Bullies at the shooting range...

[glassman]

too agressive

I shoot at an indoor range that is well run. The range officers are very knowledgable and curtious but also know how to handle the occasional unsafe or agressive shooter.
A while back, I was shooting my scoped cx4 and there were two guys and a young woman in the next lane over. After shooting for some time, I cleared my carbine, left it on the bench, and stepped back from the line for a moment of rest.
During that moment, one of the young men and the woman in the next lane asked me some questions about the rifle. During our conversation, the girl said that it was her first time shooting and my response was to say, 'welcome
to the sport'. All of a sudden, the young man at the line put his pistol down and started walking towards me in an agressive manner...his body language was unmistakable. I'm thinking, 'damn...here we go'.
It seemed like the RO came out of nowhere and put himself between me and the young man. The three people were asked to leave the range and did so with the agressor questioning my parentage. The RO later explained that he had seen this man before and that he was on the 'watch closely' list.
This is the only time I have encountered anything like this situation and I wrote a letter to the owner of the range thanking him for the expertise of his staff. I still shoot there and feel safe doing it.

 

[REOIV]

I goto public ranges that are for the most part usually empty or only have 1 or 2 other shooters there.

We just shoot and then wait and ask if everyone is done. Then we go down and check targets etc. Then look and ask if everyone is ready to shoot and then start shooting again.

Never had a problem with it.

 

[give]

you think you had it ruff,wonder what his wife has to go threw,lol

 

[TCB in TN]

If you want to see a control freak go berserk, just take away his control.
He probably bosses around everyone he can and gets away with it around weaker personalities at home or at work. I've had experience at my job with this sort of personality and it is an everyday drama if he doesn't get his way. I get tired of ignoring it and we have had words, which helps for a while, but it always tries to creep back in. Other folks walk around on egg shells so he won't throw his little hissy fits. He knows I don't care what he thinks, but he'll still try after a while. Those leopards can't change their spots.

Sounds like you and I worked with the same people!

I don't frequent public ranges very often, but have still met a couple of real tools! Makes me happy to live on a farm in the middle of no where and to be able to shoot at my own "range".

I have my a couple of large ponds on our farm one of which is perfectly situated to use the dam to shoot at ranges from 3 to 200 yards, with the targets at the bottom with 8 or 10 ft of dirt behind and above for a back stop. Now is that isn't far enough my uncle owns a huge farm a mile down the road and has a big berm pushed up that we can go back 500 or 600 yards or better. Stories like these make me realize exactly how lucky I really am!

 

[J Star]

I goto public ranges that are for the most part usually empty or only have 1 or 2 other shooters there.

We just shoot and then wait and ask if everyone is done. Then we go down and check targets etc. Then look and ask if everyone is ready to shoot and then start shooting again.

Never had a problem with it.

Private range here, but same deal. No ROs. I've only been one on day with an issue. Some cheeseball with a brand new AR-15 had cartridge click instead of bang. Instead of waiting to see if it was a hangfire, he immediately tries to clear the action, and finds that the cartridge is stuck in the chamber. Of course, the BEST possible course of action is to sweep everybody with the weapon while loudly asking other shooters if they know what the problem is.

The older gentlemen next to me shouted at him to point the weapon downrange a couple of times. Then he calmly put his hand on his holstered pistol and informed the cheeseball that the next time he pointed the rifle at him, he would be shot in self defense. I've never seen somebody put a gun down so fast in my life.

Other than that one guy, everybody else has been really polite, and everybody pretty much follows all the safety rules. I still carry my carbine downrange with me, though. (I don't have a pistol, and NY is killing me trying to get it.)

 

[Curator]

The Grand Pooh-Baah of gun safety (retired NYC police trainer) at my gun club insisted that some of the shooters put those little yellow plastic thingeys in the breech of their firearms when the range was declared "cold." He got particularly frustrated with one of the teenagers who was shooting a break open rifle (it kept falling out), and even more so with me and my trapdoor Springfield. Mostly he bullies new members or guests. The club directors feel you can never be too safe. I see the safety issue as a red herring, allowing the bully to engage in pathological behavior to bolster his damaged ego.

