About 75% of my practice happens at the busy indoor public range located at NRA Headquarters in Virginia. It’s a fantastic facility with a bunch of trained, dedicated range officers on staff who patrol the firing points looking for accidents before they happen. However, they can’t be everywhere at once. And today I was standing right next to one of those accidents before, during, and after it happened.
Two women were in the lane next to me shooting a SIG P232. After her first magazine, one of the ladies seemed to think we were buddies. She tapped me on the shoulder while I was shooting so she could show me her target… she was so proud! My response probably wasn’t as nurturing as she’d hoped.
The next thing I saw was this same woman loading her pistol, finger on the trigger, pistol pointed cross range right at me. Before I could even holster my gun and reach her, one of the range staff was already correcting her mistake. The RO demonstrated the proper way to manipulate the slide while keeping the muzzle downrange the entire time.
Fast forward a few minutes and the same woman was struggling to unload her gun while keeping it pointed down range. In frustration she turned to say something to her friend and **BANG** put a round two feet downrange from my shooting point. A loaded SIG P232, it seems, will fire when you pull the trigger even if you didn’t mean to! Amazing, I know. All of that stuff about keeping one’s finger out of the trigger guard except when the gun is on target might be true after all!
But the worst part of the story was the response of the two women to the mistake: they chuckled for a second and then went right on with their shooting.
In case you missed it let me recap. The gun went off while she was looking in another direction, without her intent to fire it, and she was OK with that. Neither of them even looked to see where the bullet struck. It could have hit someone in the forehead for all they knew but it didn’t even dawn on them to care.
The RO came over and gave them a much sterner talking to but neither woman seemed to grasp the gravity of their error. The woman didn’t mean to fire the gun so the bullet couldn’t actually hurt anyone, could it? She seemed bothered by the fact that the RO kept correcting her.
Pro tip for Monday 7-Oct-13: bullets don’t know you’re on the practice range. They fly just as straight, just as fast, and hit just as hard even though you’re just trying to have some fun.
I cut my practice short for the day and grabbed lunch with a buddy instead. My guess is that the next time the woman in question visits the range she’ll be escorted to the classroom for some special one-on-one time with an instructor.
Train hard & stay safe! ToddG
Your range sounds scary because this is at least the 2nd time you’ve described serious safety violations there. Do they require any training, certification, etc. before someone can step into a lane and start shooting.
“My guess is that the next time the woman in question visits the range she’ll be escorted to the classroom for some special one-on-one time with an instructor.”
My first thought of what to do is more in line with a Planet Fitness TV commercial.
Matt — There is a written safety test as well as a required safety lecture that people hear before they’re allowed out on the range. There are also trained ROs on the firing line at all times. It’s by far the safest public indoor range I’ve ever been to. But it attracts a lot of unskilled, beginner, and casual shooters who don’t have the kind of safety habits you and I would consider fundamental.
In the almost 20 years it’s been open, there has been one injury on the range to the best of my knowledge. A shooter with a pistol grip only shotgun was shooting from the hip when an RO informed him that unaimed fire wasn’t allowed on the range so he’d have to put his gun away. Instead our genius fired a slug with the pistol grip butt against his cheek right under his eye. It punched him in the face pretty hard and he threw his gun downrange in panic. That was about fifteen years ago.
I’ve been in classes with well known instructors who ran the firing line with less safety and attention than the folks at the NRA Range. It’s not perfect but given the huge number of people and the massive number of rounds down range every day I think their safety record has been pretty impressive to date.
1. Glad you and everyone else are okay.
2. Glad you aren’t in jail for kicking her butt up and down the line, “wimins” or not!
3. Was she hot?
COME ON! YOU GUYS KNOW YOU THOUGHT IT! 🙂
Seriously, glad everyone is okay. Why was she not escorted from the line after such a monumental breech?
M.E.H. — The one criticism I have of the range is that they’re very hesitant to kick people out even after multiple safety violations. It’s an ingrained response to internal politics. Believe it or not, the folks “upstairs” at the NRA expect the shooters to be treated like customers. More than once an RO has been called to the carpet for failure to show proper deference to some NRA V.I.P.
Perhaps wearing concealable body armor to an indoor range isn’t paranoid behavior.
