Range Safety Violations

[R_Comstock]

Hey all! I was reading some of the posts here and noticed a bunch of them revolved around experiences at the range. I thought about it for a moment and realized that in my short time (27 years or so) on this planet, I can recall at least 3 times in which I saw safety violations that could have killed someone and countless others that just resulted in someone's embarrassment. I would like to hear of the experiences of others. I'll start with one that's a classic to me...

2003- At "The Armory" shooting range in Virginia Beach, VA. I was among a group of about 100 people who were shooting various weapons for qualification (Navy). M-16s, M-14s, Shotguns and Beretta 9mm were in the mix. By this time in my career, I already had a handful of close friends who ran things in the armory and I was helping them reload magazines for the next round of shooters. Because nobody was shooting, we all had our safety gear (glasses and hearing protection) relaxed. There was a full line of shooters ready to go through a 'dry-fire' practice run. The range officer said (nearly quoting as best as I can remember) "This will be a dry-fire, dry-fire ONLY. DO NOT load a magazine. Shooters ready...line is ready...commence fire!" About 5 seconds later BANG! All of us who were armed immediately drew down on this one poor sap who had pulled a magazine from his belt, put it in the magazine well, cocked and fired after the range officer clearly said (at least twice) that this would be a dry-fire. He told us that he had a hearing problem and did not hear the instructions. (This was an indoor range, by the way) Don't know what ever became of the issue. All I know is he was immediately kicked off the line and the range officer was saying something about Court Martial and such like that. Anyway, I think that will get us started. I'll tell about the other two in a later post.

[LaserTex]

Bullet Hole - last time I went out there...a couple months ago. Check in area is small and usually crowded. A female in full body armor and helmet and her long ago retired father were renting an M9. She was an Army Lt. and was being deployed to Afganistan but had to pass pistol qualifications (2 in 8 or better and 1 in head in 10 seconds, if I recall). Checking in - DAD was checking out the rental pistol, turning it this way and that, not caring at all where the barrel was pointed. That should have been the warning.

Out on the range, Dad was almost as careless. Don't know if she ever hit her shots. We left.

Doug

[randomoutburst]

Before we went on an overseas trip, my hubby and I wanted to go to the range and shoot since we'd be without our weapons for two weeks. My mother expressed interest in going, so we invited her along and she accepted. She hadn't shot a pistol before (only a shotgun) and seemed both excited and nervous so we gave her basic rules to follow before we ever got to the range, and repeated the rules again when we got there. They ran something along the lines of, "Don't point the gun at anything you don't want to shoot, treat every gun as if it is loaded, always keep the gun pointed downrange, when you are done shooting put the gun on the bench and step back," and more.

We got there, got her hearing and eye protection and took her into the pistol range. I should mention that the guy at the desk said no one else was on the range and if we didn't want to use the hearing protection we didn't have to unless someone else entered the range. This was bad because my mother kept wanting to remove her hearing protection to tell us something (that's right, she needed to remove her protection to SAY something, not hear it). After my husband politely told her to keep her hearing protection ON many times, he finally barked, "KEEP YOUR EARS ON!" and she didn't touch them again.
So we get up to the line and he tells her to pick up his Taurus PT92, explaining that since it is a large gun chambered in a smaller caliber, it will barely kick and to not be afraid of it because it is, indeed, fun to shoot.

She picks it up and he explains where to put her hands and why (slides nicking your thumb can hurt like heck), shows her how to aim, and tells her that after she shoots the first round the trigger will move into single action. We had previously explained to her in the car what the difference between single and double action was, and why it was very important to keep the gun facing downrange at all times but especially in single action. He notes once again that the trigger will function as a hair trigger and would go off at the slightest tap.

She readied herself, took quite a bit of time to aim, and shot the first round pretty near the white. What she did next caused panic, alarm, and yelling from both me and my husband. She turned around, waving the gun back and forth in excitement going, "I shot it! I shot it!" My husband swooped down on her, grabbed her hand and pointed the gun back downrange while scolding her. Almost immediately after the gun was pointed where it should be, the gun fired again. My mother looked surprised and goes, "Oh! It shot!"

