Went to the range. Got shot at!

[LVSteve]

There was only one "private" range I ever encountered in my neighborhood. It wasn't actually a "range", but simply a quarry that people went to shoot.

I went there for a few years, and then found some shooters that were, should I say, were less than safe.

That encouraged me to join a club. After being a long time member, my fee is now $40 a year for a senior, with 24/7 range access and no range fee.

I realize that shooting in NY state is considered to be a problem, but LOL it works for me.

The "free range" shooters out in the desert around Vegas created enough problems that the county now has a huge "no target shooting" zone. When I say huge, you must remember that Clark County as a whole is about the same size as the State of Israel. You can thank our burgeoning population for that malarkey. You have to drive quite a ways to get out of it, so to shoot pistols I go to an indoor range where I get a senior discount.

Proper rifle shooting creates a lot of problems. The Clark County facility was promised to have a 1000 yard range. It never happened. The longest range there is 200 yards. The Desert Sportsman's range has longer ranges, but it faces South, which I find a Class A PITA when shooting milsurps with irons. I used to be a member there. There is a better facility in Boulder City, but I think there is a membership waiting list and it is about a 45 minute drive on a good day. If I'm going to drive that distance I may as well disappear into Nye County and find an arroyo to play in. Mind you, that;s not so easy since I sold my Xterra as the current SUV doesn't have much ground clearance.

 

[minconrevo]

Safe range use and management is a thing. The adult should not have been expecting to shoot while supervising youth. Three competent youth shooters would be my personal max. The youth should have been limited to single shot .22 rifles, fired from a bench rest. The adult in this case going downrange should have insisted that all rifles be clear, benched, action open, and personally visually inspected before going downrange. It becomes a study in safety for the youngsters in this case. Safety of this sort is a quality lifelong skill for the youth.

 

[66fan]

Hi everyone!

Wishing everyone a Happy Easter!

On occasion, I have posted here about some of the unfortunate trends in range behavior. Sometimes, it’s people trashing ranges, being disrespectful of other shooters, or even careless gun handling.
Yesterday, I had an experience that just tops them all in awfulness.

Arriving at the pistol range, there is one adult male accompanied by his three kids on the firing line. They were shooting a couple pistols. The father was giving instructions. He seemed conscientious and aware.
The only other person present was a friend I regularly see. He was on the adjacent rifle range. A large berm separates the two ranges.

I got set up with my range gear, but with guns locked in the car. I waited until they paused their shooting.
I then asked if they would mind if I walked downrange to set up my target stand. They were fine with my request.
I made a point of saying, “So, firing line is clear and safe to go downrange”. Reply was made in the affirmative. I see their pistols on the bench pointing downrange.

Maybe 45 seconds later, I have my target stand placed.
My back is to the firing line.

Then, suddenly….”Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang..”
In a split second after the first shot, I processed that the sound was not coming from the neighboring rifle range.
I turn to my left and the ground next to me is kicking up with chunks of dirt as the bullets strike the back berm! His cone of fire is such that the closest shots are, maybe, 6-8 feet from me!
The adult is shooting his pistol, and I am practically in his line of fire!!
Immediately, I am screaming, “Stop! Stop! Don’t Shoot!”
My hand reaches instinctively for my concealed revolver. But, I can’t bring myself to even draw, knowing that there are young kids on the firing line.
The father immediately is in full panic.
He shouts back, “Oh man! I’m sorry!”

I quickly get back to the firing line. This guy is profusely apologizing. “I’m sorry”…”I don’t know what happened”. ….”I don’t know what I was thinking!”
I was surprisingly calm. I just said something like, “I thought we understood that the line was clear! I….What….” And that’s it.

I walked off the line and headed over to the rifle range to talk to my buddy.
I had just begun to tell him what had happened. Meanwhile, the guy with the three kids had, apparently, packed up. He quickly speeds off in his car.

When I got back to the pistol range, I found that, before leaving, the guy placed a full box of ammo on my shooting mat.

There’s a lot more I’d like to say.
But, I’ll keep it short. I’d like hear what you guys think.
Rather than being shocked or traumatized, I feel more like, “I’m surprised it took this long!”
There’s a lot of people out there that simply buy a gun/guns, some ammo, then head to a range with no instruction or, apparently, much attentiveness or common sense.

How does somebody forget, or not notice that, before loading, picking up, and then discharging a firearm multiple times, that a person you were just conversing with, is standing in plain sight of your line of fire?

I’ve never had that kind of experience but I’ve had people turn with guns pointing towards me and my grandsons. After I shouted very loud and harshly at the young man he just never thought it was dangerous. He was shooting a semi auto and we didn’t know if the gun was empty or still loaded. It doesn’t matter if loaded or not just don’t do that! You’re very blessed.

