb gun or slingshot ring some more?

The problem I see is the media, they choose who is on the talking box, they edit things to sound better with the required spin, and all sorts of things.

I will never be someone who showers once a month and has clothes that totally reek. I might be someone who wears the same work clothes for a few different days due to a nasty dirty job likely to ruin those clothes.

I do have to admit I live in the boonies. I ran from the burbs real fast and far then got tired and moved in. So my shooting might be at my place or at some local outdoor ranges. Being in the boonies you see a lot of the redneck stereotypes around.

I also know these guys tend to vote since whenever it is brought up they are interested in the loss of rights locally and federally.

I know this is not about a dress code, but I think the problem is the gun owner who is worried about losing mag capacity, certain guns, or whatever, and they do not vote.

Often some people say how the hunter with his scoped 308 is the one who does not care about the loss of some of the rights other gunners enjoy.

I see this as not embracing those who have not had the advantages you have had. I live in the boonies, I have seen folks living out of very small campers and they call it a house.

Accept all who safely use firearms for entertainment, protection, hunting, collecting, or whatever other reasons there are.

Complain to the news who chooses what is seen on the talking box.
 
My usual outfit:
Steel toed shoes - most comfortable way to spend an hour or more standing in one place. Of course, since I wear them whenever I do jobs around the house, they're dirty and worn.
Old blue jeans, t shirt, and maybe a long sleeved shirt - I don't wear my best clothes because I don't want to get oil or grease on them. I don't want my good clothes to start smelling like hoppe's or gunpowder.
Hat-whatever one I find first.

Wearing 'nice' clothes would waste my time (extra cleaning involved) and possibly ruin my clothes. So I wear what is comfortable and practical. I don't look slovenly, but I'm not going to get on the cover of GQ by a longshot. I'm there to shoot my guns and have fun. I am not there to impress anyone or alter the perception of gunowners on the odd chance a camera crew walks in.

If someone has a problem with the way I dress when I enjoy my hobby, that's their problem, not mine.
 
You don't have to wear yuppie scum gear from Territory Ahead catalogue like some of our yuppie scum TFLers, but you should shave, wear clean clothing, tuck in your shirt and pick up your brass. Set an example for others around you and they will think it's a rule and do it without being told.

Gomez, the only way to turn range slobs around is shame. Whip out a trash bag from your range bag and say "here, I'll help you pick up your rubbish." Some guys just think they can leave their garbage around because "everyone else is." Geez, what is this? The Army?:D
 
Funny story (vaguely related)...

When I got married last year, some of my extended family flew in from Europe. Their first trip to Arkansas. I was already kinda worried about what they would think, and wanted to make sure they had a nice experience. On our way home from the (very) rural airport, we got behind a pickup truck... Hand-painted rough cammo-looking colors, two men in neon orange jumpsuits (hunters or jail-escapees, don't know), "Don't like my driving, call 1-800-EAT-LEAD" bumper sticker, tail gate open, deer in the back, shotguns sticking out of the cab, swerving around the road like you would not believe... Ha ha ha.

You never know when you'll REALLY make an impression on someone. On the other hand, who cares? People will believe what they want to believe about a group of people, and they will find things to support those ideas, no matter what you do.

I do, however, try to dress nicely all the time, because "look good, feel good, do good" was drilled into my head too long ago!
 
i'll wear whatever is comfortable thank you very much. i feel no need to try to fit someones image of what they deem is appropriate. just cause you wear armani suit's dosen't make you better or even a decent person. 187
 
What scene would you rather see at YOUR range?

A
Long haired, camo wearing "gun nut"?
nugent.jpg


B
Well dressed, clean cut "professional" type?
chuckie.jpg


:p
 
Seems to me that the liberal media establishment has some culpability here. They could go to a range with 90% clean cut, family oriented people and if they had to they would wait until the one greaseball of the day showed up to do their interview.
 
Enron execs wore suits, as did Tyco, Worldcom, and Arthur Andersen. They might not have acted "professional," but hey, they sure looked "professional!" Politicians, ATF, and the FBI wear suits. Sure, they trample all over your rights, but they look good while doing it! Catholic priests look priestly but are capable of sinning just the same, and it goes on...do we excuse them because they are well-dressed? Dot-bombs did not fail because of casual dress, rather, they failed due to poor or non-existant business models.

Divide and conquer? Is anything in the media not driven by prejudice and stereotype? Would HCI/VPC/MMM not have someone standing by dressed as a "Bubba" if none could be found?

"The clothes do not make the man (or woman)." A slime in a suit is still a slime, and a good guy is still a good guy even if he's just wearing rags!

Personally, I wear a comfortable combination of t-shirt (with sleeves), jeans or cargo pants, and low-buck sneakers. I would not presume to tell others how to dress at the range because THEY ARE NOT THE ENEMY. A teenager dressed like a banger may be a banger, or he may be a straight-A student dressed to the latest pop-culture fad. A man dressed in Islamic garb may be a terrorist-in-training, or he may be a Republican-voting, business-owning, law-abiding man with deeply religious values. A woman dressed "trashy" does not mean she IS "trashy." All of them are probably better shots than me too...

OK, maybe I'm a hypocrite after all because I strongly suggest brimmed hats for everyone (and keep several spares in the car) and no low-cut shirts for women (and keep a spare t-shirt too)...

I also (believe, feel, think, whatever) a political event or business function does suggest a "business-casual" or better method of clothes selection.
 
Did not mean to offend

hope no one took my comments the wrong way, as I certainly did not mean to offend anyone.Just trying to point out that we live in a world where unfortunately perception is or becomes reality.

No one should have to "dress" to go to the range but just look in the mirror maybe before you leave, and think "would I be happy with someone looking like this representing my sport/hobby".

