Ever leave the range due to unsafe shooters?

[ACC]

Left Point Blank in Carmel once for being muzzled twice by an idiot in the bay next to me. RO was nowhere to be seen at the time.

Left Indy Arms Co once due to a bay full of idiots rapid firing a .45 and yelling "break yo self fool!"

Worst story though is a sad one. My FIL is a Vietnam vet. He's been shooting his entire life. He is the one who helped get me into guns. I don't know if the army never taught him gun safety or if he has just forgotten it or become lazy...but his muzzle discipline has gotten HORRENDOUS over the past couple years. So much so that his son and I do not invite him to go shooting anymore due to us always having to watch him.

 

[DadSmith]

I've never had that experience yet.

 

[Hawkeye7br]

This thread should be mandatory reading for all INGO members.

But I'm remembering another thread that went largely in the opposite direction, complaining about RO's looking over your shoulder or asking to check your closed action and club rules that don't let you "do your thing".

Gun clubs and local Conservation Clubs should be leading the way in safety. There are a lot of people who have never been on a range with strangers, their only shooting experience has been out behind "Uncle Billy's" barn.

Many of the stories above are why we at Riley Conservation Club have a mandatory orientation and safe gun handling demo for all new members. We spend 30 minutes with each member reviewing club rules, showing the berms on the rifle range, describing their purpose, describing the purpose and allowances/limitations of the shooting bays, and relating unsafe incidents (like those in above posts) that we have no intention of allowing to be repeated. We also have a strong Board of Directors that has authority to assess an incident and suspend or terminate membership based on infraction. Rules apply not only to unsafe acts, but also to appropriate firearms & ammo for the particular range or bay, or the occasional shooting after sunset (a narrow window of daylight, but after sundown).

Range safety should be everyone's concern. If you walk away without reporting unsafe acts, you only allow the problem to perpetuate. There are ways to point out unsafe acts without being a jerk, simply do it as if you're instructing a member of your family. The offender may not like it, but they nearly always accept it.

Rich Hawkins
President
Riley Conservation Club

 

[63PGP]

4 rules. The target will still be there when you're ready.

I'm waiting for the rest of the story.

Not much else to tell other than being swept by the muzzle when the RO / employee was handling a shooters pistol. Didn't see what caused him to step in to help. Just saw the barrel and proceeded to have a chat with the range / store manager.

Hope the popcorn was good.

 

[DRob]

Common denominators:
Range open to the public,.
RSO covering too many lanes. Possibly even in two different rooms. (Hello Point Blank)
Range FREE and open to the public. (Hello DNR)

About all you can do is make sure you are not endangering anyone else and, here's the hard part, watch for idiots. There are so many of them and some are reading this thread!

 

[semperfi211]

I left Willow Slough years ago before there was a RO. That place got out of hand.

 

[IUKalash429]

At one always-jam packed free public range, I:

-had a guy insert a loaded magazine into his rifle while we were cold and I was downrange changing my target;

-watched another guy start to walk downrange after his target blew over ... while we were hot and actively shooting;

-and heard bump-firing coming from a 7-yard handgun-only lane, only to find three teens shooting an AR there because they didn't want to wait for a rifle lane to open up.

All three of these incidents resulted in very loud, very colorful verbal exchanges. They also occurred while a braindead RSO was "on duty," playing around on his phone. I contacted state officials and told them someone was going to get killed at this place. Thankfully, that RSO is no longer employed and the new guy is great. However, you get what you pay for, and I joined a private club and stopped going there altogether after the AR misadventure.

 

[STEEL CORE]

Yes and no, over the years (21 in the US Army) and running a civilian range while serving in the Army, and in law enforcement, there have been many of times, I have had and seen the good and the bad.
Unsafe and stupid incidents, yup, negligent discharges, yep, indoor LGS range shenanigans yep, but only once did I leave because I felt uncomfortable and that was at Wilbur Wright state range outside New Castle years ago because the state range officer was such a PRICK, I had enough. That was then, I bet things are ok now.
I try and go to the range twice a month and mind my own business, but would leave if I saw some real goofiness going on.
You ever go to a range and see the bullet holes everywhere they are not supposed to be ?!?

 

[Backpacker]

Common denominators:
Range open to the public,.
RSO covering too many lanes. Possibly even in two different rooms. (Hello Point Blank)
Range FREE and open to the public. (Hello DNR)

About all you can do is make sure you are not endangering anyone else and, here's the hard part, watch for idiots. There are so many of them and some are reading this thread!

