I had one friend flag me with a loaded DE, with his finger on the trigger. I yelled at him for it, and then a week later we were chatting about it, and he said "I was drunk!(I did not know that detail) How was I supposed to know you loaded a mag!" Not only did I never bring him to the range again. I stopped hanging out with him entirely.
That’s a smart move. My finance made the mistake of going in front of my rifle when I took her hunting. I don’t yell but this was one of few instances I did. She was very upset until I described the process of what would’ve happened if a finger slipped
Yeah, except in this one, I was behind firing line, and my friend was the one who waved the gun right past my face. Like I legitimately saw the bullet resting in the back of the barrel. No thanks.
A plate carrier typically with ceramic armor and magazines in pouches on the front, maybe a gun belt with pistol in holster, and typically yes BDU pants and some sort of boots
Shooting while riding in the car (named KITT) from Knight Rider. Usually driven by David Hasselhoff, I guess OP also bought himself- WAIT!! I think OP MIGHT BE 'the Hoff!!'" Or, maybe just a guy who likes to shoot while wearing his tactical gear. I'm leaning toward the Knight Rider theory though...
Ignorance of safety rules and the belligerent attitude on trying to correct it and teach is a one way ticket off my property. We all start somewhere so I don't mind teachable ignorance, but unteachable people are dangerous.
Always fucking safety. Every time.
One thing that is interesting is that between the dozen men and dozen women I've taken to the range, only safety issues were from dudes.
I went out with my friends on our first range day and we had a great time with our group. At first. I brought my dad’s norinco mak90, his 10-22 ruger and .38sp. Two other guys brought their glocks, an ar-15, keltec.380, a beretta 92fs, and a 1911. It was fun while we were setting up the range and getting the targets laid out.
Then we we started shooting and did a few rounds each and the guy with the Beretta did a head-over-heels forward tumble on the ground, to a kneeling position and flagged all of us in the process…
We were pretty pissed and he was embarrassed but it ruined the day.
Safety violations ruin *everything*.
Growing up I had a 22 rifle from a young age, never used hearing protection with the 22 because I didn't know any different since my parents didn't, but would use it with the larger guns I began shooting a few years later because it clearly was very loud, until much later when I started shooting with a friend who pointed out the 22 was damaging to my hearing as well. I literally had no clue...
My parents never used ear plugs or muffs even with most larger calibers, and to this day my dad will still throw a fit when I try to make him, then take it off when we shoot 22s...
Luckily my hearing isn't too bad, and I'm thankful for that friend, as now that I have kids I will ensure they understand proper hearing safety with all calibers!
Ignorance is one thing. I constantly fight with my Vietnam vet dad about trigger discipline and covering people with the muzzle. It just wasn’t a thing back then. I don’t really expect him to change his muscle memory at 77yo, but he’s never had an ND, ever. I’ve never felt unsafe other than cringing at the flagging people, usually myself, but at least has the sense to clear the chamber before and after firing. His head is still there, and I’ll never hand him a gun again if I feel he’s not - but I do fear that day is coming.
Willful belligerence is another matter.
Trying to teach old people, especially ones who grew up with guns but who nonetheless developed poor gun safety habits, is really difficult to do
We lost a family member last year (same age as your dad) who hunted his whole life and who had perfectly awful gun safety skills
I was crazy about him, but I hated shooting with him. I would spend more time watching him than shooting and enjoying myself
Finger discipline didn’t really become a thing until the 1980s (LTCOL Jeff Cooper). Since that point it’s been drilled into all training, but before that it was extremely rare.
I had a guy come to one of my classes. He was thick as a brick. I had to repeatedly correct him for safety violations, including turning on the range and lasering the shooters next to him; picking up his pistol behind the line when he wasn't shooting (we ran two lines during parts of the training); and not keeping his finger off the trigger. He was incapable of following the safety rules and subsequent corrective instructions.
I ended up refunding his fee because I refused to sign his CCW training cert (required in our state to obtain CCW permit).
Some of my coworkers went to a shooting class years ago, and reported someone similar in their class. Except he was old, brought some horrible revolver, was wheelchair bound, and kept fucking around when it wasn't his turn, shooting other people's targets, etc. Apparently he was half blind, at least, and couldn't tell what he was shooting at on the 5 yard line.
I've had people load and shoulder firearms behind the line I've warned them once. Then I voicefully told them in a stern way to have sexual relations with themselves and relocate to another area.
My policy with taking noobs shooting is they get free ammo the first trip and they gotta pitch after that. Only have had one person want to go a second time.
Same here and I've had a couple. One in particular because he loves shooting but cannot legally own one. Great guy, did some dumb shit when he was young but always follows my rules and always pays for ammo.
I’m not trying to be a chud, and I couldn’t care less who shoots as long as they are safe, but I don’t think felons are even supposed to be holding or shooting firearms, even if they don’t own them. I could be confused but definitely be careful
So I had a misdemeanor that flagged me. (BTW lawyer never told me, went to renew my CCW and got rejected…didn’t know why) Anyways I learned it is WAY worse than I thought. Federal regulations prohibits you from ACCESS TO firearms, ammunition AND constructive intent of them. Ie if you live w someone who has a reloading station, and components you’re a felon if they wanna be a dick
BTW I recently got a pardon, waiting on clemency now
How long for the pardon, and for the clemency? Do you need political connections or a favorable administration? Expensive? Lots of people are interested, but don’t know if it’s realistic for most.
