Range idiocy

[mdcmn7]

I was curious how you guys handle people behaving poorly at the ranges?

Today my wife and I were shooting at one of the SGL ranges near my house. It was chilly and a little wet so we almost had the range to ourselves. About an hour into our morning two young guys step up just to the left of where we are shooting. One is showing the other how to use his Glock, he fires a few rounds and then hands it off to the buddy making sure to tell him "its still got a few in it"

The buddy starts examining the pistol thoroughly including looking down the barrel, and checking out the sides, flagging the entire line of shooters which consisted of my wife and another shooter just to their left.

I give him a "whoa there buddy, can you please keep that thing pointed down range." to which the "experienced shooter" said curtly "I got this" They still werent handling the thing as well as I would like, so I pulled my wife back off the line to "take a little break." The other guy on the line mumbled something gruffly about not wanting to have any more holes in his body than god gave him and kept shooting

Once their mag was empty, the "less experienced" guy was having difficulty working the slide while reloading and was yanking all over the pistol with a loaded mag while about a foot from another shooters head pointed directly at him, with a thumb over the trigger (for leverage?)

I provided the duo with a curt and loud "HEY! down range at all times" Everyone paused for a second and looked around

This got the attention of the guy who was right next to them. Once he realized what they were doing he jumped up and really laid into two guys. Some swearing and yelling followed which ended up with the pair leaving, and the guy calling someone (rangers?) and leaving himself.

The wife and I shot for a little bit longer then headed home.

99.99% of the people I run into up there are fine. Even the teenagers are usually fine.

The kids were obviously inexperienced, but what the hell, even if you have never been to a range in your life what would make you think that pointing a loaded weapon at another person would ever be ok, especially if you are monkying with it

I can see joining a club in my not so distant future

[jshwak]

had a guy almost put a 9mm right through the middle of his foot.. he was shooting his 9mm taurus and the slide locked back (like it was empty).. He never cleared the weapon, simply advanced the slide forward and prepared to holster it. While he was pointing it down to holster it he was "playing with the trigger" (his words) and BAM !!

a. thank god he missed himself
b. moments before he swept my best friend and myself
c. We were standing maybe 5 feet way (thank god we didn't get hit w/ anything)
--

Really, the best you can do is bitch them out and report them if you feel it is necessary. some people have no business touching a firearm.

[Cherokee60]

Couple years ago, a friendly acquantance was "showing off" his sidearm to his new girlfriend, when it promptly went off, putting a significant hole in her upper leg. PSP came with the ambulance crew, relieved the chap of his weapon. Guy is a combat Vet, thought he would've known AND behaved better. There were several other people at the table...could have been a bad day for any of them.

I agree...some folks are better without weapons, despite all the training in the world.

[mjfletcher]

I was curious how you guys handle people behaving poorly at the ranges?

Today my wife and I were shooting at one of the SGL ranges near my house. It was chilly and a little wet so we almost had the range to ourselves. About an hour into our morning two young guys step up just to the left of where we are shooting. One is showing the other how to use his Glock, he fires a few rounds and then hands it off to the buddy making sure to tell him "its still got a few in it"

The buddy starts examining the pistol thoroughly including looking down the barrel, and checking out the sides, flagging the entire line of shooters which consisted of my wife and another shooter just to their left.

I give him a "whoa there buddy, can you please keep that thing pointed down range." to which the "experienced shooter" said curtly "I got this" They still werent handling the thing as well as I would like, so I pulled my wife back off the line to "take a little break." The other guy on the line mumbled something gruffly about not wanting to have any more holes in his body than god gave him and kept shooting

Once their mag was empty, the "less experienced" guy was having difficulty working the slide while reloading and was yanking all over the pistol with a loaded mag while about a foot from another shooters head pointed directly at him, with a thumb over the trigger (for leverage?)

I provided the duo with a curt and loud "HEY! down range at all times" Everyone paused for a second and looked around

This got the attention of the guy who was right next to them. Once he realized what they were doing he jumped up and really laid into two guys. Some swearing and yelling followed which ended up with the pair leaving, and the guy calling someone (rangers?) and leaving himself.

The wife and I shot for a little bit longer then headed home.

99.99% of the people I run into up there are fine. Even the teenagers are usually fine.

The kids were obviously inexperienced, but what the hell, even if you have never been to a range in your life what would make you think that pointing a loaded weapon at another person would ever be ok, especially if you are monkying with it

I can see joining a club in my not so distant future

Check out Muhlenberg Area Shooters Association. $10/yr if you live in Muhlenberg, Temple, or Laureldale, $15/yr for everyone else.

