What would you have done?

[Warp]

PS: A poisonous snake is only dangerous if you eat it.

Now, a venomous snake...that's a different story.

 

[Manson]

exbrit. With the possible exception of the expletive I think you reacted well.

 

[tarakian]

You did nothing wrong. It's easy to say one would be calm and cool when a gun is pointed at us, another matter entirely when it actually happens. You had no choice but to yell as the need for his attention was immediate and from the sounds of it, he was 50 yards away. Even though he chose to believe his gun was safe to point at others, you has no choice but to assume it was loaded and your safety was in danger. Calmly walking 50 yards with a gun pointed at you is not the correct response. You were also correct in reporting it and going back with the club president to calmly educate him.

 

[russ69]

I've done the same thing. Sometimes with and sometimes without the swear words.

 

[mcdonl]

Clinton Staples once told us (At an IDPA Match)... "If you point a gun in my direction, I will assume you want to engage in a gun fight and I will react accordingly" - Maybe not appropriate for this, but it is a great qoute...

 

[EddieNFL]

I think your reaction was a poor one. That kind of behavior can easily be the catalyst for an altercation.

Getting loud and profane with the guy pointing a rifle at you, when you are seemingly in the inferior tactical position at that, just doesn't seem like a good idea.

You where in an inferior position with inferior weapons to respond.

If you are going to cuss at the guy, then don't be so stupid as to do so when you hold such an inferior position.

If someone gets their feelings hurt, they're gonna blast you. Maybe that Brady woman isn't all wrong.

 

[jim243]

If that had happend at our range, he would have been immeditatly removed by the SO's from the range and never allowed back.

There are no exceptions member or not.

Jim

 

[Sheepdog1968]

The gun with the AR in my opinion was far too casual with safety. That's how people get shot. I'm on the fence if you overreacted. Getting the club president was a good idea.

 

[clamman]

When I was 14, I went deer hunting with my cousin in the north woods of Wisconsin. He was playing around and pointed his loaded deer rifle at me. I promptly disarmed him and beat the crap out of him. That's how I react.

 

[dubya450]

I don't know, I think I would have acted similar. I would have been very ticked off. Thats the one thing I hate about shooting at public ranges, you never know who you'll have in the lane next to you. There are some very stupid people out there that have poor training if any at all that think guns are just toys and they are cool shooting them. I'm always very aware of who's in the range with me, if i feel unsafe or uncomfortable I talk with a manager or come back another time. I was never this critical until once last year I was at the bench loading mags while my buddy was shooting and there was one more lane to our left with a brick wall to their left. I was watch this guy who I've concluded was a noob and he had some sort or malfunction. The guy was pointing the loaded gun in all sorts of directions he even looked down the barrel! I think it was out of battery but he apparently pulled the trigger and it fired right past his head and up into the brick wall to his left. What if there had been another lane on that side? I'm just thankful he was at the end lane and nobody was injured. I told the manager and they removed him from the lane. I talked to the manager afterwards and he offered him a firearms training course (not for free) and had said things like that aren't very uncommon. Ever since that incident I've been very aware of my surroundings especially if they look like young punks that are call of duty video game masters.

 

[Claude Clay]

been on the wrong end of a muzzle all to many times at every range I've been too. more so in the last 5 years than the previous 45 all together*

I've noticed my calm and cool are related to distance
when the person sweeps the firing line and i can dodge and than approach, its calmly.

when I'm on the grass down range--its less calm.

* whats changed lately is they make excuses rather than own up to a mistake and promise not to do it again.
its the 'entitlement' generation and guns are their new 'cool' toys. honestly, i believe that they
think the entire world has a re-set button and they don't have to worry.

im seeing a lot of young today that were brought up special and without coping skills.

 

[Ramone]

It's *almost* a universal range rule that no weapons are handled when the range is "cold".

It's also pretty universal that "it's not loaded" are famous last words (hence, RULE ONE).

It's my experience that while one might have to raise one's voice to get someones attention, "yelling" is something else altogether. Yelling and cussing are usually not the best way to gain cooperation. I find that calmly, even respectfully making it clear that someone was being an ass and a menace will result in a greater return from such 'teaching moments'.

Still, while your reaction may have been less than ideal, given the circumstance, I don't think it was out of line.

 

[Dave Workman]

Looks like you graduated with honors from the "Dave Workman school of range diplomacy"

I've written about knuckleheads like this.
I had a guy scope me and my family one year while deer hunting and I know that gun was loaded. I stood up, in blaze orange, and he boogied along with what looked like his dad and his son...three generations of idiots.

Got my wife and kids into the truck and went down one road and back up another to have a chat with this fool, but he was gone by then in a cloud of dust.

On the range there is no excuse, none, to be aiming a gun toward someone, even if it's not loaded, even if you're just taking photos.

I take photos all the time on gun ranges for my magazine reviews. I can't think of a single time when I aimed a muzzle in someone's direction.

I've written too many stories about people who killed someone with an "empty" gun. I've seen people who were killed with "empty" guns. Trust me, you ain't missing anything by missing that opportunity.