That was definitely the moment we realized she hadn't listened to ANYTHING we'd said. We repeated this scenario several times before she learned not to turn around after every shot. She could have shot either one of us during her "dance of excitement" and thank goodness no one else was in there to witness it or become a target, either. Needless to say, we aren't taking her shooting again with us anytime soon. Next time we're feeling suicidal we'll give her a call.

[android]

What she did next caused panic, alarm, and yelling from both me and my husband. She turned around, waving the gun back and forth in excitement going, "I shot it! I shot it!" My husband swooped down on her, grabbed her hand and pointed the gun back downrange while scolding her. Almost immediately after the gun was pointed where it should be, the gun fired again. My mother looked surprised and goes, "Oh! It shot!"

That was definitely the moment we realized she hadn't listened to ANYTHING we'd said. We repeated this scenario several times before she learned not to turn around after every shot. She could have shot either one of us during her "dance of excitement" and thank goodness no one else was in there to witness it or become a target, either. Needless to say, we aren't taking her shooting again with us anytime soon. Next time we're feeling suicidal we'll give her a call.

I've only taken a few people shooting for the first time, but based on this kind of advice on TxCHL and other forums, they always only get one round loaded for the first shot. You just never know how they're going to react. If they do well, they get 2 or three rounds the next time. They don't get a full mag until I feel I can trust them a bit.

[randomoutburst]

She didn't have a full mag, just a few rounds, but it retrospect she should have only gotten one round for everyone's safety. Lesson learned. :)

[psehorne]

I've been teaching my grandsons firearm safety at home. First with an airsoft replica of a Sig P229 (full size metal full weight, slide recoil and all). I drilled them over and over (not just oral instructions, but actual physical drills) on finger off the trigger, point at target, finger on trigger, finger off trigger, point at ground in front of you, repeat.... No matter how many time you tell someone orally it doesn't build muscle memory.... Once they 'almost' had the hang of it we repeated with one of my real pistols and snap caps... I had to repeatedly point out that they were keeping their finger on the trigger.... Only after I said "I can NOT take you to the firing range until you demonstrate to me that you remove your finger from the trigger every time you remove the aim from the target." did they get the message.

After that they both demonstrated repeatedly that they have formed the good habit. In the fact the youngest (9 years) is very, very consistent in picking up the pistol properly (with finger indexed on the frame above the trigger guard), pointing in a safe direction, and only putting the finger on the trigger as the aim goes down range, and removing the finger from the trigger as soon as the aim is removed from the target.

Even with this demonstration of good safe handling. The first few shots at the range I only allow one bullet in the pistol at a time for the first two or three shots until I confirm once again that the training has stuck. I never put more than one round in the pistol with a new shooter until I see confirmation that the safety habit is ingrained in muscle.

I followed this same procedure with my 35 year old daughter - safety instruction at home first, repetitive drilling of picking up the gun and handing it to me with the finger off the trigger and pointed in a safe direction.... over and over... before we ever set foot on a range - and then only one bullet at at time until I am convinced the training is ingrained.

[Purplehood]

I hate to admit it, but I have a brother who you can NEVER talk to while he is holding a weapon. If you do he will turn to look at you, right along with his damn muzzle.

[Skiprr]

How can you tell an experienced shooter?

Hand him or her a spray-bottle of Windex. If it is immediately pointed in a safe direction and the index finger is aligned across the top of the spray-head, you've got a shooter.

Remember, never put your finger on the sprayer until you are ready to actually clean...

[chabouk]

How can you tell an experienced shooter?

Hand him or her a spray-bottle of Windex. If it is immediately pointed in a safe direction and the index finger is aligned across the top of the spray-head, you've got a shooter.

Remember, never put your finger on the sprayer until you are ready to actually clean...

I do the same thing with power tools.

[budroux2w]

How can you tell an experienced shooter?

Hand him or her a spray-bottle of Windex. If it is immediately pointed in a safe direction and the index finger is aligned across the top of the spray-head, you've got a shooter.

Remember, never put your finger on the sprayer until you are ready to actually clean...

HAHA! I never thought about that but I do that. I'll have to try it out with some people soon.