 

[IndianaBoy]

It's nice to live in the middle of nowhere....

 

[bnkrazy]

I've seen that pic before, IB. Very nice spot. I love shooting on private land.

 

[peck1234]

Wow, living on Long Island sucks!!!! lol

 

[bogie]

As soon as the checker stepped forward of the line the unpacker got all sarcastic and said " It would be nice if I could clear my weapon " in just THE NASTIEST tone I have ever heard. I had to bite my tongue not to ask the unpacker what the hell he was doing walking on the range W/ a weapon that he hadn't cleared.

Rule at my range is that you verbally check with everyone on the line, and get a firm "okay" before doing a cease fire and going downrange. Makes sure everyone's on the same page. Also means that there can be an hour or more between "target changes" since folks are encouraged to hang more than one...

(I've loaned folks a scope or a br rifle on a spare rest to use as one if they wanted to look at the widdle holes...)

 

[KINGMAX]

Week days

I go to the range during the week. Seems to be less people, a bit more civil. The weekenders are just that - weekenders. Sort of a hit and miss crowd, usually under the influence of something, (usually a huge ego), and (LEO's seem to want to impart that full-time authority on you).

Chose your range partner carefully. Spread out along the firing line, give yourself plenty of buffer when dealing w/ a **** HEAD. It is even better when you do not acknowledge the 'BULLY' at all. They don't know how to hold it together at that point.


Happy shooting !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[buck00]

there was a particularly arrogant and pushy guy shooting from the table beside me. You would have thought he was our drill sergeant, the way he was telling everybody what to do... and he was totally obnoxious.

It has less to do with range safety and more to do with the psychological issues of the bully.

A guy like that takes all the petty frustration in life- crappy job, bad marriage, lack of fulfillment in life, and directs the negative emotion against others at the range in verbal tirades. He is probably the same guy who is prone to road rage. Sadly, people like this often are even more angry, malicious, and stubborn as they believe they are in the right.

They should make a rule at your range- if he has a problem with something, then he goes to the range officer who makes a ruling- this yahoo should not have the right to arbitrarily bark out opinions or orders at people.


Overall, it stems from an inferiority complex. I've run into people like this before, and they don't always have to be short.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon_complex

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transference

 

[jackstinson]

I go to public ranges that are for the most part usually empty or only have 1 or 2 other shooters there. We just shoot and then wait and ask if everyone is done. Then we go down and check targets etc. Then look and ask if everyone is ready to shoot and then start shooting again. Never had a problem with it.

Yup, same here REOIV.
I usually go during the week after work, so most of the clowns are not there. It is mellow and relaxing. The RO is a nice guy and I'm almost always alone on the pistol range. The Bozos normally only crowd the place on weekends. Oh yes, and the day before deer-gun season is always full of people with their shiny new WalMart shotguns putting their annual 5 rounds downrange at a Bin Laden target.
Jack

 

[Galen]

I guess I'm lucky. The public outdoor range I go to has well defined rules, and at least 3 RO's on the line at ALL times. I've seen people start to cross the yellow line during a target change, and the RO's are all over them. Any other time and the RO's are as nice as can be, but follow the rules.

 

[CountGlockula]

Range nazis can be regular folks too!

 

[brighamr]

The only range bullies I have are rattlesnakes.

 

[graybeard321]

Range master bully
A couple of months back we got a new range officer at the outdoor range I shoot at. We had finished shooting and had all our guns unloaded and cased. When the range officer called a cease fire to go down range to check targets. He called out do not touch any firearms while the range is cold. We went down range removed our targets and picked up our cases and started to leave when he blew a casket and started yelling at us about not touching any firearms. I complied and set the cases down and waited for the range officer to make the range hot. The range officer wouldn’t let it go he came over and got in my face and started yelling. I politely told him I was not touching any firearms. My guns were unloaded and cased. He told me he had no way of knowing that my guns were unloaded. I then ask him why it was ok for new shooters to carry cased guns on to the range when there was a cease fire. At this point he ask me to leave, I went to the manager and explained the situation and the next time I went back they had a new range master. Was I wrong?