I've never had to deal with idiots at the range so I honestly can't say how I'd handle it, though I'd like to say I'd politely explain the risks/dangers/etc of their actions its more likely I'd be far less than polite about putting someone in their place for putting my safety at risk.

[littleartie]

I actually just confronted my first unsafe shooter at the range this past Friday. I was off of work and wanted to take my younger brother out while he was home from school for the holidays.

We were at the range for about a half hour when a pair of older gentleman took the lane next to us and between them had 3 or more firearms. I got a vibe that the one was more experienced than the other just by how they carried themselves, the one guy moved with confidence and the other was very tentative. The confident one of the two went up to the line first and the second more tentative guy waited. However, the tentative guy while waiting his turn decided at some point to take out his gun (or a 2nd one of the other guy's guns, not sure) and he did point it down range but his friend was between him and down range.

This is when I first started thinking about saying something, I admit I was a little intimidated about saying something to an older guy and I am relatively new to shooting myself, but I thought back to all the posts that I read saying the only way people will learn they are doing something wrong is if you call them out. So when his muzzle started moving towards the lane my brother was at I tapped the guys shoulder and asked him to put the gun back in the case until he was ready to take it up to the firing line when it was his turn to shoot. He complied, put it away and told me it "wasn't loaded", I didn't respond to that statement.

I am happy I said something and don't think I will hesitate to speak up in the future.

[NathanB]

I pack up and leave. Ive found the idiots congregate on the pistol range and if i go to the 100 I dont have to deal with it. I always pack the pistols up but if I dont get to shoot them I make sure the ARs are in tow too.

[bagman29]

That's exactly why before I take a new shooter to the range I familiarize them with the guns they will be shooting in my basement AFTER they have been cleared. While at the range I only load them up with two-three rounds to start.

Fortunately I haven't had the misfortune of meeting a dimwit like that at a range.

[red dog]

ever since another shooter fired his gun while i was down range checking targets I SPEAK UP! i do not care how old, big,mean looking they are my well being or someone else,s relies on safe gun handling and i will correct any mishandling i see. this has become a common problem at the game commission ranges. to many newbs with their new toys and no training of any type. my suggestion is to speak up nicely first and if the behavior is not corrected become more firm. last resort remove yourself and live to shoot again and while you are leaving drop a dime on the ass.

[Rosco the Iroc]

I was curious how you guys handle people behaving poorly at the ranges?

This got the attention of the guy who was right next to them. Once he realized what they were doing he jumped up and really laid into two guys. Some swearing and yelling followed which ended up with the pair leaving

I ask nicely once depending on the range safety violation. Loaded/muzzle sweeping the line gets the above reaction.

[GunLawyer001]

ever since another shooter fired his gun while i was down range checking targets I SPEAK UP! i do not care how old, big,mean looking they are my well being or someone else,s relies on safe gun handling and i will correct any mishandling i see. this has become a common problem at the game commission ranges. to many newbs with their new toys and no training of any type. my suggestion is to speak up nicely first and if the behavior is not corrected become more firm. last resort remove yourself and live to shoot again and while you are leaving drop a dime on the ass.

I think this touches on a point in another thread: Do we as a community want to stop other gun owners from doing stupid things BEFORE someone is wounded or killed, or do we want maximum freedom and allow everyone to live their own life right up until their idiocy stops you from living at all?

I have a hard time separating the unacceptable response "yes, I was sweeping you and fondling the gun during a 'clear' period while other shooters were down range, but it's OK, because it wasn't loaded", from the premise that someone can (for example) load his rifle and walk along the road with it in his hands, safety off, round chambered, sweeping the world around him because "I wasn't touching the trigger". To me, these seem like essentially the same argument, that it's none of your business until someone is shot, and we should assume that everyone will be careful and make no mistakes.

Perhaps the discussion would be more parallel if police were arresting these careless shooters at the range, for the dangerous practices discussed in the posts above. We'd probably all agree that the practices are insanely dangerous, but we'd have misgivings about cops leaping from the shrubbery and arresting the idiots. Probably.

On the other hand, relying entirely on the best judgment and self-restraint of idiots seems like a bad game plan. The smart, careful folks who would welcome you pointing out their mistakes don't need correction, while the careless morons don't give a crap about your opinion, because they are the only ones at the range PROFESSIONAL enough to handle this (BANG! OUCH! AHHHHH!) Glock.