I severely dislike self-appointed range safety monitors,,,
I severely dislike self-appointed range safety monitors,,,
Some folk call them Range Nazi's.
I try to be diligent about obeying all safety rules,,,
I hold myself to a high standard and am diligent about it.
I belong to a private Rifle & Pistol Club,,,
It's an outdoor range that all members have access to,,,
We all go through a 4-hour Range Safety Orientation when we join.
Every now and then though,,,
Someone else decides I'm not up to
their standards.
One day I was on the section of our range with a very high (12-15 feet) grass covered berm,,,
I chose this section because of that as I wanted to shoot my "
Do-All Ground Target."
Our range rules say nothing about ground targets,,,
But I understand the dangers of skipping bullets off of the dirt,,,
So I purposefully chose the grassed range section with the highest berm available.
In addition I had asked the president of our club if this was okay,,,
He said that there was no problem he could see.
On this evening I was the only one at the range,,,
I'm happily plinking away at the bouncing target when I heard a auto behind me,,,
Out jumps this old dude (about my age of early 60's) who starts screaming and cursing at me.
In essence, I told him I had cleared this and he said, "I don't give a flying @#$%.",,,
If I didn't stop he was going to make me stop.
The man was open carrying a semi-auto and he placed his hand on his gun.
I believe I did the smart thing,,,
My Ruger was laying on the table and I stepped away from it,,,
And used my cell to call the park rangers to report a threatened assault.
The man was honest (or stupid) enough to verify my story to the ranger,,,
He said he put his hand on his gun to show he was serious,,,
The ranger asked if I wanted to press charges,,,
I said, "No, just make him go away."
Now this was the most extreme case of this kind of behavior,,,
But I have experienced other cases of over-reach of assumed authority.
The point I am trying to make here is,,,
If you see something that you don't think is safe,,,
Don't over-react and turn yourself into a self-appointed enforcer.
<RANT>
Or if you feel you must take action,,,
Don't charge up screaming and yelling like Conan the Barbarian.
Get someone who actually does have some authority to handle the situation.
</RANT>
Aarond
.