A little freaked out at the range today.

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Me to shooter: You're a pretty good shot
Shooter: Thanks man
Me: can ya do it under pressure?
Shooter: I don't know
Me: BOOOOO!!
Target: OW!!
Me: HAHAHAHAHAH

maybe not, but that WAS the first thing that popped into my head
 
I would have left as well. Anyone withntwo brain cells knows this is a bad idea No good deed goes unpunished For all you know they were ex felons. At the most I would have called the police and informed them of it. The police if they weren't busy could then have the safety talk with them.
 
Considering the news today of two GI's where one had the hiccups and his buddy tried to "scare" him with a gun that he thought was loaded with dummy rounds.
It wasn't.
Shooter now charged with manslaughter.
 
I would have left too. You already know his judgement is off, so don't become part of the scenario. The Coroner will explain to him the folly of his ways.
 
I'm still chuckling about that beer can comment :)

These guys were obviously on the shallow end of the gene pool.

Bug out and watch the evening news for a gun range mishap :D
 
I'd say you handled it correctly. No sense in trying to argue with fools. That, and, infantry range-isms are probably highly frowned upon at the local gun club. I'd guess that first delivering a smack to the K-pot, followed by :cuss::cuss::cuss: gratuitous use of F-bombs and vigorous knife handing is the sort of thing that is slightly looked down on outside of the Army, hahaha.
 
My goodness, most of the replies make it sound like you think these guys would turn the gun on you, so you would not bother to talk with them.
Sure there is a small chance these guys were ex-felons, just like they could be psycho gang bangers.
However the odds were that they were just a couple of kids who had no clue about range rules/safety.

So as long as you don't go and start telling them off or arguing with them, I doubt it would escalate. Instead you might very well have saved a life, or at bare minimum helped to educate a couple of young inexperienced shooters.
 
I would have done the exact same thing. At least I think I would you never know how your brain is going to react but I have a wife, two kids, thirty other relatives, and a bunch of employees that rely on me. I don't think pointing out an armed man's stupidity is the bet way to ensure life longevity.
 
RE: a little freaked out....

I have been in your position before and I have done the same thing. And yes it will bother you because you are a moral human being and are concerned over the possible consequences of your fellow mans actions.

Sometimes in life I think we just get emotionally drained from always to trying to look out for people and trying to help them. You can t save the world but I know we try.

Another poster had a good point that your calling to them might have caused the shooter to unintentionally discharge the rifle at you or his moron partner. YOu may have spared from something worse.

Hey look at this way you still got heart!! If you ever see these Bozos without guns you can mention it to them to get it settled completely if its still an issue.
 
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I would of said something. It would of involved a lot of cussing and laughing.
 
I would of said something. It would of involved a lot of cussing and laughing.
Everybody that comes out on the side of diplomatically pointing out the error of their ways assumes that the offenders would have been reasonable people that would have listened to a more knowledgeable person.

On the other hand some of the people that advocate walking away without saying anything point out that this could have been a chemically assisted situation.

Here are my thoughts. This is not my problem. By walking away all I have lost is a day at the range. By stopping to talk to them about it the potential for something besides a nice chat increases. They are armed. You are armed. They are stupid. You can't go throwing yourself into every situation that may get someone you don't know hurt.

Would you go to your nearest interstate highway and try to stop traffic because somebody may get killed in a wreck later? What if your efforts to stop traffic cause a wreck that kills somebody? What if 20 tourists in motor-homes heading south for the winter turn you into a thin crust road pizza? A situation that was running as smoothly as possible with all things considered just went to heck because you interfered, not because you didn't.

We can sit here and play what if all day long and not get anywhere. The point is that apparently the two idiots survived their day at the range so it's no harm, no foul. Now it's up to the OP to realize that by retreating he caused no harm. They were doing it before he got there, and we can assume they continued after he left, but nobody got hurt. He also needs to consider that by interfering there is a chance that he could have made things worse instead of making them better.
 
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Everybody that comes out on the side of diplomatically pointing out the error of their ways assumes that the offenders would have been reasonable people that would have listened to a more knowledgeable person.

On the other hand some of the people that advocate walking away without saying anything point out that this could have been a chemically assisted situation.

Here are my thoughts. This is not my problem. By walking away all I have lost is a day at the range. By stopping to talk to them about it the potential for something besides a nice chat increases. They are armed. You are armed. They are stupid. You can't go throwing yourself into every situation that may get someone you don't know hurt.

Would you go to your nearest interstate highway and try to stop traffic because somebody may get killed in a wreck later? What if your efforts to stop traffic cause a wreck that kills somebody? What if 20 tourists in motor-homes heading south for the winter turn you into a thin crust road pizza? A situation that was running as smoothly as possible with all things considered just went to heck because you interfered, not because you didn't.

We can sit here and play what if all day long and not get anywhere. The point is that apparently the two idiots survived their day at the range so it's no harm, no foul. Now it's up to the OP to realize that by retreating he caused no harm. They were doing it before he got there, and we can assume they continued after he left, but nobody got hurt. He also needs to consider that by interfering there is a chance that he could have made things worse instead of making them better.

I can see walking away because you just don't want to deal with stupid people at the moment. I don't get walking away because it's "not my problem", "I'm afraid", or "what if".
 
......However the odds were that they were just a couple of kids who had no clue about range rules/safety. So as long as you don't go and start telling them off or arguing with them, I doubt it would escalate. Instead you might very well have saved a life, or at bare minimum helped to educate a couple of young inexperienced shooters.

It took a week or two of safety courses (THEN, TESTING) when I was 12 so I could join the NRA and start shooting in competition!

Do you really think, for a moment, that people acting like that can be taught "GUN-SAFETY" in a matter of mere minutes?

I find that laughable!:D
 
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I believe the OP had very good reasons for doing what he did. He may have sensed things he didn't observe outright.

That doesn't mean it's always a bad idea to interject. In this particular instance the shooter may be someone that should know better but the person in real danger may be simply ignorant of the level of danger. Information could be life saving.

I think I would find it very hard to not come off the handle at these buffoons. I do shoot at a private range, so my situation would be different.
 
I can see walking away because you just don't want to deal with stupid people at the moment. I don't get walking away because it's "not my problem", "I'm afraid", or "what if".
When you get right down to it, aren't they all the same? Well, the "I'm afraid" one wouldn't be the same. It's also the best reason to beat feet.

The best thing you can possibly do when guns are involved is to avoid confrontation, and if fear is your overriding emotion there is a good chance it will become confrontational. Your body language alone might be enough to escalate the situation without even opening your mouth. Remember, these guys are probably swimming at the bottom of the gene pool or they wouldn't be doing what they are doing.

That brings us to my personal favorite, what if. Do you realize that if everyone played the 'What if' game on a regular basis ERs would become ghost towns? In this case the what if game should go something like this.

I see those two guys behaving in a dangerous manner. I should go over and try to help them. Wait a minute. What if they don't like me butting in? They do have a gun, and it's already in their hands. What if they decide to shoot me? The heck with this. I'm leaving. Good luck buddy. You're going to need it.

Reset.

The guy at the firing line is just about to set off a round. What if you getting out and closing your car door makes him flinch. Ouch. That's gotta hurt.
 
I'm grateful for the times in my life when someone older and wiser gently pointed out the foolishness I was undertaking.
 
Could it be...?

Could it be that they were maybe shooting blanks, the kind of thing like, "let's set this up so it appears that I'm shooting at my target while you are at the 100 yard line, we will do it when the next person comes along."

I realize that shooting blanks or even aiming an "unloaded" gun down range with someone beyond the firing line by ANY DISTANCE is definitely WRONG!
 
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