LGS would not let me rent a M&P40c

[Comrad]

The ranges I visit in NJ all have this same rule. It helps but doesn't completely eliminate the problem. The most recent involved two brothers who met the requirement but one decided to end his life, can't imagine how the survivor feels and how he will live with that. There were 7 in NJ last year.
Women don't need a companion to rent in most ranges here.
NJ is talking about modifying the law that allows temporary transfer of ownership of a gun to allow for rentals, if that passes it will be the end of rentals.

 

[NYlakesider]

I'm a member of a small club out a ways in the boonies of upstate NY. Being retired we (wife) we go to the heated indoor range and shoot for a couple hours twice a week. We have never had to share the range with anyone during the 9-3 hours of the work week! Its easy to see as the range has a sign in/out sheet

They have a rule that there must be 2 people at all times to use the indoor range. The 2ed person does not have to shoot, not even be a member but just be there. They also have a phone extension in the vestibule of the range that will do local calls. Range is key carded!

The reason there, is no one might show up at the club for a couple days so its protection for the shooters. You car cannot be seen from the road if you park to use indoors. On the outside ranges you and you vehicle can be seen from the road!

 

[glenwolde]

I think the theory is not so much that a second person could stop it, but more of a character reference. A suicidal/depressed person hopefully has a hard time finding somebody they know who will do this for them.

Besides all the worldly concerns of liability, clean-up, etc., nobody wants to see anybody die.

 

[jim46ok]

That wasn't a suicide.

The rules sounded odd, until the explanation was given. From the business perspective, makes perfect sense to me.

I'm sure he meant "mental illness" was involved in his death. Regardless of who pulled the trigger.

 

[jtaylor996]

I'm a member of a small club out a ways in the boonies of upstate NY. Being retired we (wife) we go to the heated indoor range and shoot for a couple hours twice a week. We have never had to share the range with anyone during the 9-3 hours of the work week! Its easy to see as the range has a sign in/out sheet

They have a rule that there must be 2 people at all times to use the indoor range. The 2ed person does not have to shoot, not even be a member but just be there. They also have a phone extension in the vestibule of the range that will do local calls. Range is key carded!

The reason there, is no one might show up at the club for a couple days so its protection for the shooters. You car cannot be seen from the road if you park to use indoors. On the outside ranges you and you vehicle can be seen from the road!

I would imagine that if nobody shows up for days at a time, then rentals aren't a thing there.

I'm a member of a pistol club, and often you end up alone there shooting. But then again, cameras everywhere and no rentals, so I doubt there's ever been a suicide there.

 

[qBan]

The gun range I used to use when I lived in Orlando had 2 suicides. One was a murder-suicide,a man brought his mentally unstable mother to the range and it ended badly for both of them. They stopped renting guns to non-members as a result. It's a shame, but the owners of these stores have to protect their livelihoods.
Prior to that my son and I would go there and rent something different each time.

I think I remember seeing this on the new, they even had video of it right?

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[apollo99]

I think it is a good policy for gun ranges to have rental restrictions. It does not help our cause if non firearm owning suicidal people use our sport/hobby/second amendment right, to kill themselves. If they don't own a firearm and have to rent one to kill themselves they are not part of our culture just using us. Let them chain themselves to a old growth tree about to be cut down, or take up some other cause that will get them killed. It does none of us any good when there is a suicide at a gun range, just another feather in the anti-gun groups cap.

 

[BillG174]

Very interesting thread. I would have never expected there was this much suicide activity at a range. I shoot at a NSSF 5 Star range - top of the line place. The only rental rule they have is you have to use their ammo, not yours.

I have never had my friends ask about suicides but I have had them ask about someone going crazy and spraying rounds into everyone.



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[Yarddog1]

Legs near me only rents to members. They do not allow you to rent a gun the same day you become a member. Have had a couple of incidence iirc.

 

[kip595]

I also seem to a recall an incident similar that happened at a shop that didn't even have a range a few years back. I'm recalling from memory, but I believe the story went that a very typical/average looking middle aged woman went into a shop, asked to see a specific pistol (a tip up Beretta .32, if memory serves), showed ID and the whole 9 yards beforehand even. In the article to clerk remembered her seeming very knowledgable and educated about what she wanted, even something along the lines of a comment about the pistol being a good choice for a petite woman with small hands for SD, especially without the need to rack the slide. He looked away to answer someone's question, never left the counter or her, but turned back and she'd clicked the barrel down with a single FMJ round she'd brought in her shirt pocket and fired it through her chin before he could react. Can't recall what happened to the shop, but I remember the owner saying it was the most disturbingly pre-meditated thing he'd ever seen, and that was after years in the service. I believe it turned out she had just lost her child to a death of some sort and had been researching exactly how to do it for some days before.

