Police Approach on the Firing Range

[Godfather]

This happened to me and a friend.

We were at a local sandpit, blasting away with our toys, and we had just fired the last round of ammo to be found and were inspecting our targets when we notice behind us a town cop in his car on his radio looking at our cars with the guns layed out all over them. We stand up, and wait, hands held slightly away from our bodies with palms out.

OK, neither of us were armed (we'd left all the guns in the car) BUT, say I'd had a pistol still in my belt under my shirt. What should my first action have been?

 

[Third_Rail]

Were you there legally? I'm unsure why they did what they did. More details?

 

[OrvilleYertleson]

When I go to small, unsupervised ranges I always go downrange with one of my rifles, loaded.

I picked up this habit after an incident several years ago where (I believe) someone was trying to steal the rifles I left laying on the bench when I went downrange. This guy stuck around, doing nothing, and every time we turned our backs on him he would walk around to the trunk of his car and start fiddling with something out of sight. Pretty creepy.

So for your scenario, I would leave the rifle slung, finish my business downrange and return to the firing line. If the officer was at all friendly, I would invite him to shoot with us. If he was hostile, I would probably pack up and leave.

Especially considering that your situation takes place at a shooting range, you shouldn't feel the need to demonstrate that you are unarmed, or to explain the presence of your firearms.

 

[1 old 0311]

NEVER take the situation for granted. About 30 years ago I was living on a farm. We had a range out back. One day while shooting a .22 rifle I noticed a Sheriff pull up. I waved, and started to approach him. After a few steps I realized I was still carrying the rifle. I put it down and approached him. He said he was just curious about the shots, as he drove by. He did say thanks for leaving the rifle. I could tell he was a little nervous.

Kevin

 

[Lou629]

It has happened to me too. I think it's always a good idea to give a LEO as much peace of mind as possible in a situation like that. Hands in plain sight, no sudden or jerky movements, etc. I'm sure they appreciate it.

 

[chopinbloc]

you didn nothing wrong. he was likely just trolling for 'bangers or something. when cops show up when i'm shooting, i'll usually put my rifle down if it's not slung and walk over to talk to them. if they keep bs'ing longer than i feel like talking, i'll politely tell them i came here to shoot and that i'm gonna go ahead and get back to it. i've lost alot of respect for "peace officers" in the last couple years. there are ALOT of self righteous tools working for the various departments so while i'm always polite and friendly with them, i am never obsequious and i'll often simply TELL them what i'm gonna do and how i'm gonna do it. that usually kind of confuses them. they aren't used to people politely telling THEM how things are gonna happen. few cops will argue, either when i have an ar slung in a single point sling as does my fiance and usually one or two other folks with us and we ALL have a pistol on our sides.

 

[griz]

LEOs have a tough enough job. Don't make it any tougher by surprizing them with a gun.
It's happened to me once. Don't make any squirelly moves and do whatever they ask. After the initial questions, I ask "my" officer if she wanted to shoot some. Let your actions show them you are not a threat.

 

[gezzer]

What surprise the cop is there because they are shooting. Then Duh the cop can see they are target practicing.

BIG DEAL or are you supposed to grovvel because the cop is there.

If the cops show up where I shoot in a pit I tell them get a cold drink out of the cooler and ask what guns they would like to shoot. Police in my town are not stupid nor arrogant.

 

[Otherguy Overby]

When out informallly shooting somewhere, or even just on my own land, I NEVER shoot everything dry. At the very least, I'll be wearing my CCW fully loaded.

I dearly wish to avoid that sinking feeling of being down range fooling around with targets only to find someone taking advantage of me.

 

[old4x4]

A similar thing happened to me 18 or so odd years ago in a friend of mine's sandpit. It was kind of at the beginning of the "Handcannon" rage and I had a TC Contender with a ported SSK 444 Marlin barrel on it. It made a lot of noise. I guess someone called the police and they came up and checked me out. I just left it on the open tailgate of my truck and backed away a couple steps. He just said how they had to check out complaints of this nature and someone thought there was blasting going on (on a weekend). We had a laugh after he checked out my permit and he even liked the gun. I sure was suprised to see him coming down the road, though!

