Had a very scary range day this weekend

[jman74]

I was shooting with a buddy of mine at the club this weekend when a couple of guys we knew didn't belong there drove up. I asked them if we could help them and they said no, they were waiting for the NRA instructor. Turns out one of the guys was a bounty hunter who needed to qualify with a new weapon, an XD-45. The test is a pretty tough one. Keep 50 of 60 rounds in the black, anywhere in the black, on a double size torso target at 15 yards. We told him we'd hold off shooting until he was done. After he was, we called the range cold so the target could be scored and retrieved. I figured I'd use this time to collect some of the brass that fell forward of the bench. Let just say that a .45 acp is very loud when one is standing 3 feet in front and 4-5 feet to the right of the muzzle while some yahoo pulls the trigger as fast as he can. Turns out Dogg the bounty hunter's buddy didn't quite understand the rules. He figured his friend was back behind the bench, so what the hell, let's let'er rip. Didn't even seem to care to much when the slide locked back and he finally saw me. Surprisingly, I calmly packed my stuff, went to the club house, paid for my rounds of skeet that I had shot earlier in the morning and ordered a Bud with a Beam on the rocks. Ringing ears and all.

 

[Christianninja]

Wow, very nice job keeping calm. I know more than a few people that would have let loose on that guy.

 

[Superpsy]

You're a bigger man than I. I would have said some not too nice things to him.

 

[Lupinus]

I would have broken every one of his friggin fingers

There are little mistakes you can make at the range and mistakes at the range you can make that damn near kill me, mistakes liek that fall into the damn near could have killed me catagory.

 

[Croyance]

Was a range officer there? Were there any witnesses?
He should be liable for medical costs if there is long term damage to your hearing, including any hearing aids or cochlear implants or whatever technology holds.
Would this complaint affect their bounty hunter's or firearms licenses? Because unsafe behavior with guns is a legitimate complaint to me. Some bounty hunters think they are better than other people, but putting another person in danger in violation of any safety rules and not giving a damn isn't right.

 

[offthepaper]

And what did the NRA instructor have to say to his "student"? Such a violation of common safety procedures would have to be an automatic disqualification.

 

[jman74]

This happened at a private rod and gun club. The ranges never have any officers unless there's class or match. It did happen right in front of the club's NRA instructor, but it happened so fast that he couldn't stop it. Dogg wasn't doing the shooting, his buddy was. My girlfriend was real impressed with me when I got home and relayed the story. That combined with the blister on my chest that a .22 shell left earlier in the week (I've many shells end up down my shirt or on the back of neck, but never had one raise a blister before) has her on the fencing about this hobby of mine.

 

[Logan5]

*sigh*... in NRA instruction, you do the live fire last for a reason; it's so you can teach the student not to do things like that before you get them on the line with a loaded weapon in hand. Safety rule violations like that ought to mean the student at least gets a talking to, if not immediately fails. Report the instructor to the NRA, at the very least.

 

[Lone_Gunman]

Public ranges are one of the best reasons I can think of to ban firearms ownership.

 

[EZ CZ75]

Clarification Folks: The fellow doing the stupid shooting was not being taught by the NRA instructor, Dogg was, who did NOT do the shooting in question.:banghead:

 

[Missashot]

You handled it a LOT better than I would have.
Rules or not, it is just common sense to make sure everyone is in a safe place with protection on when shooting at the range.
What a dumb butt. I would probably have enlightened him a little in range etiquette. I have very little patience with inconsiderate people anymore. Guess I'm just getting old, grumpy and tired of stupid idiots.:banghead:

 

[High Planes Drifter]

*sigh*... in NRA instruction, you do the live fire last for a reason; it's so you can teach the student not to do things like that before you get them on the line with a loaded weapon in hand. Safety rule violations like that ought to mean the student at least gets a talking to, if not immediately fails. Report the instructor to the NRA, at the very least.
-----------------------------------------------------

This is true IF the moron in this instance was a student of the instructors' and not just tagging along with Dogg the bounty hunter (who was a student).

jman: First let me say congrats for staying calm and not getting violent. Introducing violence in that situation could have proven tragic, a moron with a gun is unsafe enough as it is. That being said, I dont think calmly walking away and saying nothing was the best thing to do. I think you should have calmly walked to the rangemasters office, or whoever was on duty in his place, and reported the moron. Bringing this to the rangemasters attention is the only way to help see that it wont happen again. .

 

[Sistema1927]

At the very least, the BHB ("Bounty Hunter's Buddy", or "Bubble Headed Bas**rd") should have been bounced from the range for life. This was not a minor safety violation.

The NRA Instructor should have laid down the rules to ALL the members of the party, and it was his job to ensure safety.

 

[Moonclips]

This was a major safety rule violation, and everybody just took it like that? Everybody follows the rules, no exceptions. If he was in my club he would have been banned from the range. Also, the NRA instructor is responsible for every guest he brings to the range.

And in my club, everybody goes thru range officer training before becoming a member. So all members are range officers and can enforce the rules. And if violators fail to comply, we are told to call the local police.

 

[Kharn]

So, did he pass?

Kharn

 

[jackal1209]

Well handled, not saying you didn't want to give him an XD supository.
Thats the kind of crap that gives all shooters / gun owners a bad rep.

 

[kid_couteau]

In normal mode I would have done similar to what you did.

Tho if I would have had a pistol on me I may have accidently shot the guy when I hit full survival mode

Kid

 

[jman74]

Don't get me wrong, I did have the urge to beat the guy into the ground, but in CT they can take your firearms away for things like that. I was sort of hoping that he'd make it up to the clubhouse afterwards, but that never happened. Things like this are the reason why I'll never use a public range. I very rarely even use this private range. I'm able to shoot in my back yard which is very nice. Last weekend I just decided to make a day of it at the club instead of driving an hour just to shoot a few rounds of skeet. The good news is a combination of Bud and Beam in the right mixture does wonders for ringing ears. Did have a pretty good headache latter in the day though...