The point I was trying to make in my earlier post was, that no one knew that TV crew was coming to the range that day, and the two guys that ended up on the news may have been hard working law abiding citizens. BUT because of the way they looked they for those brief seconds represented US to the non shooting public.
 
media cammies

Simple, dress comfortable at the range & when at a media event, dress cleanly. Remember, when in enemy territory, dress in the fashions of the enemy( This is war after all). I'm actually comforted when I see the diversity of gunowners at the range. Your clothes says a lot before you open your mouth & knowing the way media edits to get their point across, a well dress pro gun speaker has a better chance of appealing to the general public than the cammy wearing ones. The people you are trying to get your message to generally don't wear cammies, & anything you say no matter how brilliant, will already be blocked by your appearance. Yes, It sucks but its reality. I never wore any shirts with little animals on them,But will wear a suit for official events. I'm a tattooed blue collar worker & proud of it.
 
You know, one is generally required to sign a release if photographed or filmed for public consumption. If you're unidentifiable (black bars over your eyes or a thousand yard pan) that's not so. Maybe we could just encourage those who are not "dressed for the occasion" to sit it out. They may lose their 15 minutes of fame but odds are they'll get another chance. :rolleyes:
Ross
 
birdie
We as shooters/gun owners need to clean up our act.

To often at the ranges I visit I see people dressed in military clothes, those tee shirts without arms, covered in the "cold dead fingers" kind of slogans, dirty jeans and general poor personnal hygiene. This reflects badly on the majority of gun owners who are not like this.

Recently a local TV station did a piece on CCW in our state and visited a range that I was at with a couple of my friends. We had just come from the office and where dressed in pants, polo shirts, jackets, basic business casual. Also at the range were a bunch of people as described above.

Guess who made it onto the local news, not us, but they showed a couple of guys, torn jeans, shirts with the stupid slogans, long hair, baseball caps firing large calibre hand guns.

Needless to say the news portrayed people who are interested in guns and/or CCW as low income, uneducated trash.
Click to expand...
you're blaming the wrong people (the ones who dress in a manner that you don't like),

the fault there lies squarely/purely on the media which I'd guess you'd agree always tries to portray all gun owners this way.

I don't dress like a camo-clad sog tactical swat wannabe,
nor do I dress like a neo nazi,

but I believe in everyone's right to dress for the most part how they want.

The fact that the media picks the nastiest/crappiest looking people to show on the news is exactly the media's goal.

Ad campaigns for one candidate will show ugly mean-faced pics of the other candidate.

And polo shirts & kakis that you choose to wear?
welp, that's your choice to wear that CRAP.
I hate kakis and I totally hate polo shirts.

I wear jeans, denim shirts, dickies shirts, t-shirts with guitars (but not nasty rock slogans).

I wear what I want. You need to let others do the same, please; don't step down to the behavior of the freedom-robbing antis; and don't judge people by their clothing alone, take into account much more their behavior.

However as for doing a "rant" on the forum, please do continue to do so, this IS the place for such a thing so it can be discussed.
Sadly this particular forum appears too anal to allow NORMAL discussion of one's feelings about a topic, so rants here may not even be allowed sometimes. :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:
 
"we live in a world where unfortunately perception is or becomes reality", is exactly my point in that the media is extremely adept at shaping public opinion according to their own bias. Some in the shooting community have become more proactive with journalists actually organizing shoots to give these people first hand experiences to show why we enjoy our sport so much. Also to show that were not the monsters we have been portrayed to be to the public for decades, were some of the best people this country has. To a biased liberal journalist, a bath and a change of clothes will do nothing to stop him from getting his slanted message out to the public because he will always find the footage he needs and edit it to show the slant he wants, but an afternoon at the range with decent people just may begin to expand his narrow mind a bit.
 
Agree with Vulcan...

My idea of 'Cammo' is to blend into my suroundings;)
My range 'costume' makes no 'statement' = none needed. The only way I stand out at a range is if someone scopes my targets:D
Like Oleg, I have done some photography and design work - my latest layout is a pair of cap emblams = crosshairs of a scope;)
Subtle, understated. If you know what the shape is, you'll pay attention, if you haven't a clue, you won't get one:p
 
In the early 80s there was a gun show in Dallas about every third weekend. The survivalist movement was very big in that area at that time. My wife and I had Olive drab T-shirts made up (she looked great in that tank top style, I went basic sleaveless) with a picture of a mushroom cloud and the caption "I'd rather die in the firestorm than live with survivalists". We got a lot more thumbs up than dirty looks.
 
By all means, rant!

Just don't lose sight of the objective. ALL gun owners are allies in RKBA, and whatever their preferences in religion (or lack thereof), cars, guns, sex, color that they paint their house, paper or plastic, if they super-size or not are IRRELEVANT to RKBA.
 
OK, we know we have an image problem.
We know the Media is going to continue to find those few that would paint us in the worst possible light even if 99% of us did our best to dress up for the range.

How bout we come up with some ideas to change our image? Doesn't have to be drastic or big. A little at a time goes a long way.
Let's start with some of the more visible things.
Why don't we start with the places we shoot at? Talk to the range owners- see if we can get them to do a facelift of the place-better lighting, fresh coat of paint would help, available brooms to sweep the brass etc. As mentioned earlier, start some good habits at the range and lead by example.
How bout forming volunteer groups to maintain the public range if there's no one doing it at the range.
Let's be realistic, dressing up (nothing fancy just not slobbish) and cleaning up the place is good but won't solve our problem. We need to do more! We need to get the word out there to the non-gunners but we don't have access to the same kind of coverage those liberal media types do. How bout getting to know some media people and letting them see what kind of people we really are? Ask around see if you know someone who knows someone in the Media industry.
Anyone with any other ideas- let's hear it!
 
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