Where I live, all the pistol and semi-auto rifle shooters tend to be younger and all will do the training courses to get certified to compete.
The only times I ever feel unsafe is when some older (hunter) shooters turn up at the range. Most haven't had any firearms handling training since their national service, and this old training was given in a time when ear defenders were for softies, and will not have been as comprehensive training as people get today.
These guys sometimes forget to open their bolts when it's time for everyone to patch targets and scarily manage to point their barrels at you as they move between benches and the rifles racks.
Even worse are some of the older hunters in my moose club. Some don't even hear their own phone ringing and some have had their driving licences taken away. But that doesn't stop them being able to wander around with a loaded rifle, happily resting the butt on the ground, before placing both hands over the barrel crown to take the weight off their weary legs
I reckon that if someone has had proper training, then safe actions become automatic, without having to think about it. Giving training to the old cronies is already too late. It should be given early on, to get the correct practices welded in to brains.Unfortunately not everyone is responsible enough to get proper training (or possibly too arrogant, tight or thick to realise that they might even need it). And this is the reason why I am a big supporter of state-imposed compulsory gun training.
I'm conscious that there are a heap of older, responsible and safe gun owners on this forum. This isn't intended as an attack on old people
If anything, it's an attack on younger folks for not getting the right training drilled in to their heads before they have a chance to grow old