 

[Thernlund]

Was I wrong?

Doesn't sound like it to me.


-T.

 

[aka108]

I shoot at two public ranges. One in Elko and the other in Tallahassee. 99.9 percent of the people are courteous and careful. Never experienced any problems except having to get on some dunderheads case about running down range to change a target and not requesting a cold range.

 

[mnw42]

As an RSO, I've run into these types as well. The best thing you can do is to say calm. Rage is self feeding. If someone comes at you yelling; yelling right back is not necessarily the best thing and can cause the situation to get out of control. We'll call a cease fire if necessary and that often gets the person's attention - especially if you have the whole line looking at you wondering why you are spoiling there fun. Biting someone's head off may be needed from time to time, but is not the first thing you do. You have to have some authority in order for it to have any effect other than irritating the individual more.

If somebody is a real problem they will be escorted out.

We have a few ex-LEOs on staff and one of them does the check. The wrong attitude can get you tossed. We try to make it clear early who is in charge. The range rules are posted every were, are explained to to you at check in, and repeated to you by your line officer if it is your first time. We try to run a tight ship, because we have too. There are more than few people who will not shoot at our range because we are to strict or we won't let them get away with any BS - that suits us fine.

At the end of the day safety and attitude are the two most important things. If you have a holier than thou attitude how can I expect you to follow range commands or range rules.


Edit since it takes me an hour to write a post between phone calls....

graybeard321, we have a similar rule at our range. We don't want any around the benches on the cease fire for a few reasons:

1. We can't always see what you are doing. This is hampered by the fact one RSO goes down range as a down-range-officer is the last person behind the benches before we call the line hot. One fewer set of eyes to watch things. We often will have another officer go down range to help/inspect with targets and try and speed up the slow pokes.

2. If we allow one person to start handling things on there bench for one reason it becomes harder to to make others follow the rule that you bent for somebody else.

3. It is part of our written SOP. If we had a problem; the first question a lawyer or investigator will ask is: "if you bent rule 'x' (no mater how inane the rule may be) what other rules are you bending?"

4. It is a rule and a rule is a rule - it must be followed by all.

 

[grilledcheese]

We have an outdoor Sheriff's Dept. rifle and pistol range a few miles from my house which is open to the public on weekends. Admission is ten bucks for the whole day and two paper targets and a backboard are even supplied to each paying shooter. For the most part the range is not policed (no pun intended), other than the police officer who mans the office (wow, ain't I the wordplay expert today), but I've never even encountered an unsafe or impolite person there. But then again, there never are a heck of a lot of people at the range, probably because we're out in the sticks and most people shoot on their own property.
Either way, I'm very grateful for what we have going, because I know there are morons around---I read about them in the local paper every day...


Jeffrey

 

[Hook686]

One person's "Totally obnoxious jackass" is another person's drill sergeant.

 

[MiddleAgedKen]

I reckon I've been lucky so far. I drive an hour to get to the ODNR range in West Farmington, where the range officers are park rangers. So far, every ODNR ranger I've ever met (there or anywhere else) has been the very model of laid back, seen it all, done most of it, keep the lid on without seeming to. Every other shooter I've had occasion to talk with has been excellent so far, too. Makes it worth driving an hour.

 

[alsaqr]

I don't think this personality type is unique to the shooting sports, you'll see them anywhere if you look long enough (the nastiest ones are busying themselves in politics and law enforcement).

Second that.

 

[kingpin008]

Well, this is a fairly uncommon thing to happen. Heck, suicides at the range is more common than that.

Justin - Once again, you're missing the point. In your original comment, you mentioned how you'd hate to go to a range where shooters were paranoid enough that they carried pistols on them, even when checking targets. I posted the info about Mattix and Platt to illustrate why some shooters do remain armed even though they're not actively shooting - because as Lee Lapin mentioned in his comment - it's quite common for thugs and criminals to stake out remote shooting ranges looking to steal firearms.

So, your comment about Mattix and Platt was somewhat true - not everyone steals guns and then goes on to battle it out with the Miami Police - but range thefts and assaults (and even murders) absolutely do happen, and they're getting more frequent.