I have gone to unsupervised ranges with a shooting friend. One of us shoots while the other watches everyone else for safety.

 

[churchmouse]

You ever go to a range and see the bullet holes everywhere they are not supposed to be ?!?

Yup. The floor/both walls/all the baffles. Target clips shot to hell.

 

[avboiler11]

Yes, Clark State Forest range in Henryville maybe 5 years ago. Packed up my crap and left rather than deal with the unsafe shenanigans of a bunch of college-age kids, one of which nearly shot himself in the face by looking down the barrel of his Mosin experiencing a hangfire.

I also had a dipstick there squeeze a 44 Mag round off after I called clear, made eye contact with everybody on the line (including him), and walked 50yd downrange to change a target...while wearing a bright-red shirt.

Thank God Almighty we became landowners...

 

[IUKalash429]

You ever go to a range and see the bullet holes everywhere they are not supposed to be ?!?

That never ceases to amaze me. Especially at the members-only places.

 

[rhino]

It's unfortunate that all attempts to educate people often fall on deaf ears because the people in question don't get that the message is for them. I think in some cases, overall self-awareness is lacking, so that people who are unsafe on the range either don't or can't understand that they are one of the problems. Sometimes they're the people who try to advise others, which is a less than optimal situation. Unconscious incompetency is a very dangerous thing on the range.

I have a modest amount of training and education under my belt and I do my best to manage risks on the range to the best of my ability. If someone notices that I am doing (or did) something unsafe, I welcome the counseling! Even on occasions when the observations or conclusions are not valid, I appreciate the vigilance and awareness.

 

[BrettonJudy7]

I haven't had the experience of leaving a range because of a current shooter being unsafe.. Yet.

But I won't go back to Wilbur Wright in New Castle just because I haven't felt safe while being there. Too many people on range, not enough range officers to watch everyone. I don't want to spend my time at a range worrying about everyone else there. I'm not sure if it is different now, I haven't been there in a few years.

 

[STEEL CORE]

You got it JB, all the holes in the partitions they had, to me look like Swiss cheese, all got there somehow.
But then again I have had someone drop a live hand grenade once, at the range at Ft Benning Ga, now that was exciting to say the least.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

So glad I belong to a private club now (Martinsville Sportsman's Conservation Club). Used to go to Atterbury (after it had become more civilized) and it was decent enough. Got called out by one particular RSO a few times but it was for minor stuff - retrieving a water bottle from the shooting bench while the range was cold, stuff like that - not anything that was endangering anyone, but still, I broke the rules, so mea culpa. It was always something different - I learned from my mistakes, and eventually he knew I was okay. Never had to leave either place though, so far (knock wood!)

 

[mmpsteve]

I left Willow Slough years ago before there was a RO. That place got out of hand.

Yep, Willow Slough used to be downright dangerous, at least on the weekends. I packed up and left a couple times and stopped going on the weekends. Since they've rebuilt it and you have to pay to play, it's much more comfortable, with a different class of shooters mostly. I still only go during the week; take a half day off, and still get to work by noon. The incidents that caused me to leave would not have been conducive for teaching the idiots anything about safety, and would have probably just caused a confrontation that I don't need.

.

 

[Ndavid45]

My girlfriend and I have left indy trading post before and did not return until the remodel with the range entrance being inside the store now instead of outside. We were in there alone at first, then entered a guy in sweatpants and flip flops. He did not have a range bag with him. He proceeded to the firing line and pulled a jframe size revolver out of the waist band of his sweat pants fired 2 times down range without a target and puts it back into his waistband. At this point we began to pack up. I'm the process of us packing up he pulls handguns out of each pocket, fires them twice each and puts them back into his pockets, then exits. All firearms were loaded before entering and never unloaded before leaving. I had never seen such stupidity in my life regarding firearms handling. We only returned due to the new range set up and luckily were the only ones in the range the entire time.

 

[bwframe]

...Worst story though is a sad one. My FIL is a Vietnam vet. He's been shooting his entire life. He is the one who helped get me into guns. I don't know if the army never taught him gun safety or if he has just forgotten it or become lazy...but his muzzle discipline has gotten HORRENDOUS over the past couple years. So much so that his son and I do not invite him to go shooting anymore due to us always having to watch him.

I had a neighbor, retired army lifer. Grew up with guns and has a collection, on top of regular pawn shop/gun show trading. He's a stubborn know-it-all on most everything. There is no telling him anything. Gun handling for him is pointing it at you three times and himself four.

 

[Sniper 79]

Yes! I only shoot alone now. Some people shouldn't own or be around firearms.