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https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local ... -585603633

Police said a 911 call came in at 12:55 p.m. Sunday reporting a person was hurt from a shooting at the gun range located at 1908 W. Pecan Street. The victim was transported to a nearby hospital with critical injuries. According to KVUE's media partners at the Austin American-Statesman, the gunshot was self-inflicted.

Was this a suicide or a lack of knowledge of safety and/or the operation of the gun?

OneGun wrote: ↑Tue Aug 21, 2018 6:50 am Was this a suicide or a lack of knowledge of safety and/or the operation of the gun?

Hard to imagine someone would go to a gun range to commit suicide. My guess is this was either a gun that was assumed to be unloaded without checking the chamber, or a person responding badly to a jam or failure. Those are not the only two possibilities, but either way more than one out of 4 basic safety rules was violated.

Suicide is hard for me to imagine at all. However, my lack of imagination has no bearing on reality whatsoever. A simple Google search for "suicide at gun range" rendered over 1,000,000 hits. Obviously, many will not be true matches. You can count the incidents if you want to. The point is, suicide at gun range is a real thing. YouTube has reports about suicides, attempts, and accidents.

Suicides at gun ranges are a real thing, and something that range owners must be aware of and prepared for. Reasoning (if you can call it that) ranges from easy and inexpensive access to a firearm, and it leaves the mess to strangers to clean up rather than loved ones. A few years ago there was actually a murder-suicide (attempt?) at a gun range.

sjfcontrol wrote: ↑Tue Aug 21, 2018 7:29 am Suicides at gun ranges are a real thing, and something that range owners must be aware of and prepared for. Reasoning (if you can call it that) ranges from easy and inexpensive access to a firearm, and it leaves the mess to strangers to clean up rather than loved ones. A few years ago there was actually a murder-suicide (attempt?) at a gun range.

I hadn't thought of that, but it does make sense after I remember that not everyone owns a gun.

allisji wrote: ↑Tue Aug 21, 2018 7:02 am

OneGun wrote: ↑Tue Aug 21, 2018 6:50 am Was this a suicide or a lack of knowledge of safety and/or the operation of the gun?

Hard to imagine someone would go to a gun range to commit suicide. My guess is this was either a gun that was assumed to be unloaded without checking the chamber, or a person responding badly to a jam or failure. Those are not the only two possibilities, but either way more than one out of 4 basic safety rules was violated.

sjfcontrol wrote: ↑Tue Aug 21, 2018 7:29 am Suicides at gun ranges are a real thing, and something that range owners must be aware of and prepared for. Reasoning (if you can call it that) ranges from easy and inexpensive access to a firearm, and it leaves the mess to strangers to clean up rather than loved ones. A few years ago there was actually a murder-suicide (attempt?) at a gun range.

Sjfcontrol beat me to it. Self-inflicted accidental/negligent injury is not that uncommon at shooting ranges - particularly on ranges that allow drawing from the holster. Big Boy Rules apply. You shoot yourself, you own it. But suicides aren’t that rare either.

I went shooting at an indoor range in NewJersey last month with my daughter. They had a policy that you could not reserve a lane and shoot solo, you had to have a companion. The reason - suicide attempts. And probably makes more sense in NJ, since guns are so hard to get there.

Some ranges prevent you from renting a gun if you are alone and do not have your own gun. I assumed this was because of suicide risk.

If you bring your own gun and are alone, they do rent you other guns. Just in case someone mistakes me saying you can never rent a gun if alone.

I live in Pflugerville and this is not the first time that this has happened.

Wag2323 wrote: ↑Tue Aug 21, 2018 10:10 am Some ranges prevent you from renting a gun if you are alone and do not have your own gun. I assumed this was because of suicide risk.

If you bring your own gun and are alone, they do rent you other guns. Just in case someone mistakes me saying you can never rent a gun if alone.

Even that won't prevent someone who is intent on offing themselves. MIght even take the companion/instructor/range safety officer down too.

Suicide on the pistol line at The Bullet Hole in SA a few years back.

Suicide is such a common thing at ranges that both ranges I use won't let you rent a gun unless you've shot your own gun on a prior visit.

Suicide was the one word answer when I asked about the policy.

Sadly, there are basically only ranges that have had suicides or ranges that will. They don't often get much press as suicides aren't typically covered in any great detail by most papers unless there's something notable about the person or the act.

Beyond the tragedy for friends and family, suicide at a range profoundly affects the employees and other shooters present and can be dangerous for bystanders.

I used to work at a gun range, and our policy on renting was that you either had to bring a friend, or bring a weapon of your own. Apparently as stated before it’s a fairly common problem. I was fortunate enough to never have to experience it.