The thought of wearing body armor has crossed my mind more than once. I volunteer as an RO and am constantly amazed at how clueless people are. I can deal with someone who makes a mistake and, once pointed out, does something to correct the issue or ask questions or just somehow acknowledges something happened and it was a bad thing. The clueless drive me crazy. It doesn’t matter how I give the safety brief or if I test them as they often slip by simple screening. My very first shift as an RO I had a woman point a loaded 45 at my guts with her finger on the trigger. Most violations are not that serious but can easily get out if control if we don’t step in. We have to deal with the military guys and cops trying to impress girlfriends (more then one cop has been kicked out because of safety), dads impressing kids, instructors who know everything showing off, and lots of the just plain clueless. Working as an RO is very stressful. Rewarding when you find that gem of a not-clueless person though. Yes, body armor is on my Christmas list.
After the first “error”, the FIREARMS SAFETY RULES should be a clearly stated, with a warning that NOT following these rules will NOT be tolerated. Upon a second “error” of neglect, the shooter should be asked to put down their firearm, the range commander should unload the firearm and make it safe, and the shooter should be denied access to the range until they fully understand and respect ALL safety rules ALL the time.
The errors they made were bad enough. The worst was that they simply did not accept that they had “screwed” up.
I have seen this before at other ranges.The people say things like “I didn’t MEAN to pull the trigger.
I have been tempted (would never really do) to point my pistol at the person and say..This gun IS loaded and if it goes off,it WONT be an accident.
Last time I saw something like this happen at my local range, the RO took the shooter aside and told (yelled really) him he was done for the day, but that he can come back once he has thought about the potential severity of the mistakes he made and how to avoid doing it in the future. I felt kind of bad for the guy, as he looked very embarrassed. But it was the best thing the RO could do IMO. If that guy cares to shoot again, I guarantee he will be very conscious of what he is doing next time.
It should be legal to slap the snot out of somebody in a situation like that.
The indoor range I use has lane dividers with armored glass in them. I used to think it was an unnecessary expense until one time when I went out on the range and saw that the lane divider for my lane had clearly caught a bullet sometime within the prior week. The range I used to go to had an alarming number of impact marks in the floor, ceiling, and walls within the first few feet of the firing line. That always made me nervous. Fortunately, I never had to witness anybody making one of those marks.
I used to see this kind of thing all the time when I worked on ranges. It’s why I left the industry and now shoot out in the woods all by myself.
Okie John
I love the image in this post so much.
Women like the ones you witnessed give those of us who are serious about self-defense and learning to protect ourselves zero credibility in gun shops and ranges. Thanks for sharing and if you don’t mind, I’d like to share this on my blog.
http://shegunsccw.wordpress.com/about/
SheGunsCCW — You’re more than welcome to. For what it’s worth, the fact that she was a she wasn’t the least bit important to me. I’ve seen guys do equally stupid things, and because there are a lot more guys at the range than gals, I see a lot more stupid stuff from guys than gals.
I cannot speak to the gunshop environment, but on the range it’s pretty easy to see who is squared away and who isn’t, regardless of what’s underneath the underclothes.
Your safety is your responsibility.
Words to live by. If she lived by them she couldn’t have laughed and you clearly live by them, you were living by them because you left. In my basic (NRA) courses I always tell students: if you always practice the three rules you’ll be able to get people like me to go to the range and teach you everything else. If you ever fail on safety, all you’ll see is us leaving…
It’s not really entirely the ranges business to make customers safe. Adults are responsible for themselves. IMO
I think she should have been escorted out of the range immediately, no matter who she was or what membership she has. The story says she was already corrected ONCE and she was not escorted out for a safety lecture, and she came BACK and got off a rogue shot. She was probably a ‘hot chick’ or somebody’s VIP. Doesn’t matter. As a beginner shooter, I don’t make a MOVE until the instructor goes over it with me and I have DRUMMED into my thick head :DO NOT PUT YOUR FINGER ON THE TRIGGER UNTIL YOU ARE READY TO SHOOT. Isn’t that rule 1? Anyone violating that rule should be immediately escorted out of the range, especially if they have that cavalier attitude. It’s deadly.
Todd,
Part of me wants to say… during the first issue, why worry about holstering your pistol? She thinks pointing guns at people is OK. Perhaps pointing one back might dissuade her from that?
I concur that the NRA range is probably the safest indoor range I’ve ever shot at. I am surprised that they didn’t get tossed after issue #2, but I can also see the NRA range trying to NOT toss apparently new shooters.
“The one criticism I have of the range is that they’re very hesitant to kick people out even after multiple safety violations. It’s an ingrained response to internal politics. Believe it or not, the folks “upstairs” at the NRA expect the shooters to be treated like customers. More than once an RO has been called to the carpet for failure to show proper deference to some NRA V.I.P.”
What a bunch of idiots… it takes ONE bad incident to destroy their reputation, and more importantly, someone’s life. Range rules enforcement should be strict.
