Funderb
Member
I will do my best to be completely objective about this, though that is not a human function.
A couple friends and I, who are all over 18, and non-felons, decided to head out to the range to celebrate this rainy valentines day at the local F&W public range in the city where I go to school.
It was a great day to go to the range, it was rainy, and a holiday, and we expected few people there. (Not because we are snobs, but because I really don't like shooting when the lines are packed with bump firing ak guys and other kids shooting their new 9mils as fast as they possibly can.)
There are two lanes at this range, one pistol/short distance anything range, and one long distance range with targets at 50 and 100 yards. These lanes are separated by a 7 or 8 foot concrete wall, and have 15' berms with overhead angled steel traps that rise another 10 feet.
We were the only people on the longer range, shooting a .22, my cz52 and a brand new shotgun, trying out the function and chokes. The majority shot that day was probably my .22, which my friends love because it is a tack driver. (I shot a flying bumble bee with it last time we were there)
Either way, we shot our fair share, and began to pick up all of out trash, some of other people's trash, and just try to be responsible range users.
When we get back to behind the benches a man from the other, short lane approaches us,
"Excuse me gentlemen, I'm an off duty police officer, are any of you over the age of 21?"
me- "No sir"
Man- "Well, none of you are supposed to be here."
me- "I'm sorry sir, we didn't know that, we'll be happy to leave right now, we are cleaning up now, actually."
Man- "Have any of you taken a hunter's safety course? Who's the oldest one here?"
(I am unsure over this question, and volunteer myself, being the oldest my a few months.)
Man- "How old are you?"
Me- "20, sir."
Man- "Have you taken a hunter's safety course?"
(I pause, thinking if the mandatory firearms safety course I've taken for my membership at my home range in jax counts, probably not.)
me - "hmm, no sir, I haven't"
Man- "WELL, you are not allowed to be here with your friends unless you have some one else who is 21 or older."
me- "Yes, I thought, well, you are right, we'll be leaving now sir."
Man- "Well, I have a problem with something you did today."
(Me thinking, uh oh, I must have missed something my friends did, I thought I was being watchful and responsible....)
Man- "You guys all walked down range while we still had loaded weapons on our side, thats how people get killed, and it is stupid."
me- "Yes sir, that was very dumb of us, I'm sorry that happened."
(brief aside: At the range where I am a member, it is common policy to have ranges that are divided the way this one is operate independently of one another, with this setup any "strays" crossing to other ranges would be the result of extreme negligence. You may have a different opinion, but this is how I have seen things run since I was 8, and I am used to it.)
Man- "Well, I think you guys need to make your weapons safe and just leave now. I'm being nice about this, I could have just called my buddies and had them confiscate your weapons and write you guys a bunch of tickets."
me- "Well, thank you sir, I appreciate your leniency."
(thinking, WTFO? We have done nothing illegal here, you can't write a ticket for anything, let alone CONFISCATE my firearms, or my friend's.)
I left with a casual, "Have a good valentines day, guys" thrown over the shoulder at the remaining people shooting with the "off duty cop", trying to be decent and polite.
There is the story.
Now my opinion, I am flustered. He made me look like a fool, and lost face, in my own opinion on how my friends, who look up to me for safety instruction, because I have been shooting for 12 years, and am VERY concerned over safety. I walked down range on out portion because I felt safe, and thats how I've done it since the dawn of my shooting years. You guys are free to call me stupid, and I realize that I should have made the other portion of the range go cold. We were relying on other people to be responsible, and this is a public range, and I should have assumed that they had not been trained in safety, and not trustable.
I wish the man had just addressed us without pulling rank, be it legitimate or not. He may have done that deliberately to make us submissive, but it was unnecessary, we are all polite, responsible, and willing to listen to those who may have a problem.
Anyone got an opinion, of any type?
Try to keep it tame, I am already flustered, so don't just call me a "stupid m#%^&$^F@$%$#"
/rant
one DEMAND,
no cop bashing. Period.