You did what I'd have done, with more colorful language.

 

[readyeddy]

I think the OP did okay. Pointing a gun in the wrong direction should be corrected asap, hurt feelings notwithstanding.

 

[modarmory]

i think talking to the president / people who are in charge was a great step.
People do need to be reminded about gun safety.
Its hard to say what any of us would do in that instance unless we have actually been in that exact situation.

 

[Swing]

i think talking to the president / people who are in charge was a great step.

This. Egregious range idiocy, like pointing a rifle at someone, needs to be reported to whomever (range master, president, board, etc.) is in charge of insuring said doesn't occur.

 

[Baba Louie]

It's always the gun that someone THOUGHT was not loaded... oops. Uh, sorry.

BTDT, I hit the deck and yelled. I looked stupid doing it (yelling at idiot while prone) I admit, but he got the message... I think.

 

[Deanimator]

I've actually had morons SHOOT while I was downrange.

A friend and I were on the Ft. Knox public range back in the '80s. While we were there a couple of civilians showed up. We called a ceasefire and went downrange to change targets. A few seconds later, I heard the snap of a bullet followed by a gunshot. That was repeated several more times. We started yelling for a ceasefire and ran up to the two townies. We asked them what the **** they thought they were doing shooting when somebody was clearly downrange. Their reply? "We wasn't shootin' atcha. We was shootin' PAST ya!" Our reply? "Do it again and we'll shoot THROUGH you."

We went straight to range control, but by the time they got back to the line, Larry and Daryl were gone.

At the club I currently belong to, we take safety VERY seriously. All it would take would be for one person to get shot for us to get shut down.

People's lives and the continued existence of the club are WAY more important than somebody's feelings.

 

[hardluk1]

DNS I have been to more than enough ranges to know that a range officer will call the range cold and people step back from the line. And a 1000 yard range that make all other distance closed for the event. Or in the case where you are shooting "down range" Everthing else is CLOSED.

 

[Dr. Detroit]

It's always better to stay as calm and civil as possible, but I understand your reaction. I've experienced incidents like this myself and they are extremely unpleasant.

I'm surprised by the rangemaster's lenient reaction. I guess it depends on your club's rules, but I would have expected the offender to be ejected from the range. Then, a written warning and some mandatory remedial training.

Glad you're OK, and hopefully Mr. Kooky got the safety message.

Cheers,
Dr. Detroit

 

[KTXdm9]

Safety trumps manners, in my opinion. It's perfectly natural to freak out a bit when you think your life might be in danger. It sounds like AR guy's attitude towards safety was far too cavalier.

 

[MachIVshooter]

People's lives and the continued existence of the club are WAY more important than somebody's feelings.

This reply is generalized toward the all comments like the one above:

It ain't about hurt feelings. It's about not creating/escalating a situation. You scream profanities at the guy, and maybe he is surprised and embarrassed. That's the best possible outome. However, and possibly more likely, he'll react aggressively-maybe just words, maybe not. I've been on plenty of public ranges where I've seen characters that it would not surprise me one bit if they would have walked over and assaulted or even threatened with the gun someone who yelled at them like that. Yep, they're now in the wrong twice-but it's a bad situation for you all the same.

If you want to engage armed people you don't know with hostility, that's your perogative. But it's not a smart thing to do.

 

[Ohio Gun Guy]

I think the range set up is poor. Do they have a pistol range?

Under those circumstances, I also think your reaction was poor. It didnt help, and its not like you were walking down your side walk and someone pointed a gun at you. You were down range of the benches... Now, I would have said something to the guys, but yelling and swearing at them really leaves them no where, but "screw you" to go.

At a state range near me, if you want / need to shoot shorter than the range, you still shoot from the firing line.... I think this avoids the problem you had.

In short I think 100% of what happened is a result of a poor set up.

 

[BADUNAME37]

If they are only "taking pictures" why does it have to be at the range? They can stand in their back yard taking pictures if they want, or just go to some secluded spot for a few minutes.

Suppose the guy's gun was, indeed, loaded? You may have just been moments away from being a statistic, perhaps your yelling at him stopped what might have been a bad day for you (read: your LAST day)!

If people are willing to do the things we see on the news, anything is possible.

 

[EddieNFL]

However, and possibly more likely, he'll react aggressively-maybe just words, maybe not. I've been on plenty of public ranges where I've seen characters that it would not surprise me one bit if they would have walked over and assaulted or even threatened with the gun someone who yelled at them like that.

Old argument used by the antis. I remember the outcry when Florida passed CC. "The streets will run red with blood. Be careful how you look at another person or what you say." Same thing again when Stand Your Ground passed.

If you want to engage armed people you don't know with hostility, that's your perogative. But it's not a smart thing to do.

"But the gun was unloaded." Sarcasm aside, I don't disagree with that, it seems many here have never fired on a military controlled range. You violate a safety rule and you're gonna hear barking...probably from multiple directions. In today's kinder, gentler society I guess that is considered politically un-correct. My favorite part of The Pacific series was the Gunny disarming the lackadaisical lieutenant.