Private Club Etiquette for Newbie

[AlbaSETI]

I think the thread title says it all.

I got licenced April 2010. First gun May 2010 (Ruger 10/22 carbine); second August (Remington 870); third gun (in process S&W 617 6").

Whilst I had been considering joining a club for its general benefits (compared to a fair bit of travelling to a free site of questionable safety), it has tken the decision to buy a handgun to make the difference (financially speaking, there is no choice in Canada but to join a club if you own a handgun you intend to shoot). Put it this way: someone present needs to take upon themselves to be the role of range master (range guard, or some other term - sorry, not sure about exact formalities of terms), and I have had to be that.

A person with basically no knoweldge or experience.

Yet, the people there were pointing muzzles in random directions. They were trying to leave weapons loaded when the range was meant to be clear, and starting to load when people where still on range (in its better form, starting loading before it was agreed it was safe).

There have been times when I have been (I thought) deferring to someone I thought was running things got asked if he was by a new arrival, but then he said no I was (pointing to me).

I guess I have not been long on the "free" option, but it scares the living waste by-products that I should so often find myself in the role of the safety/range-officer role given I have such limitied knowledge and experience.

Perhaps I should take it as compliment that I am so anal about safety protocal that the very fact of existing and not wanting to die should put me to the fore at such public places!

OK, I am rambling.

What I am saying is I am, I think, assuming everything works OK, going to become a member of gun club that is laissez-faire in that it is just formed areas of ground with a heated shack (with the suitable legal needs met, of course). IIf I understood the conversation with the guy the deal is all members of the clubs have to be range officers (there is a course to be taken - which I think accounts for the 100+ bucks difference in the first year fee to the renewal years).

I am just a new guy lacking knowledge on so many things. I have safe handling of firearms and safe range behaviour sorted out (becoming a gun user and owner has been a great paradigm challenger from my previously European rather anti-gun stance - so doing it safely has been something of an anally-retentive-syndrome).

So I guess I am meaning just what stuff should I otherwise consider?

 

[ImprovedModel56Fan]

Don't take my post as authoritative - these are just some observations. The only thing I can say for sure is that it you are in the wrong club, as it exists now. The situation and behavior you are describing are what I would expect from well-mannered but poorly-trained folks at a public free-for-all shooting location. From a club I expect more.

At my main present club (I belong to two), the behavior was usually pretty good on the range. It may have gotten better since a brief training program was instituted. Hard to tell, since I usually shoot alone, at least at this club. Inside the club, there is occasionally some show and tell, and since an older member left the area, I have occasionally had to be the one to remind someone or other of basic safety precautions, like opening the action safely and leaving it open at least until it goes back in the case/sleeve/paper sack. The advantage of being in a club is mainly that these folks recognize right from wrong, and don't resist correction. I avoid public ranges because I have reliable reports that this is not always the case at some of them.

It is always a very touchy thing to be assertive around gun-toters, unless you're sure of certain shared values or practices. Hence my avoidance of public ranges. There are other steps you can take, but if you need to take other steps, you need even more not to be there in the first place.

It sounds to me like you are around decent people who simply haven't been trained properly. Is there any way for you to influence the leadership of the club, if there is any?

 

[ImprovedModel56Fan]

. . . (becoming a gun user and owner has been a great paradigm challenger from my previously European rather anti-gun stance - so doing it safely has been something of an anally-retentive-syndrome). . .

What certain people call "anal-retentive" is what safe range operators call minimum acceptable standards. All of the rules of safe weapon handling and safe range operation are written in blood. What appears to be duplicative is not, and it has been repeatedly proved with dead bodies. Not every week, maybe, or even every month, but each seemingly overlapping rule has a GOOD reason, is based on past bloodshed, and has its worth occasionally reaffirmed by some fool who habitually ignores it.

For a newbie, you seem exceptionally diligent, but you are only doing the only right thing, and apparently doing it very well. Nevertheless, the atmosphere is not good enough. The club leadership needs to attack this problem.

