Close call by a fairly new shooter

[ErSwnn]

Many, many years ago at a public range outside of Ft. Lauderdale, upon inspection of my firearms before shooting the RO witnessed that I had a live round chambered. I had no idea it was there. I was maybe 6 months into handgun ownership at the time. It was the last time I made such a mistake.

I figured my day was through and began to pack up. The RO must have sensed my self incremination and allowed me to shoot that day. But that day and every day after that when I used that range while that RO was on the line he watched me like a hawk. That man drove home the lesson. I wish I knew where he is today so I could thank him.

You had a typical newbie mistake which fortunately didn't become a tragedy. Get her back out, make sure she gets the message. When I take newbies out, and I take out a lot of them I make them recite the Four Rules. I write them down prior to range day and let them know this is the most important part of the day and I fully expect them to know these rules. Usually I start the day with a spring bb gun so that I can see what they are doing without the potential of a live round flying off range. They get to experience trigger break, I get to watch finger control. Then I explain what I want them to do with the gun after firing. Open the slide, look into the chamber, keeping it pointed the right direction and place it on the bench. After a few of those drills, onto the real thing. I stay where I can see the trigger finger and be able to get a fix on where the barrel is pointing. I don't let them onto the trigger till I know the gun is on target, in these cases the backstop is good enough. Then I instruct them to go to the trigger, aquire the target again and fire. Before all that we go over sight picture, trigger release, finger outside the guard, etc.

Their always amazed and somewhat overwhelmed about what goes into the firing of a gun. I actually prefer the ones who get stressed over it all. Their the ones trying to absorb it all and tend to understand the reprecussions of mistakes. Once they settle in, get good feedback and relax with their new knowledge they start getting hits. Then the smiles. Then I know we have a new one in our ranks. Occasionally I end up with one of them at a gunshop to help them pick out their first gun.

[jerryg]

When I taught my wife how to shoot I told her the gun is either in your hand aimed at the target or it is placed on the counter in front of you. When we went to the range we unpacked the gun onto the counter where we were shooting and it got packed up there when we were done. Any questions put the gun down and turn around to ask question. After a few trips I taught her about the slide and removing magazine, everthing went well.

[gnbrotz]

she finishes shooting, and turns around to walk back towards me (around 10 feet away from me).

While I certainly can't excuse her actions, I have some constructive criticism for you.

1. If you're not going to remain within arms reach of your 'student', make sure they don't move from their position or move the firearm from being pointed down range. YOU go to them, and assure everything is safe before they move from the shooting position.

2. Keep count of the rounds fired. This way, you will have an idea if that 'click' is a FTF or not.

[Statkowski]

Of course, if she was a real bad girl you could have given her a spanking over your knee, but that, I suppose, would be a topic for a somewhat different discussion.

[Bib]

I think you should let her read all the replies and then take her shooting again. I've been working with a new shooter all last season and she still can't keep her finger off the damn trigger (sister in law, age 71). I love her dearly but I'm afraid I may have to lose my temper once to get the point across.

[Jim8300]

Was there snow at the range? If so that could add to the problem, she may have slipped while holding the pistol while it was pointed in your direction. Most ranges I know of near me have snow on them still. I know that North Penn Gun Club is covered.

Was there anyone else at the range when this happened? She will have to learn that the gun has to be pointed in a safe direction at all times.

I have helped run a "young guns" shoot where some of the kids have never shot before, we always have someone guiding them all the way and within an arms length of the gun at all times.

[JasonK007]

Every new shooter at least does something unsafe. You just have to take her out again and keep feeding her safety till it get stuck in her head and why it is important. Practice makes perfect

I told her yesterday that we all make mistakes. I remember when I got my first pistol (XD 45) I decided to try and go out with it in my sweatpant's pocket. Big mistake. The gun fell right out onto the street as I was getting into my car. I now how 3 different holsters and don't carry with sweats anymore.

[JasonK007]

Was there snow at the range? If so that could add to the problem, she may have slipped while holding the pistol while it was pointed in your direction. Most ranges I know of near me have snow on them still. I know that North Penn Gun Club is covered.

Was there anyone else at the range when this happened? She will have to learn that the gun has to be pointed in a safe direction at all times.

I have helped run a "young guns" shoot where some of the kids have never shot before, we always have someone guiding them all the way and within an arms length of the gun at all times.

There was snow on the range. Luckly, nobody else was at the range. According to the log book, nobody was there for 2 days.

Up until this point, she was doing very well. I think she is just becoming more comfortable. It just means I'll have to watch her better.

[max384]

I’ve been trying to teach a friend how to shoot a handgun for the past 6 months. So far, we’ve gone to the range around 8 times. I’ve of course spent a lot of time teaching her about safety issues (e.g., keep finger off trigger, keep gun pointed in safe direction, never assume gun is empty, etc.) Everything was going well until today’s range trip.

I just picked up a new Walther p22 yesterday and wanted to try it out. So, I grabbed the gun and ammo, picked her up and went to the range. About 3 mags into it, she finishes shooting, and turns around to walk back towards me (around 10 feet away from me). Well, I had instantly noticed two things. 1 the gun was pointed directly at me. And 2, the slide was NOT in the rearward position. I told her “don’t point that gun at me.” She says, “but I pulled the trigger and nothing happened” indicating that she thought it was empty. She then points the gun down towards the ground, walks to me, and hands me the gun. I position the gun so she can see it, racked the slide, and sure enough a live round came out. She gasped and said how sorry she was. I emphasized that this is why you never point a gun at somebody, you could’ve shot me. I can tell that she is upset about it. I don’t want her to be afraid to shoot anymore, but she does need to know how serious it could’ve ended.

So, there’s my story. I’d like to know what you the reader have or would do in that situation as I’m sure many of you had tried to teach new shooters and may have had similar situations.

So long as she knows she fucked up and could have gotten you killed (which it sounds like she does), you just need to keep teaching her the right things. Unfortunately, this is often part of the learning curve. I've gotten swept by a gun with a live round in the chamber several times. It's scary and frustrating.

The last time it happened was with my youngest son last year when he was five. He was shooting his Crickett .22lr and had just cocked the hammer back when he had a question for me. He then proceeded to turn around, along with his rifle, to ask it to me. Fortunately, although he did ignore a very basic safety rule, he did, at least, have his finger off the trigger. I immediately moved out of the way, cleared his gun, and let him know what he did wrong. He then proceeded to do a shit-ton of push-ups right there on the firing line (private range with no one else there). My best friend, who was there with me, told him he was lucky he only had to do push-ups; he did that as a kid once and got a beating right there on the range (not child abuse you PC morons! But proper child rearing techniques.).

I was partially to blame for it, though. I had gone out with my children dozens of times at this point and had grown complacent. I had moved far enough away from him that he was able to completely turn around without me there to stop him. Lesson learned.

[rwb1500]

I have a few friends who are complete novices when it comes to guns. When I take them to the range I explain that I will yell at them, and I will smack them upside the head if they don't control their muzzle and finger. I explain why too. So far it's worked well.