Range --Couldn't believe what I saw

[TcRoc]

Was at local range today.When I pulled up there were a few Leo car's.
They were in the range doing training excercises and had a Leader Instructor or whatever you want to call it..they were on far side of range ,Myself and a few others on the other side..
Let's just say I was a little nerveous ,
Everytime the one officer reloaded he would insert mag and release the slide(obviouisly one going into the chamber) while pointing it in our direction..
He did this the whole time he was there.
Unfreaking believeable!!
I wanted to slap him and tell him to take a firearms safety course again.
He left and I said something to the Lead officer and he apologized and said he would talk to him about that.
I have nothing but respect for LEO .. but this was just STUPID ..
I left and was thinking about it and came to realize it didn't really surprise me.There unfortunetly is some Leo that need some refresher courses which is scarey.
I'm sorry but this really upset me to see this stupidety from a LEO.
The first thing you learn is always treat your firearm like it's loaded and DON'T POINT YOUR GUN AT ANYTHING YOU DON'T INTEND TO SHOOT.

[dgg9]

Remember this next time you hear someone say that only police should have guns...

[billamj]

From the sound of things, their range safety officer wasn't exactly all that and a bag of chips. He should have noticed something like that if the guy was doing it all the time that they were there and corrected him on the spot. Just for giggles, where did this happen? I want to avoid that range.

[GRIZZLYBEAR]

What's so surprising about LEO's not handling their weapons safely. Most law enforcement are not gun people, the biggest majority of them fire their duty weapons only once or twice a year to qualify, as a requirement of their employment.

I see the same thing every year when I go out to qualify, there are certain officers that I refuse to be on the same range with, they have great job knowledge but I consider them to a hazard on the firing range.

grizz

[TcRoc]

As I said I wasn't really surprised and actually the range officer was busy setting up a rental/instruct. for about 20 min when all this was happening,So the gun was getting pointed at him too.

[Karys]

TcRoc,

If I may ask, where were you shooting that this occurred?

[TonyF]

What you witnessed is not unusual. Agency training is more often than not seriously lacking for many reasons, mostly because of the "that's how we've always done it" syndrome.

[aubie515]

Originally Posted by GRIZZLYBEAR

What's so surprising about LEO's not handling their weapons safely. Most law enforcement are not gun people, the biggest majority of them fire their duty weapons only once or twice a year to qualify, as a requirement of their employment.

I see the same thing every year when I go out to qualify, there are certain officers that I refuse to be on the same range with, they have great job knowledge but I consider them to a hazard on the firing range.

grizz

I will have to agree with Mr. Grizz on his comments...just because the person is LE or Military...does not mean they obey or follow safety procedures. You are giving PEOPLE in general too much credit. You should see how bad some LE and Military people are at shooting firearms...makes you wonder how they are suppose to protect us lowly civilians.

I also question the RO there...doesn't matter if he was setting up or not...part of his job is to be aware of his surroundings. I would take it a step further and speak to the police chief about the incident.

[LorDiego01]

Man..

you should have said something to them, if I were in that situation, I wouldnt care about seeming "rude", or not being "nice" to people. I would have walked up to him and politely bring the matter up to his attention.

At least, I wouldnt take crap like that at the range I frequent.

[TcRoc]

1st
I have no idea who was in charge,The was 2 departments working together with this Captain or instructor.
One was Spring City and one was West Pikeland.That should give you a idea where I was at if your local.I don't feel that this should turn into a range/store trashing thread.
2nd
I don't give people in general to much credit.
More of me giving a LEO to much credit , dumb on my behalf seeing LEO and thinking automatically safe with firearm and expect to see that and than see the complete opposite.

And let me just state I don't want this to turn into a LEO thrashing thread,that is not my intention .I have nothing but respect for them as they do put there life out there , but alot more mandatory hours of firearms safety and training per year might not be a bad idea.