Public range safety... Or not.

[JSnover]

Went to shoot at an indoor range yesterday, at a local gun shop. The weather was lousy and I had a new (used) gun that needed to be shot.
This shop offers rentals and two young ladies in the lane next to me had obviously never fired a gun before. So they rented a Glock .40 and could not get it to work. I was cleaning up my lane when they asked for help.
I showed them how to load the magazine, rack the slide, maintain a proper grip. Then I left, feeling a little safer with each footstep.
It was my first visit to this shop and they only asked for a drivers license. At the counter they gave a basic speech about keeping the muzzle downrange and staying off the trigger but that was about it.

[Clay M]

I believe it is something that everyone needs to be aware of. I am fortunate enough to have my own range. I have been to the local public range and there are bullet holes in the roof over some of the benches where people have accidentally discharged firearms..

Good thread by the way.

[gbrown]

I've seen some scary things at ranges. I have a membership in a local shooting club which has been around for 70 years. Our range has been at it's present location for about 50 years, and bears the scars of lacksidaisical and careless shooters. Sometimes you look at them and just wonder how that could happen. I've had to point out unsafe practices to some, and was corrected once when a youth team was shooting 22s at the range. I didn't get excited about it, merely went along with the correction, as if nothing else, it reinforced range safety with the young'uns. No one has ever gotten excited about my corrective advice, everyone seems to get along and be safety oriented out there. I've left other shooting ranges when things went on and no one blinked an eye or took any action at what I saw as a safety violation. Too many people are just waiting behind a log for us to give them ammo for their anti-gun rants. Our range offers a course just for women, taught by women, to familiarize new shooters to their weapon and basic gun safety. Seems to do really well.

[JSnover]

I don't know, it just really bothered me that a range with absolute control over the shooters would pay so little attention to them.

[Kent Fowler]

I knew a guy who operated our city owned gun range. There were large signs posted outside the entry such as "All guns must be unloaded and open", " Remove all magazines from gun before entry" ect., ect. He said it was very, very common for someone to still walk in with the bolt or slide still locked and when asked to open it, a live round would come out. He would immediately ban them from ever shooting there again. As the range was owned by the city, he could get an order of trespass on them if they were insistent on coming back on the property, but a police escort off the range was usually sufficient.

[Plate plinker]

:shock: wowzers!

[BrianL]

A rental range with no instructors. How totally irresponsible!

[ejcrist]

I used to be a RSO at a private club range and most members and their guests were very safety conscious, but every once in a while you'd get someone doing something stupid like sweep others with their muzzle. That was one thing that really plucked my nerves and I wasn't bashful about telling them so. I still see people do it on occasion during the public shoots at a range where I belong now and of course let them know just how dangerous it is when you don't follow basic safety rules. Fortunately we have some outstanding RSO's at this club that keep a very close eye on everyone. I never shoot at indoor ranges open to the public for this very reason.

[Ballistics in Scotland]

I believe it is something that everyone needs to be aware of. I am fortunate enough to have my own range. I have been to the local public range and there are bullet holes in the roof over some of the benches where people have accidentally discharged firearms..

Good thread by the way.

Pointing at the roof is a long way ahead of pointing at biomass, but a long way behind not having the gun go off at all. Armies commonly don't have a muzzle sweep rule, but it is made possible by stricter enforcement of other rules that the civilian world knows.

[LUBEDUDE]

I don't know, it just really bothered me that a range with absolute control over the shooters would pay so little attention to them.

So glad you were there to lend a hand. That was a scary scenario you described in your OP.

[WRideout]

At the club where I am a member, I was shooting one day, when a group of novices showed up. The range has targets at 25, 50, and 100 yards. One of the novices decided to walk up to halfway in front of the 25 yard target to shoot, while live firing was going on. I simply made my gun safe, and waited until he came back, then gave him a short safety briefing. He proceeded to tell me that he was just trying something new, and thought that getting closer would help. It seems that in the modern world, one's own feelings and thoughts trump the laws of physics. I haven't seen them again.