 

[Bullseye 2620]

You can get a set of range safety rules and a description of the duties of the range safety officer (RSO) from the NRA. They have an office that advises on range construction and management. I would use those as a starting point, and involve other shooters at the club in modifying those to meet the particular needs/situation at your club. I would then distribute those rules to everyone, and insist that everyone go through an orientation session wherein they become familiar with those rules and sign a document saying that they will abide by them at all times. That way, you've got no problems is there is a later disagreement. Model520Fan is right -- the leadership needs to be involved, if for no other reason than it is they who will get sued if someone gets shot.

I used to belong to an Izzak Walton League chapter with a beautiful 450 conservation farm near Washington, D.C., which had an outstanding 100 yard rifle range with a high earthen berm at the end. We had a very strict rule against elevating the muzzle above the top of the berm because a runway at Dulles International Airport was directly across the Potomac from our range a couple of miles distant. Nonetheless, every weekend I had to correct shooters who would charge their rifles by placing the butt on their thigh and then chambering a round with the muzzle at a 45 degree angle (or steeper) to the ground. This rule became easier to enforce after a guy using the above-described procedure had a slam-fire occur and a .308 round went merrily on its way out of the range, over the river, and towards the aircraft landing and taking off at Dulles. Fortunately, we never heard about that one. Oh, yeah, I advise two RSOs on duty at all times. Back-up is a good thing.


Bullseye

 

[Dennis The B]

At the club to which...

...I belong, is a set of range rules, and we don't allow any deviation, ever.

Our club bylaws provide that every member who uses a range (we have 25yd, 50yd, 100yd, 200yd, shotgun, archery, and airgun ranges) be certified as a RSO (Range Safety Officer). There are no exceptions. We have a committee of DRSO's (Designated Range Safety Officer), and they have the task of enforcing overall range safety. However, every member must enforce the rules, and that includes calling violations on other members. Violations, reported to and acted on by the DRSO committee, can range from fines, to suspension from the club.

We have a qualification card signed by the DRSO conducting your qualification. You must have your qualification card on your person on each range for which you're qualified.

General qualification entitles you to shoot from the bench at the 25-, 50-, and 100-yard ranges. You may not shoot pistol/revolver at 100 yards unless you qualify separately. You may not shoot position (standing, sitting/kneeling, prone) on the 100- or 200-yard range unless you qualify separately. If you qualified with a .223 Remington at 200 yards, you have to qualify separately, if you want to shoot a .308 at the same distance.

Draconian? Maybe. But we've never had an incident, and the club is over seventy years old.

Safety starts with individuals, but the mangement and leadership of the club have to enforce it.

Here are our rules. Just go to the selection titled "Range Rules".

Gun range, Archery Range and Conservation in Plymouth, MI

 

[H Richard]

I would hope the club is NRA affiliated, and there should be (several) large "Commandments of Gun Safety" posters posted in conspicuous places. If there is a "Orientation & Training" course it should be offered so the member receives it PRIOR to handling firearms on the range. At a small indoors club where I am Treasurer and defacto range master, any new shooter joining the club has me or a otherwise qualified member shooting alongside of and guiding him the first few visits to the range.

We require NRA membership in order to join the club.

 

[LTC]

I am a certified RSO at our club. We have strict range rules and club S.O.P.'s. The club's leadership is 100% behind the idea of maintaining a safe shooting environment. We have procedures in place to allow us to remove problems if they arise.

Our club is an NRA afiliated club and we follow most if not all of their guidelines. It sounds as though the club you are joining is just starting up and needs a lot of guidence from "SAFE" expearanced shooters and instructors.

Voice your concerns to everyone who needs to here them. Stay safe and if need be walk away.

LTC

 

[GatorFarmer]

You might want to carry some Celox, a couple Izzy bandages, a tourniquet and an asherman chest seal (and maybe some kerlix) in your range bag.

 

[AlbaSETI]

I was meaning that I had previously been at a (free) local range.

The horror stories I describe are from there. To be fair, these things I highlighed are not that common.

Generally a bit a dodgy safety-wise, yes.

This dodgy and extreme behaviour was that of the free range.

 

[AlbaSETI]

I have realised the contraction in that last comment.