 

[6string]

Safe range use and management is a thing. The adult should not have been expecting to shoot while supervising youth. Three competent youth shooters would be my personal max. The youth should have been limited to single shot .22 rifles, fired from a bench rest. The adult in this case going downrange should have insisted that all rifles be clear, benched, action open, and personally visually inspected before going downrange. It becomes a study in safety for the youngsters in this case. Safety of this sort is a quality lifelong skill for the youth.

Before walking downrange, I visually confirmed that their guns were:
1) action open
2) magazine out
3) pointed safely downrange in this condition

For whatever reason, in the time I walked down, the adult loaded at least the one magazine, inserted it, cycled the action, raised the pistol, and began firing.
That’s quite a sequence of deliberate actions.

 

[paplinker]

1 person with 3 kids is 2 kids too many. It should be no more than 1 to 1 or at least have a second adult to keep the kids corralled, especially at an unmanned public range. Way too many things for kids to get in to with far too much at risk.

I taught my wife's sons how to shoot at 10-12 I always gave instruction one at a time at the range. I always wanted there undivided attention and also to teach them range rules and etiquette. I would never bring both at the same time. At our camp I would let both shoot but individually. t would be only one gun out.I would never shoot while at a public range.

 

[AJ]

At the County Run Range here, there are no shooters allowed under 10 years of age. From the age of 10-18 they must have an adult supervisor with them at all times. Once they turn 18 they can shoot on their own.

I never shot when I had my Grandkids with me at the range. All are over 18 now. The oldest Grandson qualified as an Expert in the Corps with what Gramps taught him. Will find out how the youngest Grandson does when he shis to USMC Boot Camp in Aug.

 

[afibstew]

Reminds me of a time during a USPSA shoot. There were quite a few of us shooters and between each competitors shoot all the shooters were enlisted to go down range to tape up bullet holes in the targets to speed up the turn around between shooters. We were being pushed to hurry along to lessen the downtime. One fellow was downrange behind a few targets (couldn’t be seen) when the RO started the next shooter. Talkin about some screaming and yelling! That man was lucky the shooting started on the right and he was on the left of the range. Immediately after that they implemented two RO’s. Plus they slowed their roll a little bit. They got in too big a hurry. I never went back to that particular range for USPSA.

 

[Kinman]

I've been spending around three days a week at a nearby rifle range for over ten years. I have worked as a range officer, run muzzle loader matches, rebuilt target frames, miscellaneous jobs that need to be done but nobody seems to have the time for. I am full time volunteer, which used to bug the previous executive officer because he couldn't "control" me with a paycheck.
I am glad you were not injured. There has only been shooting injury at my range and it was a self inflicted gunshot wound to the upper chest by a guy twirling his revolver. I have seen a few close calls, very similar to yours where a guy was still downrange and someone started shooting. I have been muzzled more times than I care to remember, I have seen fathers muzzle their own children, with loaded firearms while taking them out of the case, of course the firearm is always assumed to be empty....wrong! I have had a friend nearly shot by a guy who after putting his hunting rifle in the case, set it on the back counter and for whatever reason decided to pull the trigger, it blew the top out of the case and sent a 30-06 round flying by my friend missing him by a few feet. I've been right there when one rifle blew up due to overcharged case and in the area when a guy handed his new girlfriend his 1911 .45 to let her shoot it for the first time. It also succumbed to an overcharge and blew the top right off the 1911, taking out an overhead light and fortunately only bruising her hand, I told them she should go to get it checked out, overcharged cases are common...usually caused by guys that just can't leave well enough alone. One guy was always pushing his Model 29 to the limits, with heavy 300gr. bullets, I would leave the pistol range when he came on and could hear him him boom, boom, boom. After a while the exec officer came in with the guy, he had blown the top of the cylinder and top strap off his Model 29, shrapnel chunks were on both dividers.
We had a few knuckleheads that thought it was fun to shoot marmots grazing on the field, they are protected and when a friend of mine who was also a deputy sheriff got wind of it, that game ended. Others have shot geese feeding and been booted off the range, deer are common and often have to be run off.
I do understand how someone could get excited and why I always pay attention to admitted first time shooters, watch that muzzle after a few shots, it helps to keep them sandbagged. Some of the hipsters that come down to the club with their AR's strapped to their chest and what looks like body armor need to be told to keep their muzzles up and action open at all times.
Ive been down at the range before opening because I needed to change out the 100yd target frames. I put up a RANGE CLOSED sign at the entrance to the 100 yard site, had the range closed lights on and was busy working with unloading and loading. I looked at the range and saw someone messing around on the line. I yelled "RANGE CLOSED" and kept loading up my cart only to see someone walking with a target my way. I told the guy didn't you see the sign? He said "Yeah but I only need a few shots to get sighted in." I asked him if he was a member, he replied of course and flashed his badge. I told him that he was through for the day and that he could come back another. I then told him "I'm not arguing, I don't care what you want, your done for today come back another day."