Wayne

[michiganmike]

I live near Lansing, MI and the State of MI operates a very nice public range on a site called Rose Lake. It is always supervised by staff. And for the reasons you allude to, it is not a pleasant place to shoot. The staff is always making announcements for the benefit of those who apparently don't understand safety rules:

Keep your muzzle pointed down range at all times.
Do not approach the firing line until the all clear is given.
Do not attempt to retrieve your target until the all clear is given.
All clear, you may approach the bench and commence fire.
Etc, etc.

On the one hand, I am glad that they make these announcements. On the other, it is disturbing that they have to. And the repeated announcements do NOT add to the enjoyment of the experience.

About three years ago I joined the Fowler Conservation Club, about 40 minutes from where I live, out in the country. They have a 25, 50 75 and 100 yard range. And when I go there I am usually alone. When someone else is there, we speak nicely to one another and treat each other with respect. And a pleasant day at the range is had by all.

[clintsfolly]

Mi Mike have you tryed Chief Okemos Sportsman Club? If you want a tour get with me and I will make it happen. I find it to be a great club Clint

[captaint]

JSnover - Were you in Southampton, or Horsham ??

[Cmm_3940]

I live near Lansing, MI and the State of MI operates a very nice public range on a site called Rose Lake. It is always supervised by staff. And for the reasons you allude to, it is not a pleasant place to shoot. The staff is always making announcements for the benefit of those who apparently don't understand safety rules:

Keep your muzzle pointed down range at all times.
Do not approach the firing line until the all clear is given.
Do not attempt to retrieve your target until the all clear is given.
All clear, you may approach the bench and commence fire.
Etc, etc.

On the one hand, I am glad that they make these announcements. On the other, it is disturbing that they have to. And the repeated announcements do NOT add to the enjoyment of the experience.



Can you imagine being a RSO at one of these ranges? I think I'd probably go nuts after half a shift of that. Talk about punishment detail!

[nagantguy]

I work with the owner of Dieball defense here in MI about 50% of the classes are for a MI CPL. Students run the gambit from old gunnies to never touched one before to scared to death of them. Everyone, everyone starts off with a .22, and one shooter at a time one the first string we stand behind them with one hand on their weak side shoulder and the other ready to grab an arm or the weapon. Very slowly we talk them through every shot, this method was developed after a few come to Jesus moments. The private club I shoot at is usually a ghost town mid week, during events lots of nice folks, your card can be pulled anytime for.a safety issue. One guy last year shot up the steel popper plates with a .454 and when they wouldn't reset he shot the stand they are on, 20 yards shooting heavy angle iron frame. So a jerk, ruined club property and put his self at risk I don't know what gets in to some people. When you scan your card to get in the gate it records your name time of entry and exit and the date, and takes a pic of your mug and license plate. There anrnt camera on the firing lines but there are as you pull in and at the club House. One or two jerks every year or so get there membership card pulled and are never allowed back. The board can decide if its a warning, suspension of flat out removal. If you do.something stupid or dangerous enough to come to their attention chances are good you are all.done at the club. In the 11 years I've been a member there has only been one accident involving fire arms, a guy shooting idpa match has a misfire, raked the slide back with his hand over the ejection port immediately instead of giving it a ten or twenty count, the "misfire" went off as soon as it exited the chamber and took a good chunk.of finger off. Accidents can and will happen its on each individual to keep them to.a minimum, and I see calling folks on their bad range practices/ poor gun handling as paramount to keeping everyone safe.

[FISH4BUGS]

I was shooting at an indoor range in New Hampshire when an apparently despondent young man decided his rental gun was the way to end it all 2 lanes over from me. I saw him come in, rent the gun, buy the ammo, and he seemed perfectly normal to me.......if you can say wearing a kilt was normal.
What a mess. I am just glad he didn't decide to take others with him. No RSO could have done anything.

[Cmm_3940]

I was shooting at an indoor range in New Hampshire when an apparently despondent young man decided his rental gun was the way to end it all 2 lanes over from me. I saw him come in, rent the gun, buy the ammo, and he seemed perfectly normal to me.......if you can say wearing a kilt was normal.
What a mess. I am just glad he didn't decide to take others with him. No RSO could have done anything.


