Seems we're mixing up a whole bunch of our individual disagreements with various range rules with the simple question of how to make the line safe to go downrange.
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It is always a very wise idea to read and understand the basic procedural rules of any range you might join or visit to make sure that those rules don't conflict with the kind of shooting you want to do.
Does the range allow draw from the holster? Does the range allow very close, or very far, shooting with various kinds of firearms? Does the range have some kind of capacity or maximum loading rule? Does the range have fixed firing points or does it provide bays for "practical" shooting exercises? And so on. Figure this stuff out before you go -- or before you sit down and start shooting, at least.
There's no reason to frustrate yourself -- and greatly worry/annoy the guys charged with range safety -- by attending a range that doesn't fit your desired shooting discipline.
If you feel the need to try and change those rules, take it up with the governing body of that range. DO NOT stand there like a goon and argue with the RSO about the rules the range owner has put in place. He's bound buy them just like you are.
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As far as range hot and cold commands go, swallow your bull-headedness and do what the RSO says! They have a carefully determined way of ensuring that everyone leaves with no more holes than they came with. They've figured out what works for their facility, and what their officers are trained to look for so they can keep the "newbie" on your left and "rambo" on your right from hurting themselves, or you ... and to help you avoid an inadvertent lapse that might hurt someone else. LET THEM DO THEIR JOB.
Here's the thing: If you let them do their job, you can concentrate on your shooting with a somewhat diminished need to be personally inspecting what every other shooter on the line is doing just to make sure you don't end up shot. Of course you must remain aware and vigilant -- it is YOUR duty to call "STOP!" and "CEASE FIRE!" the instant you see anything dangerous happen -- just as it is the duty of
everyone on the line. You are responsible for safety, but you can rest some of that burden on the shoulders of the GOOD folks who give up their time to carry part of that load for you.
(Unless you're diverting the RSO's attention from the line while you squawk and squabble like a wet hen because you're afraid you might get "crud" in the action of your gun if you leave it open for 5 minutes! Give me a BREAK!
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My point is that these ROs as a whole are human and not infallible by any means. This means that their word isn't gospel, ever.
When you are on a live firing line, with real weapons that can kill someone dead forever with a split-second lapse in judgment -- THEIR WORD
IS GOSPEL. Sit down, swallow your gall, and do what the RSO said, like an ADULT.
If you have a problem with the instructions the RSO is giving, take it up LATER with the governing body of the range facility. Do NOT act like a child, squalling with the range officer and hogging up his attention over some petty issue (
...but I don't WANT to leave my bolt open!...
) while he's trying to make sure everyone leaves alive, no ambulances are needed, no lawsuits are being launched, and the range can stay open for the next day, the next year, and the next generation.
That is where there needs to be a stronger emphasis on INDIVIDUAL SAFETY, so that the RO isn't so taxed with twenty-eight people on a range and forced to micromanage all of them, because they dropped their thinking hats and are drones on command, to a guy who is stressed out and overseeing the every small action of over two dozen people!
I do not disagree at all that individual safety is a must. I don't know how you're making the leap from, "
Cease fire, unload, open bolts, no handling of firearms, the range is COLD," to "
We're all mindless drones who will be LESS safe because someone is making sure we stay safe." That is beyond all logic. Might as well say that, because stop signs and traffic lights exist, we're all unsafe drivers with no ability to decide how to operate a car safely.
Checking a firing line for open bolts or chamber flags is NOT in any way micromanaging. That's just prudent safety practices.
I feel, for some odd reason, that an RO should have better things to watch out for than the removed bolts, removed slides and dismantled guns of the entire line.
But this is exactly how safety is DONE. Day in and day out, for every shooter on the line, always. That's how folks are kept from making the little compounded errors in practice or judgment that cause DEATH ... like the
permanent, no-coming-back-from-it kind.
I'd much rather my NCOs worry about PVT Soandso who keeps flagging his buddy than chasing thirty experienced soldiers behind an arbitrary line in the sand for their own "safety" with their assigned weapon.
Of course. Because YOU (or WE) are very safe and knowledgeable shooters who don't make mistakes. I trust you would never, ever have a "brain fart" or moment of distraction that could endanger anyone. Really, I do. But I don't trust the guy on your right, or on your left, or the one in the middle, either.
Why? Because
I have been the guy on the line and I know that errors and forgetfulness happen -- to me, or to the guy next to me -- and I appreciate the extra bit of protection that comes from having an experienced extra set of eyes on every gun to double-check that I don't slip up, and neither does the guy on my left or on my right.
If you cannot be "big" enough to accept this exceedingly minor intrusion into your absolute freedom of action -- please do not come to a firing range and disturb those who can. Find a bit of desert land or wilderness where you can really just do whatever you like without any possibility of harming anyone, and no one will tell you what to do with your gun.
But if you come to a formal firing range, "put on your big-boy pants" as they say, and accept and follow instructions like a MAN.
(...or woman, as the case may be.)