A couple friends and I, who are all over 18, and non-felons, decided to head out to the range to celebrate this rainy valentines day at the local F&W public range in the city where I go to school.
It was a great day to go to the range, it was rainy, and a holiday, and we expected few people there. (Not because we are snobs, but because I really don't like shooting when the lines are packed with bump firing ak guys and other kids shooting their new 9mils as fast as they possibly can.)
There are two lanes at this range, one pistol/short distance anything range, and one long distance range with targets at 50 and 100 yards. These lanes are separated by a 7 or 8 foot concrete wall, and have 15' berms with overhead angled steel traps that rise another 10 feet.
We were the only people on the longer range, shooting a .22, my cz52 and a brand new shotgun, trying out the function and chokes. The majority shot that day was probably my .22, which my friends love because it is a tack driver. (I shot a flying bumble bee with it last time we were there)
Either way, we shot our fair share, and began to pick up all of out trash, some of other people's trash, and just try to be responsible range users.
When we get back to behind the benches a man from the other, short lane approaches us,
"Excuse me gentlemen, I'm an off duty police officer, are any of you over the age of 21?"
me- "No sir"
Man- "Well, none of you are supposed to be here."
me- "I'm sorry sir, we didn't know that, we'll be happy to leave right now, we are cleaning up now, actually."
Man- "Have any of you taken a hunter's safety course? Who's the oldest one here?"
(I am unsure over this question, and volunteer myself, being the oldest my a few months.)
Man- "How old are you?"
Me- "20, sir."
Man- "Have you taken a hunter's safety course?"
(I pause, thinking if the mandatory firearms safety course I've taken for my membership at my home range in jax counts, probably not.)
me - "hmm, no sir, I haven't"
Man- "WELL, you are not allowed to be here with your friends unless you have some one else who is 21 or older."
me- "Yes, I thought, well, you are right, we'll be leaving now sir."
Man- "Well, I have a problem with something you did today."
(Me thinking, uh oh, I must have missed something my friends did, I thought I was being watchful and responsible....)
Man- "You guys all walked down range while we still had loaded weapons on our side, thats how people get killed, and it is stupid."
me- "Yes sir, that was very dumb of us, I'm sorry that happened."
(brief aside: At the range where I am a member, it is common policy to have ranges that are divided the way this one is operate independently of one another, with this setup any "strays" crossing to other ranges would be the result of extreme negligence. You may have a different opinion, but this is how I have seen things run since I was 8, and I am used to it.)
Man- "Well, I think you guys need to make your weapons safe and just leave now. I'm being nice about this, I could have just called my buddies and had them confiscate your weapons and write you guys a bunch of tickets."
me- "Well, thank you sir, I appreciate your leniency."
(thinking, WTFO? We have done nothing illegal here, you can't write a ticket for anything, let alone CONFISCATE my firearms, or my friend's.)
I left with a casual, "Have a good valentines day, guys" thrown over the shoulder at the remaining people shooting with the "off duty cop", trying to be decent and polite.
There is the story.
Now my opinion, I am flustered. He made me look like a fool, and lost face, in my own opinion on how my friends, who look up to me for safety instruction, because I have been shooting for 12 years, and am VERY concerned over safety. I walked down range on out portion because I felt safe, and thats how I've done it since the dawn of my shooting years. You guys are free to call me stupid, and I realize that I should have made the other portion of the range go cold. We were relying on other people to be responsible, and this is a public range, and I should have assumed that they had not been trained in safety, and not trustable.
I wish the man had just addressed us without pulling rank, be it legitimate or not. He may have done that deliberately to make us submissive, but it was unnecessary, we are all polite, responsible, and willing to listen to those who may have a problem.
Anyone got an opinion, of any type?
Try to keep it tame, I am already flustered, so don't just call me a "stupid m#%^&$^F@$%$#"
/rant
one DEMAND,
no cop bashing. Period.