Thread: Range Idiots...

My wife helps coach the youth trap team my youngest shoots on and I help coach the 22 rifle silhouette event for the YHEC team both my girls shoot on. All the coaches on both teams really drill safety into the kid's heads. Every now and then we have a kid get forgetful but they get corrected instantly (usually before they have a chance to complete a sweep). Parents and coaches are on a constant lookout to keep the kids attention on their safety practices.

I dare say that our youth are much better at their safety practices than the average member at our shooting club. There are a lot of our members who have been given the safety rules and told what was expected (and their are huge signs at every range on the property). Many times just being told isn't enough. It needs to be trained into a person so it becomes a habit almost like a muscle memory. I am all for guys plinking for fun but I certainly encourage formal activites where folks get actual repetitive "safety training". I think it sticks with a person better.

Ray

I was once shooting a 45 of which the slide sometimes jammed after ejecting the empty shell. If that happened, the next bullet would not load all the way and you needed to operate the slide manually. It was not my gun btw. At one point, the bullet got stuck and I could not readily move the slide. And I did not really dare use too much force because I did not know if that could cause the round to fire.

As I've said many times before, I don't know much about guns except they're dangerous, so when something does not go according to plan, I treat things like they might explode if I do something wrong.

Anyway, as I am trying to solve the problem, the girl behind me says 'gimme that', takes it out of my hands and starts violently racking the slide with the barrel pointed at my abdomen. I really wanted to punch her lights out but I settled for grabbing the barrel while jumping aside.

I used to shoot revolvers in Australia years ago. I wasn't the best at it but I did realise that this thing that is a lot of fun to play with is ultimatly designed to kill people. Occasionally there would be someone on the range who didn't understand this and they would do something stupid and they would be corrected straight away by the range officer. If people are not corrected they will never learn.
Apart from pointing the gun at something they didn't want to shoot one mistake that was prevailent was keeping the finger on the trigger while reloading a semi auto.

When I was in basic training one guy pointed an m16 at a drill sergeants head. At the local shoting range a grown man fired a muzzle loader while my uncle was down range. Idiots are everywhere.

Originally Posted by bulldog

When I was in basic training one guy pointed an m16 at a drill sergeants head.

I am suddenly thinking of a similar scene in the movie 'heartbreak ridge' by Clint Eastwood.

1. Treat every gun as if it's loaded
2. Never point a gun at anything you are not wanting to kill or destroy
3. Know your target and what's beyond it
4. Keep you finger off the trigger until your sights are aligned on target and you are ready to shoot

I have been shooting for about 30 years and have seen all manner of foolish behavior at ranges. YOU MUST BE CAREFUL!!!!

I used to work in the same building as NRA HQ. They have an indoor range around the back, and I would frequent it on my lunch breaks.

I've seen too many manners of stupid there to count. What I did like, is that there were usually 3 or 4 RO's there and they quickly told them to pack it up.

I really miss working there, as I haven't made it to the range nearly as much since

I had a friend put an unlaoded .44 to my head when I walked into his bedroom. He didnt seem to understand why i punched him in the face and kicked him in the balls. I "had" a friend. We dont speak anymore....

Originally Posted by alb1981

I had a friend put an unlaoded .44 to my head when I walked into his bedroom. He didnt seem to understand why i punched him in the face and kicked him in the balls. I "had" a friend. We dont speak anymore....

Nice one! Sounds like the man got off easy

Great song! I know I have had my share of range idiots. I shoot at a public range with no RO, but if you take charge of a range it is often appreciated by those there if there is someone who is being an idiot or just don't know. Can't hurt and you just might save a life and never know it. At the worst, someone will learn a bit of range safety at a the range.