New Shooters - Old Shooters....

[ar10]

Roys AH article really resonated with me. I can remember a generation or so of old range crows who hogged shooting

lanes and made things hard for new shooters. I've also seen old gun celebrities on various enthusiast boards doing everything they could to run off newer shooters. . Some have "contributed" to the gun culture but they counterbalance this by killing the enthusiasm of new shooters.
They are merely the aged version of the junior high school bullies who made it dangerous to drop your soap in the shower.

New shooters are the most important part of the equation right now. Our local range traditionally had a membership in the mid 500s. Since the last political upheaval, the membership stands at over 1,000. It is now doubly important for the old beards to treat the new shooters with respect.

Your statement made me think back about our range. Last October we have 746 members and as of last week we have 1453. In 10 months it has doubled and over 50% are new shooters.
"Old shooters" don't mean squat to me any more and I have booted more than a few of them off the range. With many of the shooters that come in groups it's more like a social get-together, with cell phones, text messaging, and all the other crap. Instead of concentrating on the line they get distracted. I had one woman point loaded 45 right at her husbands chest, just because her girlfriend said something who was standing behind her, and they were the "old shooter" group. Stuff like that, and it's pretty common now since we will have more than 100 shooters on the line on a weekend, pisses me off. Instead of trying to help a shooter out I've now turned into a "royal a%*"HOLE :banghead::banghead:

 

[HarleyFixer]

And to be perfectly honest, sometimes a newbie doesn't KNOW how dumb his question really is.

In this day of the internet this is not an excuse. The answer to virtually any question is available on Google. DO YOUR HOMEWORK before asking what turns out to be a DUMB question. I am not an expert on many things so before I jump into anything I RESEARCH.
But then I am just a crotchety old guy. I truely enjoy teaching someone to shoot no matter the discipline BUT they need to 1. LISTEN, 2. LOOK, and 3. LEARN.

 

[Skillet]

i run into this alot.
i am about 15, my dad buys all of my guns for me, because he knows i handle them responsibly and knows that i do not do anything stupid with them. i took hunters ed when i was about 12 and have outshot my dad ever since (haha) but since i am underage, i go to the gun counter and look to see what is there and the guys look at me like i need to go die in a hole. i ignore them, and just try to go on about my own business. i do not get intimidated that easy and i just get my dad if i need something. one guy even tried to stop me from buying a holster because he thought you needed to be 18 to buy one.
i think that there will always be that "greenhorn" syndrome, it is like that in alot of things. i just choose to not let it bother me because nobody there knows my background with guns.
but i believe, that nobody should handle a gun until they have either gone through a gun safety class, whether that be hunters ed or something else, or unless they have been pounded to know gun safety.
i like to help out the people that are even newer to me when it comes to guns because it makes me feel like i can insure that they have a great time shooting, and because it makes me feel "high and mighty". really, i am glad that they ARE asking those questions because if they aren't we could have a problem with safety and the future of our sport. when starting out something new, the smart thing to do is ask questions and get to know your sport first.
everyone has to start somewhere.

 

[Skillet]

just remember though, it is a few bad apples that give the rest a bad name.
don't generalize.

 

[mec]

and just try to go on about my own business.

It sounds like you are already way ahead of the game. I suspect your dad is a wealth of knowlege. You might want to invest in a couple of new Handloading Manuals and maybe even a few vintage ones. A lot of gunshop and internet experts seem not to have read any of them. there are also basic books on shooting available through the National Rifle Association. Those things will help you evaluate the information you get from random sources.

 

[TheFallGuy]

Soda_monkey236, I get treated like you all the time because I am an inexperienced shooter too. Never mind the fact that I am 22, did my time in the army (including a tour overseas), have been shooting since 8, go hunting every year, built my own AR, got into reloading, been to an appleseed, taken many courses form NRA instructors, etc, etc. Get used to it.

It has been getting better but there are always one or two guys that always scoff at me on the range. Those are the same guys who think often think a 7mm mag or .300 winchester mag is required to get a white tail. If they are too stubborn to help you, why would they be open to suggestions from other folks? Do you really want those opinions or "help"?

 

[mcdonl]

The answer to virtually any question is available on Google. DO YOUR HOMEWORK before asking what turns out to be a DUMB question. I am not an expert on many things so before I jump into anything I RESEARCH.

I guess the only problem I have with this is that there are some good people here who are willing and happy to help, so me... I would prefer to come to a place like this to get my information then to Google. I suppose if you are not willing, or happy to help you could just ignore the questions. I only brought this up because I read the article over my morning coffee and thought I would share it.

Sorry to have caused such an up-roar.

 

[oneounceload]

One thing I would suggest to all new folks on this or any other similar forum, these places have "stickies" posted at the top with some of the more basic FAQ's and answers.......MANY of the basic questions have been asked, and answered, in those stickies, yet most folks do not look at them..........it really pays to look at those before posting a question that has been answered previously 100 times

 

[eqfan592]

I also sympathize with what that article is saying. I got my first gun on my 21st birthday as a present, but I didn't start shooting at all until last year (I'm now 28). Now this isn't entirely because of that some folks had at the stores when I would go in to ask questions, as that was a pretty crazy period in my life. But it did keep me from getting into it as quickly as I might have. Of course, getting a little older gave me a bit more of a "If they don't like it they can go to hell" attitude when it comes to people being crappy around new shooters. So last year, I took the NRA safety classes, and found a range that is run by some of the friendliest people I've met. Very welcoming, and always more than happy to answer questions, and the same can be said about many of the shooters there.

I guess I would say to anybody that is having any problems of the sort some of us have gone through to stick with it, and to not let the negative attitude of a few jerks get you down.