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Fun at the Range???

William81William81 Member Posts: 24,593 ✭✭✭✭
edited September 2001 in General Discussion
I am lucky enough to have a nice outdoor range half way between home and work. I often stop on my way home to adjust my attitude after a hard day at the office.Tonight I stopped in and was putting a few rounds through a couple of my Glocks when another car showed up with three young men in it. They were new to the club, so I introduced myself and talked for a few minutes before returning to my business.About 5 minutes later, the three stepped up to the line with revolvers and the one closest to me cocked his and shot a round into the ground and clipped the front of his Nikes.....They all thought it was funny and started blazing away... I left.....They Looked like an accident waiting to happen....I guess I will have to adjust the time when I use the range so I will not have to deal with these morons again.Sorry, unsafe gun handling irks me and I had to let off some steam....[This message has been edited by William81 (edited 09-25-2001).]
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    smooth_operatorsmooth_operator Member Posts: 227 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    William, I doubt that you are the only one suffering from seeing these kinds of unsafe actions. A few years ago, I was at a local range (in CA) and about half a dozen of thug looking guys wearing colored bandanas came in (about 21-23yrs old) what caught my attention was the amount of equipment they were carrying...a couple of AK's several AR15's, shotguns and about a dozen pistols etc. When one of the kids pulled into the lane, he took a shotgun out of the case and started going nuts at the target. After about 8 shots or so, I checked, and he barely clipped the silhouette... with a shotgun! The more amazing thing is, the shotgun being used has a scope, a flashlight, and a laser! THe only thing missing was a telephone line and you can receive emails out of the damned thing. IT gets interesting... one of the guys came up to me and asked what I was using. Politely I answered, HK usp. He then proceeded to lecture me that I should get a "gold cup" like him etc... Not even knowing who made it after being asked. I laughed when I saw him hold his 1911 canted sideways (like a gangster in the movies) as he open fired. At 7yds, this guy missed 4 out of 7 shots on a "silhouette"and not even a bullseye target. What a waste of a perfectly good firearm. These kids give responsible shooters the bad reputation that none of us deserve. -Smooth
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    RedlegRedleg Member Posts: 417 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Gotta remind you....if he missed 4 out of 7, that means he hit the other 3 times. He might be a crappy shot, but more than made up for it with a nice weapon.(Not sticking up for him...he'd probably crap his pants at the first sign of trouble.)
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    smooth_operatorsmooth_operator Member Posts: 227 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    REDLEG, Very true... But just the fact that I saw a kid hold a gold cup (and not know who made it) one handed with a sideways stance just about made my day. Scared the living hell out of me for an instance, but it was still something you just dont see on a regular basis.-Smooth
    Life is the leading cause of death.Everything else is just a contributing factor.
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    .250Savage.250Savage Member Posts: 812 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Personally, I'm kind of happy the gang loser types are such bad shots...means you don't really have to worry about getting hit. The only down side is they seem to have a real talent for catching little kids in the crossfire--doubt they spend much time considering their backstop. Saw a bozo "cowboying" with an AK some years back, one-handed, rib-high. Idiot! No wonder I can't buy one now in Kalifornia!
    I may disagree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.--Voltare
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    thesupermonkeythesupermonkey Member Posts: 3,905 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    The problem is education. Many of our older gun owners were educated properly by a family member or a friend. Younger gun owners don't get that type of education anymore so they often mimic what the see in television and movies. Don't fall into the same trap as the Anti's and assume that the guys with the Aks, Ars and Shotguns are thugs. The best weapon for ignorance is education. If you see someone acting like an idiot, at least attempt to show them the proper methods. I bet if you saw me at the gun range you'd probably lump me into the same group. I saw a couple of guys at the range the other day, trying to showboat with a Tec-9(Holding it Sideways and Rapid Firing). It's not that they were stupid, they were just not informed. A lot of people gave them disgusted looks, but I decided to try and help. They were confused why it kept jamming, so I loaded a 20 round clip with a couple of rounds as opposed to the big 30 something round clip, pulled back the action, and placed a shot 2 inches above the x ring(I was aiming for the X but its a Intratec what can I say). They immediately wanted to know what the were doing wrong. I told them about the Tec-9's tendency to jam, proper stance, grip, range safety etc. I then offered to let them shoot my 1911 and Ar15. I few rounds later they were asking me about pricing on 1911's and Bush Masters. They wouldn't win any awards for accuracy but they were impressed enough to say they were new to firearms and asked if I knew any places that offered gun training. If we don't train the new gun owners who will? These guys are the reason gun laws are created, but properly informed they can be our defense against new laws. Just a thought...Monkey
    "Mommy said there were no real monsters but there are..."
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    concealedG36concealedG36 Member Posts: 3,566 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Monkey, excellent post. I agree wholeheartedly. Many of the "kids" I see at the range really make gun owners in general look bad. But, until I sat down with my kid brother (who, unfortunately, did not receive firearm training from our father) he too was ignorant. He didn't know anything about safety or marksmanship. In fact, it wasn't until he had an AD on the range that he even started listening to me.We need to be a little less arrogant and a little more helpful when we encounter these kind of people. Heck, they're obviously interested in firearms, so the battle to get them on "our side" as a pro-gun advocate is already won. The only challenge is to turn them into a POSITIVE force in the pro-gun movement.
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    William81William81 Member Posts: 24,593 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    After further consideration, I realize that I should have tried to educate the young man instead of just leaving all P.O.ed...I have taught many young peoples how to safely handle firearms over the years including my own children. I have had the pleasure of seeing their faces light up after they shoot their first few rounds. So to sum it up I was wrong in how I handled the situation...I will do better next time.
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    concealedG36concealedG36 Member Posts: 3,566 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    William81, just so you know, I wasn't attacking you at all. I too have left the range in disgust when "idiots" start behaving in a dangerous manner. I have little tolerance for such ignorance. But, we are fighting for our rights and if we expect to win we need to get as many people educated (and on our side) as possible. I too will try harder to help those with less experience than myself (I am in no way an expert either, but sometimes I am a little more experienced than some of the younger shooters).Thanks for posting your topic...
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    thesupermonkeythesupermonkey Member Posts: 3,905 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    William, Sometimes no amout of education can cure the problem. I asked one man to keep his 357 pointed down range at which point he aims it directly at me, pulls back the hammer half way, spins the chamber and says "See there ain't nothing in it!".
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    mudgemudge Member Posts: 4,225 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    OK....Admit it, not all the imbeciles with guns are kids. A friend and I were working clearing some brush from a field when we heard a black powder weapon being fired. Knowing there was no safe place to shoot nearby, we went to investigate. We found a guy about our age (pretty old) blazing away at a target with nothing more for a backstop than the cardboard backing for his target. His wife was watching and we told her that what he was doing wasn't safe because there was a housing develpoement about 1/4 mile beyond his target. She replied, and I quote, "Oh it's OK, he's a life member of the NRA". I s--- you not! Now...I'm RARELY at a loss for words but I didn't have a reply for that one. My friend repeated the safety warning to the guy and his reply was, "I'm just sighting it in." I got mad and told the guy that if he fired one more shot I was going to call the cops. He decided his rifle was "sighted in" well enough.Danger is nature's way of ridding the world of imbeciles.Mudge
    Anyone who CAN carry, SHOULD carry!Let me update that.Anyone who CAN carry, BETTER carry.
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