Seems like as much as safety measures are put into place, truly ill/desperate people will always find a way, sadly.

 

[CS45Fan]

1. Bring a second person with me to the range. OR ...
2. Bring one of my own firearms to the range with me.

Several ranges in my area adhere to the same policy.

I am a little curious here, don't you normally bring another gun or 2 to shoot when you go? I would of at least had my range bag with glasses, ear protection, targets etc... not that would of did any good because of rule #2

 

[Sconnie]

...don't you normally bring another gun or 2 to shoot when you go?

I could but didn't since I went to compare an M&P9c to a Glock19. The gun shop/range is about an hour away from me so I got lucky that they did not have such a rule. But had I known I certainly could have and would have brought a revolver to sit.

The private rifle club I belong to is 5 minutes away from me but it does not include a gun store for sales or rentals. And on a week day during the Winter the indoor range is used but there is usually one or less other members present. Fortunately we do not have a buddy system rule so I can go as I like without someone else.

The rental range is always busy and on the weekend...scary busy. I stopped in on a Saturday and there was no way I wanted to shoot on that day. Came back during the week. As popular as that place seems to be they could probably double their space and still be busy. They do the membership thing too but it isn't practical for me and really I prefer my club since most of my more enjoyable shooting is outside ringing steel or benchrest shooting with a .22 rifle...in a little warmer weather that is.

 

[Hang-Fire Hank]

SURPRISED IT HASN'T HAPPENED HERE

Interesting that this subject came up. I've commented to several friends that I'm surprised in the 18 years I've been a member of a local outdoor shooting range that no one has taken their life. Besides my own recreational shooting, I've been active as a board member and RSO. We have 1,000 members, as well as open to the public one day a week.

We DID have a suicide in one of the local gun shops, similar to the lady described above. Someone with a .40 S&W cartridge went in, asked to see a pistol, & did himself in when the clerk turned his back.

We also have suicides annually in the forest, which surrounds our small town. Usually people who are critically ill & don't want to extend what's left with their life in misery.

Hank M.

 

[Saudade]

I'm a member at one local range. Since I am, there's no requirement to bring a buddy or a handgun if I solely want to rent one.

For other ranges, I bring a "token" gun with me.

 

[Lee's Landing Billy]

A 10 bay indoor shooting range here in Myrtle Beach had a man come in, rent a 45 auto, bought 2 boxes of ammo, and went in to shoot. Shot the first box, opened the second box, loaded the gun, and killed himself. They found a note at his home almost 50 miles away. The range had been open for 30 years. It is now closed.

 

[flat_topp]

I am a little curious here, don't you normally bring another gun or 2 to shoot when you go? I would of at least had my range bag with glasses, ear protection, targets etc... not that would of did any good because of rule #2

Not this time. I did grab my eyes and ears before leaving the house on Friday morning on my way to work. I had planned to stop by the range and try out the M&P40c after work. I wasn't planning to shoot anything else. It was my first time visiting this particular range, it is fairly new and has only been open since the middle of last year. The range's website doesn't say anything about these particular rules regarding rentals, so I showed up unprepared. Now I know.

 

[bobknn]

I think I remember seeing this on the new, they even had video of it right?

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This incident happened several years ago and I don't know if there was a video or not. if so it was never shown on the local news.

 

[qBan]

This incident happened several years ago and I don't know if there was a video or not. if so it was never shown on the local news.

This is the one I'm talking about

Woman Kills Son, Self at Gun Range - YouTube

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[Inusuit]

The senior NRA instructor at our local range sent a video around that's interesting. Shows a woman with a handgun and a coach or instructor just off her left shoulder. She shoots one round down range, immediately turns the pistol around and shoots herself in the chest. Round passes through her and hits the coach, who immediately goes down writhing in pain. She doesn't even stagger, walks to the rear of the lane and sits down.

This is particularly disturbing as the instructor is in the same position we take when coaching shooters in the Basic Pistol Class. The instructor had no time to react.

 

[CS45Fan]

Not this time. I did grab my eyes and ears before leaving the house on Friday morning on my way to work. I had planned to stop by the range and try out the M&P40c after work. I wasn't planning to shoot anything else. It was my first time visiting this particular range, it is fairly new and has only been open since the middle of last year. The range's website doesn't say anything about these particular rules regarding rentals, so I showed up unprepared. Now I know.

Gotcha! Would of been nice if they posted the rules like you stated