This feeling came over me at the range yesterday...

[cbrgator]

I was at my local outdoor range yesterday with my dad and while he was learning how to use his brand new AK, this feeling of security and comfort came over me yesterday, and then I started laughing. I thought of all the uneducated people in this country, who are simply terrified of guns, who'd be peeing in their pants if they were where I was. But I, on the other hand, never felt safer.

But, I was just thinking to myself, is there a safer place to be when it comes to being a victim of gun violence? If I had to choose one place I could be to not fall victim to a gun crime, I'd choose the exact spot I was standing. But antis are so stupid and would probably rather be unarmed at home or in some gun-free zone, and it just had me amusing myself while my dad was messing around with his new toy.

You guys ever think about that stuff?

 

[dudester]

Really? So a deranged person could not be at the range and kill other people with a gun? It's nice to feel safe but complacency is your enemy.

http://www.cfnews13.com/News/Local/2009/4/6/mom_kills_son_self_at_gun_range.html

 

[DHJenkins]

"Big man with a gun" is the first phrase that comes to mind after reading that.

Nothing is more counterproductive to preparedness than "feeling safe".

 

[CoRoMo]

Any one idiot can kill one person and turn the gun on themselves, but I'd agree that there are many places where you don't ever have the risk of a 'Luby's'-type slaughter. A deranged maniac isn't going to take all the people at a gun range hostage and execute them, massacre style.

 

[BhmBill]

You'd think being around several knowledgeable gun owners that you'd feel safe, but I don't feel safe at ALL when im down at the police station registering a handgun.

 

[grimjaw]

I don't feel safe at ALL when im down at the police station registering a handgun.

I feel there's something to that. Gun ownership does not equal responsible intelligence by default. However, the OP's feelings (I would guess) arose more from the experience of learning to use the tools responsibly than simply having another gun owner nearby.

jm

 

[cbrgator]

Don't mistake my feelings of safety for complacency. Even when I feel safe, I am still wary. I was just laughing in my own head that I felt so comfortable being around all these guns whereas somebody who is not so familiar with them would be pooping themselves. And yes of course things can happen, they can happen anywhere... but they happen at gun ranges with much less frequency than other locations. ND's OTOH, not so much. But again, don't mistake my comfort for complacency. My dad considers me borderline paranoid. As a matter of fact, he was talking to me about contingencies for a terrorist attack and was like, make sure you are ready for anything at all times, well, I know YOU are, but we have to be too. He knows I walk around extremely aware of what's going on, and I'm NEVER complacent.

 

[ScottG1911]

wow everyone has to pick every little thing to the bone. So he felt safe big deal. If I had an AK with a mag in it, i"d feel rather safe. it dont matter what nut is nearby, you've got a gun to kill the sob. sure you arent completely safe, but I could tell thats not what the op meant.

Right now I feel safe I have an 870 with 5 rounds of 3" 00 buck within reach. if any criminal busts my door down, I grab it and move 10 feet to the hall, and then he dies. just because something can happen doesnt mean you cant feel safe. only way anyone can kill me right now is if they shoot through the wall, or blow my butt up. So on that off chance, I feel pretty darn safe, but I never leave my guard down, there's an 870 in reach remember?

 

[oldFred]

I feel safe, ... when I'm HOME, HOME ON THE RANGE... ... where the deer and the antelope playayy... ... where seldom is heard, a discourigin' word...

 

[divemedic]

I would point out that it was illegal for the mom to have the gun she did. She had a history of mental illness.

 

[TRGRHPY]

People go to gun ranges to rent guns and kill themselves, so it wouldn't surprise me at all to hear of someone deciding to take some others with him.

There is a difference, though, between complacency and feeling safer.

but I don't feel safe at ALL when im down at the police station registering a handgun.

You shouldn't. When I was working the ER that we set up in the tent city after hurricane Andrew back in '92, I had a conversation with a couple of Marines that I had been previously deployed with. They were telling me that the first night that they were there and at the police station for a briefing, they were outside guarding the funvees when a car of thugs did a drive-by on them. Since they hadn't been issued ammo yet, ROE was the reason for the meeting, they were unable to return fire and just had to hide behind the vehicle.

 

[Lou McGopher]

At a gun range... most people are facing down range, toward the targets. Everyone's got on hearing protection, and there are often stalls that prevent you from seeing others in your peripheral area.
And guns are constantly being fired.

At the ranges you go to, how successful would someone be if they tried to go from stall to stall, shooting people in the back of the head? How far would they likely get before someone noticed and stopped them? Normally, when you hear shots fired, you look for cover, determine where the shots are coming from, if they're being fired at you, and if you should return fire. But at the range, you expect to hear a lot of shots fired. Would you be alerted by the range getting quieter?

Obviously, this sort of thing is extremely rare. You can be the victim of random violence anywhere, and you're probably less likely to be murdered at a gun range than you are at any other place you visit throughout the day....

 

[chris in va]

Friend and I went to the Knob Creek machine gun shoot saturday. Before we left, she called her friend back in Jersey and told her about the event.

She said, "ok, well...you be really careful out there!".

 

[cbrgator]

People go to gun ranges to rent guns and kill themselves, so it wouldn't surprise me at all to hear of someone deciding to take some others with him.

There is a difference, though, between complacency and feeling safer.

The range I was at does not rent guns, so that wasn't really a concern. I'm much more worried about carelessness than malice at that range.

 

[TxState101]

Hey OP this is The High Road, keep your damn opinions/musings/feelings to yourself!

Sometimes, I love this place, and other times, you have some jackass that's gotta try and pick a fight.

I hope some of you take medicine for your blood pressure, because if you jump on things that people say like you do here online, then you're going to have an aneurysm.