 

[Roadwild17]

Me and three friends were shooting at what is considered the local range. the parish dug out a ditch and left a nice levee, about 15 ft high and about 30 ft wide at the base-13 ft wide at the top. It made a 90 degree bend so that was the pit. Anyway were shooting and we see him coming down the road so we put the guns on the trucks and wait until he gets out his car. He gets out after another car comes up (3 cops against 4 unarmed guys, none of us CCW yet) They tell us bah blah blah we have to levee because were trespassing and the land owner called us in. My buddy calls his did and ask "Did you call the cops on us?" The cops story very quickly changed to "there are people riding 4whellers out there and we could hit them!" Me friend kindly told them "If you would keep the 4whellers of my land, we couldn't have that problem" then left. It was pretty funny watching the cop get his car stuck on the way out

 

[pdowg881]

What about if your shooting say way out in the woods, legally far enough from a home and all that and you see somebody or someone approaches you, cop or not? And is it illegal to go shooting in those circumstances? Like deep in the woods like where people hunt, but not during hunting season? Becuase where I shoot out in my woods, I had a bb gun, and a guy flipped out who was walking a trail with his dog. I held the gun out and told him I was going the other way and he was freaking out yelling that he has a dog etc etc. It was kinda funny. There was calming im down do I just backed off and kept my eye on him. Funy thing though, theres no trails and its basically muiles of woods behind a residential neighboorhood. Trails are on the other side of a lake. I've seen this guy another time the same weak and my spider sense tells me he was growing pot. I seen that a lot, but couldnt be bothered to look for plants. And don't say he was just I hiker because I've been around many people who are really into that, so I know what this guy was doing out there. lol. I have a nose for that kind of thing. But anyways other than this off topic rant, what do you do in this first situation i asked before talkin about this middle aged hippie man?

 

[Mauserguy]

I had a BLM ranger girl approach me out in the desert while shooting once. I had a rifle slung over my shoulder and a pistol on my hip. I took off my hat and my ear muffs, then pulled my ear plugs and she said that she had ordered me to stop shooting but I did not comply. Obviously because of the hearing protection.

Anyway, she made me stand there for about an hour while she ran my background over the radio, and called in the serial numbers for all of my guns. She was just going through the motions fishing to find something, anything. It was just a waist of time, and did not increase my respect for law enforcement (sorry cops).
Mauserguy

 

[Sam]

Just go about your lawful business and ignore them.


Sam

 

[FedGunner]

OK, neither of us were armed (we'd left all the guns in the car) BUT, say I'd had a pistol still in my belt under my shirt. What should my first action have been?

Hands where they can be easily seen, inform the officer when you are within range that you have a frirearm concealed. He will inform you as to how he wants it dealt with.

I think it would be dangerous to reach for a gun to clear it in your described situation.

 

[Old Dog]

OK, neither of us were armed (we'd left all the guns in the car) BUT, say I'd had a pistol still in my belt under my shirt. What should my first action have been?

A friendly wave, and a hearty, "How ya doin'" will normally suffice.

I'm truly not understanding the purpose of this thread.

 

[gunsmith]

I am always armed when shooting

in the great outdoors.
you went unarmed to inspect your target, what if a badguy decided he wanted your guns or worse?

 

[Fred Fuller]

There have been some serious bad actors in the past who made it a habit of equipping themselves at the expense of people who were practicing at informal shooting ranges out in the country. Read the full story of the bank robbers and murderers involved in the Miami FBI shootout in 1986 for one example. Platt and Matix murdered shooters in cold blood in order to steal vehicles, firearms and ammunition.