I do the power tools as mentioned above as well, finger off the trigger until you're ready to drill lol

[A-R]

I've been teaching my grandsons firearm safety at home. First with an airsoft replica of a Sig P229 (full size metal full weight, slide recoil and all). I drilled them over and over (not just oral instructions, but actual physical drills) on finger off the trigger, point at target, finger on trigger, finger off trigger, point at ground in front of you, repeat.... No matter how many time you tell someone orally it doesn't build muscle memory.... Once they 'almost' had the hang of it we repeated with one of my real pistols and snap caps... I had to repeatedly point out that they were keeping their finger on the trigger.... Only after I said "I can NOT take you to the firing range until you demonstrate to me that you remove your finger from the trigger every time you remove the aim from the target." did they get the message.

After that they both demonstrated repeatedly that they have formed the good habit. In the fact the youngest (9 years) is very, very consistent in picking up the pistol properly (with finger indexed on the frame above the trigger guard), pointing in a safe direction, and only putting the finger on the trigger as the aim goes down range, and removing the finger from the trigger as soon as the aim is removed from the target.

Even with this demonstration of good safe handling. The first few shots at the range I only allow one bullet in the pistol at a time for the first two or three shots until I confirm once again that the training has stuck. I never put more than one round in the pistol with a new shooter until I see confirmation that the safety habit is ingrained in muscle.

I followed this same procedure with my 35 year old daughter - safety instruction at home first, repetitive drilling of picking up the gun and handing it to me with the finger off the trigger and pointed in a safe direction.... over and over... before we ever set foot on a range - and then only one bullet at at time until I am convinced the training is ingrained.

psehorne, you are a wonderful grandpa

I really like your training methods and plan to use these with my own children. When taking adults to shoot who've never shot before, I always insist that they practice what I've taught them first with an unloaded weapon, dry firing at the target, handling the weapon, etc. But these extra steps at home with children is very wise indeed.

[psehorne]

psehorne, you are a wonderful grandpa

Thank you austinrealtor....

to the grand kids I am Grand Paul.... hee, hee, hee...

[R_Comstock]

2006- At the Outer Banks Gun Club range in Manns Harbor, NC. I'm at the range with a friend of mine just burning ammo for lack of anything better to do. Well, he brought a long this pistol that he said was "Standard issue Czechoslovakian Army officer sidearm" and it took a 7.62mm (x24 I THINK, it wasn't 39) and it kicked like a mule. The trigger slapped back when you fired so by the time I burned through 12 rounds, my trigger finger was numb. Anyway, the only other people on the range were a father/son duo on the rifle range sighting in. The son (who didn't seem to be too interested in sighting) walked over to us to see what all we were shooting. (Both of us being military, we had a 'collection') We talked for a bit, more than happy to feed a young man's hunger for destruction. He sounded like he had a little bit of a clue so when he asked if he could shoot a few rounds through this unique pistol, we handed it over. Well, I learned a lesson that day. He took aim, clicked off the safety and squeezed. Right after the follow-through, he turns around with finger still in the trigger guard. I tell him very sternly to keep the gun pointed down range. After a quick 'sorry' he aimed again and fired a few more shots. When he turned around again (finger in the guard AGAIN) I told him to put the gun on the bench and leave. He took offense and started saying something along the lines of "Who do you think you are to tell me..." and I informed him I was a paying member of the range and it was within my right (and responsibility) to tell him to leave. He decided to go back to his dad at the rifle range and upon telling of the incident, they decided to leave. I think he was about 15 or 16 years old at the time.
-BM2

[mctowalot]

Many many years ago there was a young couple at the range for the first time together. He tells her to stand NEXT to him and observe while he emptied an entire clip from his fancy brand new first generation Glock 9mm. (were/are those 19 rds.?) Any way it was A LOT of hot brass, and standing NEXT to him on his right side the young lady caught EVERY SINGLE ejected case in her big 'ol 1980's (or was it early '90s) hair. Needless to say she was not impressed. Yeah, that was our first and last date. Misty if your out there I'm still really sorry about your hair babe!

[samobius]

My friend and I were at the range on an off day so there was no rangemaster.

One of the shooters called for a cease fire, and everyone stopped and stepped back.

One of the guys on the line must have had ADD or something because he got done reloading his clip, popped it in his pistol and started shooting with people checking their targets!!! He immediately got yelled at and stopped. I'm sure he was very embarrassed, but I'm not sure that's a harsh enough punishment for something so lax.