Two wrongs don’t make a right. Plus would you want someone who’s an instructor DELIBERATEY pointing a firearm with the intent of intimidating them? That’s the kind of thing that will spread like wildfire as gossip, and get worse as it goes along.
It’s a fine, fine line and delicate balancing act that range has to follow to encourage new shooters to partake and maintain safety at the facility. I don’t have *THE* answer, just as I’m sure the RO didn’t either. Luckily, no one was hurt. I do hold the opinion of 2 screw ups and you’re done for the day… especially if there’s a ND like in this case. I hold myself to that standard when partaking in HPDE’s (2 offs and I’m done for the day. You’re almost guaranteed to have a Bad Day if you push for #3.)
Similar stuff would happen if there were public race tracks where one could, sans training, go take a few hot laps with the Mustang or crotch-rocket.
I once had a fellow who ran his own business as a law enforcement firearms “instructor” put a round into the ground about three feet from me. He was trying to clear his pistol. The first round got my attention, the SECOND one caused me to go to “grip” on my holstered pistol and shout “HOLSTER…NOW!”. He complied.
When I was in boot camp and we were at the range learning to shoot the M-16, one of the other recruits kept swinging her weapon around…the drill sgt kicked her in the helmet and removed her from the range. She got kicked out and never finished, thank goodness.
I’ve had a muzzle swept in my direction once while at my local range. When that happened(sadly they weren’t removed from the range just given a stern warning), I asked to be moved to the opposite side of the range and told the RSOs to keep an eye on the offenders.
Luckily it hasn’t happened when I take my kids. Still, I have no problem getting in someone’s grill not for being “stupid” but rather unwilling to be safe. Sounds like the women just didn’t care about safety, they are ones I worry about being next to.
Having spent a visit to the NRA range, I am very surprised the Rangemaster did not kick them out after the errant shot.
I was very impressed with the staff there watching over the shooters and the effort they take to make the range safe.
Anywhere here, they would have been escorted out.
A rule at our range was if the person who was confronted with doing something unsafe had any attitude other than “I am so very sorry and will not do it again”, they were done for the day. We only had to do that once and after the word got out and it never happened again during my 9 years as Rangemaster.
I have been working 40 hours a week as an RSO at an indoor range for a few months now and it has blown my mind how most shooters are completely unsafe and oblivious.
For a number of years I was one of the RSOs at the gun club I still belong to in another state; each member is required to participate – not attend, participate, because it involves gun handling and live fire – in a 4 hour safety course when joining, and every 6 years thereafter. Some RSOs have, fortunately very rarely, confiscated a member’s club ID and required him to leave after ignoring the second safety warning (the club views a “safety caution” not being as serious as “safety warning” and the bylaws state an on-duty RSO speaks with the authority of the Executive Board). They may get their range privileges back after meeting with the Executive Board to discuss the infraction, but usually the EB requires participation at the next monthly 4-hour safety course and a return visit to the EB to restore privileges, and they usually come with a 6-month probationary period during which the membership will be revoked for a safety warning infraction. So far, that seems to be working. Word gets around that the club takes safety seriously.
Recently, in Bellvue, WA near Seattle an individual was killed at an indoor range when his female friend accidently fired a round over her shoulder after the weapon recoiled. I am sure she didn’t mean it…
A negligent discharge should always lead to immediate removal from the firing line regardless of who they are. How on earth could an RO allow anyone like that to continue using the range.
Been shooting for 49 years. Seen a bunch of crazy stuff.
My favorite, was at the Ben Avery in Phoenix. Had my adult 4’10” daughter with me working out her Colt Combat Elite. The 20 something shooting next to us just started walking down range while the range was hot and we were all shooting. I started screaming “cease fire” the RO followed suit, and started running in his direction.
The upstart to all this was the annoyed 20 something, couldn’t understand me and the RO being so up set and unreasonable. He didn’t think there was anything wrong with what he had done. He stated that he had observed how well my daughter and I could shoot, and that we would not hit him as he went down range to change his target. He and his group of idiots were immediately thrown off the range.
It was a great example for my 24 year old daughter.
As a former Marine DI, certified NRA instructor, IDPA/USPSA/NRA/Steele Challenge, etc. I met Todd at the 2001,2002 Arizona state IDPA matches, when Todd was with IIRC Team Beretta, with Earnest Langdon. Historically I had been rather “hands on” with range safety violations. Sort of why my tour on the Drill Field was a bit short.
Do not tolerate fools well. My daughter goes off on her friends when they do stupid stuff when she teaches them to shoot.
Good luck.