I'd not shoot up all available ammo or go downrange without a loaded firearm at an informal range...

lpl/nc

 

[Alex45ACP]

Reminds me of the time me and 3 other people were shooting out in the middle of nowhere and a cop pulled up. We asked her what's up and she said "Just seeing what's going on", or something like that. I suspect she was going to tell us to leave but changed her mind when she saw 4 guys with ARs and AKs and holstered pistols

 

[AirForceShooter]

Offer the LEO a mag to shoot.

AFS

 

[Oldtimer]

I voted "other" for several reasons.

#1: If you are shooting in a legal-to-shoot location, you're not legally bound to disarm, but it might be best if you do....out of mere respect, and to display that you are a law-abiding person.

#2: I don't think that anyone would even THINK of running toward a LEO while openly armed! That would definitely pose a threat to the LEO!

#3: "Communication"! As you make your approach toward the LEO, why not "talk it up", and articulate that you're merely "plinking" at targets or rodents. Also, explain that you are either NOT armed, or that you have a holstered weapon! If the LEO "instructs" you to stop and disarm, then DO SO!
At that moment, the LEO is the "authority", much like a rangemaster at a formal shooting range.

#4: In the scenario that you presented, YOU don't know WHY that LEO responded to your shooting location. If some sort of rabid anti-gun person called in and said that you were shooting at people in the sand pit, then you're a "suspect", since the LEO has not been able to verify if you're a "good guy" or a mass murderer!

#5: Nation-wide, there's one LEO per every 10,000 or so citizens. I'm not trying to bring up the "us against them" thing, but....the "Thin Blue Line" is a matter-of-fact! By displaying yourself as an honest, law-abiding, responsible and respectful person, by disarming when "instructed" to do so, the contact with a LEO will, most likely, end up being a "positive" event....and might even turn out to be a very short contact, instead of a lengthy "investigation".

Hey, my one-and-only traffic ticket that I have gotten was when I was 17 years old (I'm almost 60 years old now). The officer was professional, and I was definitely respectful toward him. I deserved the ticket! That contact with the officer was a "positive" event, as well as a "learning" lesson. For what it's worth, 7 years after getting that ticket, I ended up being that same officer's PARTNER when I was a rookie! He didn't recognize me, and I didn't expect him to, for the police have countless contacts with the public. We both had a good laugh about that ticket! I learned a LOT about "professionalism" from him, starting with the way he treated me when I was only 17 years old!

 

[Godfather]

I guess I'll answer some of these questions:

We were firing on someone else's private land, though we had permission to be there. The cops had been called by a nearby trailer park which calls in just about every other time someone shoots there, and legally the cops have to check out every call of gunshots.

And I should clarify, we'd fired every round for my friend .44 Deerfield, which is why we were there. I still had my CCW in the car with two mags.

The cop wasn't nervous at all, he barely got out of his car to check our ID's (I'm 18, my friend is 17, so he checked that all the handguns were mine). But he did say "Do you have any of the weapons on you right now" then "lift your shirts and turn around for me, would you?" with his hand on the butt of his pistol.

And we couldn't just "go about our business and ignore him". He was parked between us and our cars. He was also blocking the only way out (a narrow dirt road).

He was cordial enough. There was no problem here, I was just wondering what the best course of action would have been if I'd had my CCW on me downrange.

 

[Otherguy Overby]

Crooks & Cops

Crooks can steal your stuff or even your life.

Cops can steal your freedom, also.

 

[Devonai]

This is New Hampshire we're talking about. I'd smile, wave, and treat the cop the same way as anyone else who comes driving into the sandpit while I'm there. If the officer starts issuing orders, I'll comply.

I may walk away from most of my weapons but the only loaded weapon will be the pistol on my hip. If the cop wants me to get rid of it, I will. I don't need any extra holes in my body.

 

[OrvilleYertleson]

As far as announcing your CCW, I think your presence at a SHOOTING RANGE is fair warning that you 'may' have a gun. Why Kowtow to someone just because he is wearing a badge?

Behave in a nonthreatening manner, for sure, and show respect, for sure, but you shouldn't have to behave like a dog that's afraid it's going to get beat. If you aren't doing anything wrong then act like it.