Yeouch. I'm glad that I haven't frequented ranges like that as much.
I mostly shoot at an indoor range that either only allows CHL'ers, Mil or LEO to shoot at it, - or - in the Desert. I've yet to see anyone do anything dumb at the Indoor range and I feel that the fact that the vast majority of the folks there are very serious about their firearms usage has a lot do with it. You can draw from the holster, go prone, to a knee, rapid fire, etc - there are virtually no rules there that restrict practical training. The desert... well, thats's different. The spot I frequent has been used by shooters for years and years. I've heard that it's either public land, or private land that someone allows folks to use. Either way, it's just an unregulated spot that folks can use whenever, with whatever, pretty much however they want (as long as it's legal!). It's great to have such a place at your disposal, as there are no limitations on what you are allowed to do. On the other hand, it isn't great because folks just go out there and shoot old washers/dryers, TV's, glass bottles... whatever, and they just leave it there to rot. The ground is litterally covered in spent shells of every type (shotgun, pistol, rimfire, rifle) and I'm sure that the berms are more lead than dirt now!
I've seen folks do some dumb things out there:
- What I assume was a father and son were shooting rimfire on one side of the range, and the father allows his son to climb to the top of the berm and shoot off of it into the distance. My buddy had to go over and request that he stop doing that, to which they complied. It seemed like the father was quite upset at the son, but it's kind of amazing that the father "didn't notice" he was doing that.
-Three younger guys pulled up, pulled out shotguns and literally aimed them across the desert (NOT Into the berm) and just started blasting away. No, there were no targets there either. They then got back into their car and drove away.
- The Sheriff's department decided that riding up on a group of shooters (who were actually sending lead down range at the time) from three different sides on ATV's would be a great idea. I was one of those guys, and it scared the living heck out of me. It's not like they had marked ATV's that were easy to discern as LEO "vehicles". Sneaking up on someone shooting or using power tools = stupid idea. Not sure what they were thinking. They just wanted to make sure we weren't doing anything dumb like drinking and then they left.
- Drinking while shooting. I've seen this done by a father while shooting with his kids. He kindly offered me a Tecate and I declined.
Generally, the place isn't bad. I try to go when I know other folks won't be out there, as part of the reason I go there is to shoot where I won't be bothered (by either range safety rules or other shooters) so I can practice un-hindered. It doesn't get crowded, but you'll see a few folks there on the weekends. The wife and I, - or any buddies that go out there with me - make it a point to clean up what we took out. There are to sides to the "range" seperated by a road, and I always go to the unoccupied side. I do this for safety, as I don't know the random joe that might pull up next to me and thus I don't want to put my life in their hands if you understand what I mean. How am I supposed to know if the guy isn't one of the loons that drinks while shooting or likes to flag everyone? I don't so I just try to avoid it when I can. That's the mentality I have - I'm not trying to be anti-social or rude, but I would hope that folks would understand why I'm motivated to leave the range with the same amount of holes in me than I arrived with. I just consider it a range courtesy that if you arrive at the range, and one side is occupied, that perhaps you should use the other side (at least out at this place). I just feel safer with more dirt and space between me and a shooter I don't know.
At any rate, It's definitely "interesting" to see the dumb things that other shooters do. Now, I'm FAR from some Firearms prodigy who knows everything, and I'm certainly not some delta operator, nor do I play one on TV, BUT I don't automatically think they are horrible human beings if I see them doing something stupid, as some folks are just ignorant ( and I mean this in the strictest sense of the word, not in a derogatory manner) to common sense, courtesy or practical safety. They might just need someone to tell them once so that they can learn from it. But if they can't... I'm getting as FAR away from them as I can as quickly as I can!