At the range where I'm a member, if a nonmember comes in alone without their own gun, they won't rent them one.

[FISH4BUGS]

At the range where I'm a member, if a nonmember comes in alone without their own gun, they won't rent them one.

Interesting idea.
I was told by the range owner after that incident (I stayed behind to keep him company and help out as best I could) that insurance companies say that every 30-35,000 hours of operation for an indoor range produces one suicide on average.
That incident has made me shoot less indoors and more outdoors when I can. I get a little nervous watching some of those people shoot....either indoors OR outdoors.
Too many careless nut jobs out there for my taste.

[freebullet]

Op..
Good on you for lending a hand. You should feel great as you might have saved them from shooting themselves or someone else.

I have been in the same situation. I actually enjoy introducing new shooters. That is an experience those ladies won't soon forget and you were part of it.

[Ballistics in Scotland]

I was shooting at an indoor range in New Hampshire when an apparently despondent young man decided his rental gun was the way to end it all 2 lanes over from me. I saw him come in, rent the gun, buy the ammo, and he seemed perfectly normal to me.......if you can say wearing a kilt was normal.
What a mess. I am just glad he didn't decide to take others with him. No RSO could have done anything.

It isn't quite abnormal any more, where I come from, but it is exceptional.

Something quite annoying is that although it isn't a crime, and the suicide has a right to do it, it is often used to make a point against gun ownership and use. Nobody keeps bringing up the suicide rate by prescription medicines, non-accidental car crashes or having a bridge across the Golden Gate, because that wouldn't serve an agenda. I sometimes think that if they had the power to wave a magic wand and bring those people back to life, they wouldn't do it.

There is another reason to keep apparently flaky people away from shooting ranges. If their use by convicted felons, psychos and propeller-heads can be prevented, the crime victim may have the advantage of facing someone who has only dared try a few hurried shots on waste ground. People who have only seen shooting on the movies, where people always get hit, don't appreciate the difference this makes.

[458mag]

I take a vacation from the range about 2 weeks before deer season. New hunters with new guns and not a clue about safety or which end goes bang for that matter. Makes me nervous as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs. We have a great range master who is very safety conscious but he cant watch all these knuckle heads.

[bob208]

indoor range in York pa. just had one get shot in the head. now I used to shoot matches at that range. a person would have to be a real screw up to shoot some one in the head. sad to say gun owners give more ammo to the ant gunners every day.

[dragon813gt]

At the range where I'm a member, if a nonmember comes in alone without their own gun, they won't rent them one.

Same policy at the closest one to me after a suicide. They have it all on video and there was something wrong from the get go. The topper was he did it in front of his mother.

[country gent]

The LGS nearest to me has an indoor pistol range and Untill your known to them you have to qualify in front of an instructor before being "Let Go" on your own. Its always interesting to hear the excuses why He She dosnt need qualified though. Its interesting seeing the people and shooting "forms" and hearing their ideas. At the private club I belong to some have to really be watched as to saftey other have no range etiquette and others just dont know or understand saftey. If possible I offer assistance and information to help and educate these people if possible. I truly believe that they dont fully understand the power and force of what they are working with.

[dpoe001]

indoor range in York pa. just had one get shot in the head. now I used to shoot matches at that range. a person would have to be a real screw up to shoot some one in the head. sad to say gun owners give more ammo to the ant gunners every day.

The local news reported accidental discharge by the guy (mho he needed gun safety training). I have walked off one of the public outdoor ranges after yelling at a guy twice for walking to put his target out while i was shooting, the second time he said I'm only going right out in front to put shot gun shells on the ground to shoot.i had to pack up and leave at that point!

[JSnover]

JSnover - Were you in Southampton, or Horsham ??
Bristol.

[JSnover]

Op..
Good on you for lending a hand. You should feel great as you might have saved them from shooting themselves or someone else.

I have been in the same situation. I actually enjoy introducing new shooters. That is an experience those ladies won't soon forget and you were part of it.

Thanks. I am glad they were smart enough to ask for help. Plus they were respectful and attentive so I like to think I accomplished something in those few minutes. Indoor private sector ranges are a fairly new experience for me.