Range trip, thankfully I'm still alive.

but on pg 1 of this thread a man talking to his target (take dat fool!) is thrown under the same bus as the unsafe people? Is that for good reason or a knee jerk reaction because it may look bad?

It wasn't unsafe from the way it sounded. I only ask because I wonder if ya'll know why it made you uncomfortable?

It made me uncomfortable because he said stuff like that because a person was looking at him funny. It's one thing if it's "STOP! Do not come any closer or I will shoot you" type of thing. It's another if it's "dunt you look at me like dat!"

Not that it was unnecessarily unsafe...but it just made my range trip that much better! Looking back on it all now, I'm going to try to go earlier in the day.

For the person who asked what I did for a living, I'll be a doctor of pharmacy in a few months.
 
One from the Military

In basic training (Army, 1973) the guy next to me used his M16 as a crutch to get up from the prone position by putting the muzzle into the gravel and pushing himself up with the pistol/hand grip. The only problem? He had not shot all of his rounds, one was still chambered, his safety was off and his finger was on the trigger. Needless to say, the rifle discharged as he was getting up, blowing gravel all over the place. Wasn't but 2 seconds before the Drill Sergeants were all over him. Got a quick lesson in firearms safety.
 
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I go to a private range (gun club). Very few nimrods and absolutely no noobs allowed. Used to hate it and felt it was somewhat elitist, but here in MA it's what you have to deal with. After a few years and hearing all the stories of idiot shooters at public ranges, I'm grateful I don't have to deal with this any more. As I recall, when I lived in NC and shot a public ranges, there were a number idiots who used to walk downrange all the time to check their targets without calling a cease fire. Used to really **** me off all the time as it threw off my concentration.
 
I feel very privileged

After hearing some of your experiences, I consider myself very very fortunate. For $65 per year (Canadian! so... about $60 U.S), I can use our 50-yard outdoor range any time I want (unless it's being rented out to local law enforcement or RCMP departments). It's got a card-locked gate, so only paying members have access. Most of our club members are either retired law enforcement or have been handling guns since they were kids (I'm one of the latter, I don't think I could do the job our LE officers do... nothing but respect for those in uniform!), and I know all our members, so there is very little to no chance of anyone doing something careless like some of you have described (and yup, I've had hot brass go down my shirt as well, during a match, no less, and had the sense to holster before attempting to get rid of the hot case... after that, my shirt stays untucked :D).

Also, in the winter, due to our friends at the RCMP training academy, they are kind enough to allow us to use their indoor ranges one night a week if they aren't booked for cadet training.... not going to get a much better training facility than that!

You also won't find friendlier, more helpful folks than our club members. They are, to a person, some of the nicest people you will ever meet, and are more than happy to help out new members with any questions they might have.

Thanks for sharing your horror stories, it reminds me again how good I have it.

Cheers!
McClintock
 
I used to work in a gun shop that had a 50 foot indoor range. Most of the users were experienced, and those who were new to the sport were given some training and supervision, so things went OK.

Until the cops arrived. The sheriff's department asked permission to use the range one night a week in the winter, since they only had an outdoor range. The boss never thought to provide instruction or supervision - after all, these were all full time deputies, sworn officers who had been through the state police academy.

They shot up the floor, the ceiling, the HVAC ducts, the walls, and put a dent in the 3/4" steel backplate (I don't know what the gun was). The boss showed the wreckage to the sheriff and suggested his deputies find another place to shoot.

Jim
 
If I ran a gun range I would:
  • Have a list of range safety rules
  • Post the rules on the front door
  • Post the rules in each lane
  • Hand a printed copy of the rules to everyone who steps foot on the range
  • Recite the rules to each shooter, regardless of their experience level.

Furthermore, I believe that everyone who purchases a gun should get a 5 min gun operation/safety/storage instruction, regardless of their experience level. I think this would be every bit as important as supplying a gun lock with each new gun.

When I go to the range I always try to take the right most lane. My observation is that most shooters are right handed and the careless ones will sweep the barrel to their left more often than not.

I used to be part of pistol shooting league and the operators of the league were extremely safety conscious. Guns were loaded only on their command, shooting was done on their command, all guns had to be unloaded with the action open when not shooting. One time I let my muzzle sweep slightly to the left while I was reloading a magazine. My muzzle was still pointed down range, just to the left side of the range. I was yelled at and warned that I would be kicked off the range if I kept doing that. Although I did not enjoy being scolded, I really appreciate their concern for safety. I think we all have to be careful not to get complacent when it comes to gun safety.

H.
 
I've had a hot 45 casing go behind my glasses!
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Yeah, I think that has happened to quit a few people including me, except it was my CZ75B 9mm shells. Two in one day, one left a burnt mark.:confused:

That's life going to the range.
 
