[Square target]

Hit the range this morning with my shooting buddy. We were part way through our session and two cars pull up with 4 adults and 2 kids so we stop to let them set up targets. At some point our club put a bunch of pvc pipe in the ground to stick 2x2 sticks in to hold targets for a shoot they had. So one guy takes 1 2x2 and staples a target to it expecting the paper to stay flat and it was windy. So then i ask are you ready so we can start shooting again and they say yes. I ask if they have ear pro and one guy say i have a hoodie. So to prove a point i switched from .38 sp to .357 mag and my buddy breaks out his mini 14 that has a brake on it. After one mag and one cylinder they complain our guns are loud. Well yeah you're at a shooting range stupid....No i didn't say that but i wanted to. After a little bit my buddy breaks the chain on one of his steel plates so i give him a quick link to fix it. While he is walking back from down range i hear them talking about a shotgun problem and i look over and the idiot is putting rounds in it and pointing it off to the side. I start yelling at him that someone is downrange and i get a "relax i'm pointing it off to the side and not shooting, just testing the pump action" So now we're both pissed so my buddy moves over one bench closer to them and starts doing mag dumps with the mini while i was shooting the Henry with 10 rounds of 357 and then switching to the revolver for 6 more. Took pics of them and their plates to send to the club so we'll see if they do anything. I really hate the thought of being a range nazi and reporting people but the stupidity level was over the top with this group. I like having a relaxed setting where people just ask to go downrange to check/change targets and people take a break while doing so but every once in awhile there is some idiot that comes along and will do everything in their power to ruin something good.

 

[Mad Scientist]

Safety is everyone's job. Those four adults and two kids need a refresher course on gun/range safety. Reporting them may save a life down the road.

 

[Coalcracker]

I agree. Reporting them is a good idea. It may save someone's life one day. Including their own.

 

[Jack Ryan]

Don't shoot at public ranges. Those four ARE the public.

 

[Russ D]

Don't go to public ranges, anymore. I've seen unsafe, rude, and stupid, in infinite combinations.

 

[Stamps6]

We need to help people who aren’t as versed in range safety and guns in general. Don’t ridicule or embarrass them. Help them and be a mentor. If you had some foam plugs rolling around you shooting kit, this would have been a good time to hand them out. Next time they go to a range they’ll make the same or even worse mistakes. Had you helped them, their next outing may have been very different. If they refuse to learn, then drop the hammer on them.

 

[Fitasc Shooter]

Why I love my gun range where I live - they have side berms inbetween every shooting spot so you have your own range in a sense where you can get as close as you without worrying about being swept, idiots next to you, etc.

 

[gvaldeg1]

Don't shoot at public ranges. Those four ARE the public.

Blind acceptance of unsafe behavior at a shooting range is de-facto approval of it! I strongly disagree with your injudicious exhortation. :mad2:

 

[gvaldeg1]

Don't go to public ranges, anymore. I've seen unsafe, rude, and stupid, in infinite combinations.

What I said to Jack Ryan. :mad2:

 

[Jack Ryan]

OK, feel free. You be the range.

I reject it. I don't ACCEPT it.

 

[gvaldeg1]

Interesting. I reread your comment. Sounds tantamount to acceptance to me.

 

[Jack Ryan]

Interesting. I reread your comment. Sounds tantamount to acceptance to me.

Well there isn't much I can do about your hearing.

 

[deputy]

we are the minority..............

still believe that a large majority of folks whom visit a range a few times a year have no training, have not read the safety manual, have no experience and are new/inexperienced/virgins to firearms and all related aspects there-of........

the good news for us is after one or two visits, they think they know it all and quit going........

 

[Square target]

It's not a public range, it's a local members only gun club range. With that being said when i was there last week a couple showed up and were shooting a .270 at 50yds (very poorly with a scope). When i went down to gather my targets they went down to check theirs and the guy asks me how do you joint the club. Rather than being rude saying he shouldn't be here i told them how. I've seen others there that weren't members too, you can just drive in and we've been told to ask people to leave if we know they aren't members.

As far as having berms between lanes it would be nearly impossible. it's a wide open field for nearly 400yds(maybe 200yds wide) with a mountain backstop. It would costs 10's of thousands of dollars to do that and membership is $25 or $30 for a couple per year. I like that and the fact there is no RO. It's very relaxed and most of the people who go there are very considerate of other shooters when they want to go down range to set up, check or take down targets. Half the time i go there there isn't even anyone there or it's one of the regulars. Every once in awhile though you have some nimrod that shows up with no targets, ear pro etc. Last time someone showed up with no ear pro it was a young couple who said they would be fine. My buddy was shooting is S&W 460 and they didn't last long. Also i said i yelled at these guys, very much an over statement, more of just mentioning don't load a gun or have it in your hands while someone is downrange. I did feel like yelling though.....

 

[Coalcracker]

Were supposed to chase folks off too if they are not members. I don't ask if they are or not. Unless they are being idiots. On the hearing protection. I love it when folks say were ok your just shooting your 22. Then if i have something bigger with ill fire it. The look they give is priceless.

 

[drham]

that's one reason I live in the country where I can set up my own range

 

[Stamps6]

Square, the fact that anyone can walk onto your “club” range makes you the range officer. It makes every member a range officer. It’s great that you let them stay and shoot but you do have a responsibility to every member of your club. That responsibility is that anyone on the range is safe, respectful of others and respectful of the club property. You may not want to deal with these kinds of people but you have to. You can toss them out or you can mentor them in proper use and safety.

 

[gvaldeg1]

Hear, hear! :thumbsup:

 

[Alby144]

Amen. Not everybody is familiar with shooting at a range, they may not know how you regulars do things. Instead of harassing them and making things tough, you could have introduced yourselves, in the beginning and let them know how things work at your range. At that time you could have asked if they had proper protection, what they were shooting and offered help if they needed it. Instead you made their experience tough and probably not too enjoyable. That's not what shooting is about; there are a lot of ignorant people that own guns, teaching them is the key to learning and safety.

We need to help people who aren’t as versed in range safety and guns in general. Don’t ridicule or embarrass them. Help them and be a mentor. If you had some foam plugs rolling around you shooting kit, this would have been a good time to hand them out. Next time they go to a range they’ll make the same or even worse mistakes. Had you helped them, their next outing may have been very different. If they refuse to learn, then drop the hammer on them.

 

[Kobs]

I'm not what you can call "happy" with the way we handle things gun wise here but one thing I think is good is the fact that we have range officers in every range, they're not police but safety officers. There's a set of simple rules we all know and they make sure it's followed. To make them "fool proof" they call the cease fire when someone goes downrange, they ask you to put the guns down and step away from the firing line when it's called so no one touches the guns that way you're sure no one gets shot by an idiot. When everyone is back from changing targets they call "firing line is open" That way everyone can keep an eye on everyone else when the cease fire is called even if it's the RO's job.
Oh and they also can ask you to leave and revoke your membership if you happen to be a danger to yourself or others although I've never seen or heard of one do that in the time I've had guns. We all have to go through a 2 day gun handling shooting and safety course to get the license. (Videos, class, written exams 6 to 8 hours and the second day is gun handling and shooting) I'm guessing a lot like your NRA class