State Game Lands Range Incident

[Vermillionx]

I was at a SGL range today with a few friends and some of their coworkers. It was one of the nicer SGL ranges that I have been to. I only brought a rifle and a pistol, plus my carry sidearm with me, because I did not know the people and did not want to shoot much. Needless to say, I will not be going back with them. I counted three times I was looking down the barrel of a loaded Mini-14 while they were waiving it around on the line. But what really got me to say something is when I was walking back to the line after checking my targets I had a gun pointed in my direction. This was enough for me to yell for the younger person to put the gun down. I was not very nice in my language because of the very bad situation that I was put in. The reply that I got in return was "Chill out man, its not loaded."
This infuriated me. I do not know that it was not loaded, and I am willing to bet that the person holding it did not inspect the chamber when he picked it up. Once I came charging back to the line yelling he got the point. He then apologized to me, but I still think he did not get it. Awhile later I saw the same thing happen again when some other people were down range. This time when I opened my mouth I got told to go F myself.
I am considered young being only 24. But I have a lot more respect for people and safety. I just could not believe what was going on. I think after today I will stick to my Sportsmans club that I normally go to. I will never go back to a SGL range. I guess my question for you guys is how would you have handled the situation? I could not leave, because I rode with one of the older guys there. Was I right in my actions? Could I have handled it differently? What do y'all think?

[roberte]

I was at a SGL range today with a few friends and some of their coworkers. It was one of the nicer SGL ranges that I have been to. I only brought a rifle and a pistol, plus my carry sidearm with me, because I did not know the people and did not want to shoot much. Needless to say, I will not be going back with them. I counted three times I was looking down the barrel of a loaded Mini-14 while they were waiving it around on the line. But what really got me to say something is when I was walking back to the line after checking my targets I had a gun pointed in my direction. This was enough for me to yell for the younger person to put the gun down. I was not very nice in my language because of the very bad situation that I was put in. The reply that I got in return was "Chill out man, its not loaded."
This infuriated me. I do not know that it was not loaded, and I am willing to bet that the person holding it did not inspect the chamber when he picked it up. Once I came charging back to the line yelling he got the point. He then apologized to me, but I still think he did not get it. Awhile later I saw the same thing happen again when some other people were down range. This time when I opened my mouth I got told to go F myself.
I am considered young being only 24. But I have a lot more respect for people and safety. I just could not believe what was going on. I think after today I will stick to my Sportsmans club that I normally go to. I will never go back to a SGL range. I guess my question for you guys is how would you have handled the situation? I could not leave, because I rode with one of the older guys there. Was I right in my actions? Could I have handled it differently? What do y'all think?

your lucky that your were not shot, by your on admittance your lost your temper "at a shooting range" are you nuts. in my opinion you should sell your guns. if you can't hold you temper than you should not be holding a gun. Grow up buddy 24 years is too young to die over others failure to follow rules, and by all means DON"T BECOME A POLICE OFFICER

[cigarmanpa]

your lucky that your were not shot, by your on admittance your lost your temper "at a shooting range" are you nuts. in my opinion you should sell your guns. if you can't hold you temper than you should not be holding a gun. Grow up buddy 24 years is too young to die over others failure to follow rules, and by all means DON"T BECOME A POLICE OFFICER

shut up. he handled himself fine.

[Kimba]

your lucky that your were not shot, by your on admittance your lost your temper "at a shooting range" are you nuts. in my opinion you should sell your guns. if you can't hold you temper than you should not be holding a gun. Grow up buddy 24 years is too young to die over others failure to follow rules, and by all means DON"T BECOME A POLICE OFFICER

I disagree.

Ii would have been very upset and lost my temper at someone pointing a weapon at me. It doesn't matter if it is at the range or not. A gun pointed at you breaks a basic safety rule of gun handling.

Never point your weapon at some one unless you intend to shoot them.

PERIOD.

Did the owner of the gun do a check to make sure the gun was unloaded? Or did he just assume it was? If no check was performed, another rule was broken.

He could have died because of others failure to follow rules.


My advice to you would be to sell all of your guns and do not pick up another firearm until you learn the 4 rules of handling a firearm.

Grow up buddy, you are never too young to go to prison for shooting someone, accidentally or not.


Oh, and please, DON'T BECOME A POLICE OFFICER.

For your education:

The four cardinal rules of safe gun handling

1.Always treat all firearms as if they were loaded.

2.Never allow the muzzle of any firearm to point at anything you are not willing to destroy.

3.Never put your finger near the trigger until you are ready to fire. Do not depend on any mechanical device for safety!

4.Always be sure of your target, and what is behind and in front of it.

YVW

[svltrack]

We all react differently to situations and if it was the first time where you seriously felt in danger at a range then I cannot say you should feel bad at all. Profanity helps to drive some points home, loud yelling though could startle someone. It is our instinct to react to a loud sound & if the person had their finger on the trigger you could be the catalyst to a discharge. The flip side to that coin is whether you just keep your mouth shut.. Personally I speak up when I see it going on. I would rather be an alive asshole in the eye's of others then a dead person who kept their mouth shut.

Every situation is different. Again, if this was the first time you really got freaked out by idiots at a range then take it for what it is.

[biggs88]

your lucky that your were not shot, by your on admittance your lost your temper "at a shooting range" are you nuts. in my opinion you should sell your guns. if you can't hold you temper than you should not be holding a gun. Grow up buddy 24 years is too young to die over others failure to follow rules, and by all means DON"T BECOME A POLICE OFFICER

Nice. I have not been able to press the neg rep button in a while! Its good to dust the cob webs off every now and then!!


To the OP:
I do not like guns pointed at me either.

[Sliebl]

I don't think the OP did anything wrong, by reacting to others breaking even the simplest of safety rules: Don't handle any weapons while someone is down range. Simple as that.

I agree with the OP... I'll stick to my home sportsman's club where safety is held to a higher standard.

[PisnNapalm]

This is why I do not shoot at the SGL ranges any longer. Pony up the money and join a private range.

[Vermillionx]

I am glad that I reacted the way others would. I have to say I have been told that I am one of those a-type personalities. So I get loud and mouthy at times. It did get the attention of everyone on the range when I did yell and that was the goal. I wanted to be heard.

To the one that posted I was bieng immature, I hate to say this, If one of my joes acted like that on a rifle range I would not hesitate to do a bit of corrective training.(The military guys here will know what that is). The young gentleman put my life and the person walking next to me in danger. I will not tolerate that kind of behavior. If you cant handle a gun safely at the range then you should not be there.

[thanker92]

Originally Posted by roberte
your lucky that your were not shot, by your on admittance your lost your temper "at a shooting range" are you nuts. in my opinion you should sell your guns. if you can't hold you temper than you should not be holding a gun. Grow up buddy 24 years is too young to die over others failure to follow rules, and by all means DON"T BECOME A POLICE OFFICER


TROLL ALERT!!!!!!!!

Wow....Are much been spelung lately?