I was at an outdoor public range once. There was one other fellow and myself at one end of the 25 yard line. At the other end was a group of four hispanics, two men and two women. Anyway we all went down range to check and replace targets. The hispanics got back to the line first. The other fellow and I were about half way back to the line when the hispanics opened fire! I yelled and they stopped. When I got back to the line, I told them, "One more and I would have been shooting back!" I was mad enough to do it! And I had the capabilty to do it. When I am at a range like that or just out in the boondocks shooting, I never ever shoot myself empty. I always have at least one other loaded gun on me besides the one I am shooting, often two. That day I had a .38 snub in my pocket and a Ruger P89 9 mm in a holster. The other fellow had a gun on him too. I don't know if they understood me because they were speaking in Spanish the whole time but I am sure they could tell I was not a happy camper.

Another time at this same range, a father was teaching his son to shoot. The father was standing beside the target telling his son where he was hitting! I stopped them and told the father that it was a good way to get himself shot and that if any of the local law enforcement personnel happened to check the range that they would probably take him out in handcuffs. Also that he was teaching his son some absolutely horrible habits. He apologized to me and said I was right. I told him he needed to apologize to his son.
 
Though I'm not big on public ranges for reasons given by many posters and shoot at a couple of private ranges myself, I'm grateful that there are public ranges for the public who have no other facility available to them. If there were no place for the general public to shoot, there would be less people buying and using firearms and less voters to defend our right to keep and bear arms. So I applaud the public range concept but acknowledge that gun safety rules should be monitored much more closely and adhered to.
 
I'm glad I don't use the public range 10 mins away from my house except to pick up brass. Seen enough scary things there. At the club I belong to now, if there are two other people shooting when you are there it seems like a crowd. :D
 
Michael Patrick Thourot, 47, had just set down his Jennings 9mm handgun at the Saddle Creek Shooting Range when the gun went off, striking Thourot in the left hand, his wife Sherri, 46, in the left arm, and 29-year-old Gary Flynn in the shoulder and throat, the Polk County Sheriff's Office said.

The incident happened about 10:30 a.m. By Saturday evening, all three were in stable condition at Lakeland Regional Medical Center. Flynn was awake and talking after he had surgery.

"According to them, they set the gun down and it just went off and started spewing rounds," Sgt. Ken Hall said Saturday at the scene.

The gun may have been altered, leading to the malfunction. Hall said detectives will know more once they take the gun apart and inspect it.

Flynn, who is from Ireland, was at the range with a friend who lives in Davenport. The Thourots were visiting the range from Tampa.

Flynn was standing in front of a bench behind a shooting stall next to the Thourots.

Detectives say the gun fired at least three times after Thourot set it down facing his wife, rather than downrange, which is considered proper safety procedure. The gun began to fire and spin, striking Flynn, who stood a few feet away.
Click to expand...

Well, maybe the quality of the gun is at issue. Maybe it is modified as the detectives suggested (but had ZERO proof). Or maybe that given this is October, the gun suffered a demonic possession?
 
I'll be interested to see what they find when they examine the weapon. I guess it could have been a malfunction but I've never personaly heard of or seen one that extreme. Something doesn't seem right with the whole story.
 
Edward make a valid point about talking to targets to get out hostility and aggressions. Thought I would relate this incident which just popped into my head which happened 18 or 19 years ago.

I had recently purchased a horse ranch which included more land than I knew what to do with. So of course I set up my own outdoor shooting range using bale after bale of hay as backstops and then plowed up a huge mound of dirt behind those bales. I shot paper targets, tin cans, bottles, and anything I could come up with.

My wife, at the time, who was the motivating factor in moving way out to never, never land, decided she wanted to move back to the city within several months of getting the ranch running as a going concern. I would have taken a tremendous financial loss and said I wasn't moving. So, she sued me for divorce and it got really nasty.

My cousin, who was also a shooting buddy and a pretty decent artist, shows up one day with a life sized drawing of a woman, portrayed to be the soon to be ex-wife, and there is a saying printed on the top of the target which says, "Give me the deed to your ranch." You can only imagine the fun we had shooting that target. We shot and laughed for hours. At the end of our fun, we took our guns inside, had a few beers, and more laughs. My housekeeper wanted to know what was so funny and when we explained, she too laughed her AO.

The next time I went to my little range, the target was gone. I didn't move it and thought perhaps one of the goats got to it and dragged it off somewhere. Next thing I know, I get served papers to show up in court. Seems the ex-wife came snooping around and found the target and accused me of plotting to kill her, using the target as "evidence." As the story goes, the judge saw the humor in what I had done and had a difficult time keeping a straight face. My attorney and I were asked by the judge to refrain from laughing while the ex was giving "testimony."

When it came time for me to be cross examined, my attorney asked what I did for a profession, other than own a horse ranch? After making my statement, the judge said that if I wanted the ex-wife dead, I wouldn't need some paper target to leave around. I worked covertly for Uncle Sam. I still LMAO when I think of this. Reality is the perception of each individual. Do not be quick to judge.
 
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