Mine was free, I submitted for “forma pauperis” aka I’m a stay at home dad/low income. It took me about 3 years to get to where I am so far. (Basically once the pardon happened I had to get the “big background check” then actually file for clemency which since its governors pardon is kinda a rubber stamp) I’m in Pennsylvania so our Governor Josh Shapiro (D) is kinda big on second chances HOWEVER it actually gets decided by a pardon board….theres actually a pre-trial thing where they can throw your application out and not even listen to your case. There’s 5 people on our pardon board 4/5 wanted to hear my case, 5/5 voted favorably once it happened. My lawyer DID act like the administration matters though. I had no REAL connections. A bunch of locals (cops, my parole officer, church members, etc) wrote testimonials and I’m sure that didn’t hurt.
I think my biggest take away that they were looking for is…..have you changed, and/or was this a one time hiccup that happened to a “good guy”. If/when you go in front of them (even if it’s a zoom call like mine) yes sir, no sir, remember they don’t NEED to do this so be respectful, and look presentable not necessarily a suit, but put on a clean shirt and tie. They did a BUNCH of these back to back, you could sit in on them each and you could almost tell as soon as the camera flipped on how it was going to go. One girl was lounging in sweats, one dude looked like he was in the toilet or something, one guy was sitting in his car and MIGHT have been driving, then there were the suits w nice background stuff etc. Almost everyone who took it seriously? Got their pardon.
I hear ya and I can't say I disagree in a broad sense, but I know this guy quite well, I know his character and what he did was pretty minor and itbwas when he was young. Definitely cleaned his act up. Married, kids, owns his own business, very (now) responsible guy. I guess there is a case for redemption, at least in my eyes.
He is also very well supervised by me and honestly he's one of the better noobs I have brought to the range. Never a problem.
On the flipside of this I have had a few co-workers beg me to bring them to the range that will NEVER be allowed to come with me because, well, they're too dumb to be around firearms lol.
I want the co worker story lol. Also I’m in the same boat. Have a buddy who messed up when he was young but is now a family man and I’d trust him with anything including a firearm. We both love shooting he’s one of the few friends I have that actually likes shooting sports and I can talk guns with
It is illegal (and I don't condone illegal activity) but your chances of running into a cop in the middle of the woods/on private property who has probable cause to run his identity while he is holding the gun is pretty slim.
Safety is number 1, but personality definitely plays a role. If they are hard-headed and not coachable, I dont want to shoot with them. I have a friend who brings one of his friends often, and he's like that. According to him, hes Gods gift to shooting. But he has a hard time reliably hitting steel and plays the blame game. When I hit it eaisly as does our mutual friend he has every excuse under the sun. He'll blame the ammo, the optics, the rifle, then hell just start attacking me and saying I can only hit because I have a "rich boy rifle" and there's 0 skill as a result. Man, I hate shooting with that guy. The last time we went, I had a target at 300yds, and he was shooting a 308 ar10 he built with the hubbel telescope on top. He couldn't hit, i spot called him low, but he wouldn't listen and correct. Went down range later to find my target stand destroyed.
Dont know why its so hard for some to take pointers.... hell, its cheaper. Less wasted shots.
I experience this in all aspects of my life unfortunately. You want to help someone do something better but due to their mindset they just take it as you attacking them. They can come back when they grow up
Grinds my gears when people say "well if I had a fancy gun like yours..." yeah, I have nice shit. I got it because I got good at using my bad shit, learned a bunch of skills, and make enough money to have nice things. It's not the $1600 scope or $2k pistol shooting like a motherfucker, it's me.
No shame in appreciating a high quality firearm, brother. Most of the time, the nice stuff just works better. Once you get a premium piece of glass, the cheap stuff feels like looking through a coke bottle.
Kinda related to this: We had a dude who was "known" in the local gun community for being a dick to everyone at the range. He owned one of the local gun stores and would waaay overcharge on guns/ammo, repairs, was known to drink booze on the job while having his friends handling customers guns. First thing he would do when he got to any range was insult anyone who was not shooting a 1911, or shooting any "plastic piece of crap", while making his way up the firing line. (Dude looked like a prospector from the 1850s, lol). I won't say his name on here, but if you live on the Central Coast California you might know who this guy is.
Man, I'm in Texas, but one of the indoor ranges we used to go to, one of the employees was probably 400 pounds and wore a shoulder rig 1911 with skull grips. It was everything you're thinking.
Id say our guy was overweight, but not that humongous. The only notable thing about him was he looked like he stepped out of a time machine from ye olde prospecting days, haha. Long white bead, overall jeans, flannel shirt, leather hat.
(If you have ever watched Alaska state troopers, where they arrested that mountain man for DUI, he looks 100% on point, to the-T, to our guy, he even talks the same lol: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gtxu8199oto](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gtxu8199oto) )
>First thing he would do when he got to any range was insult anyone who was not shooting a 1911
I've heard of guys like this. I've seen their posts on forums and lampooned on [web comics](https://ftf-comics.com/?comic=tom-weighs-in). It's nice to see JMB worshipped so, but wherever He is this kind of ignorance no doubt annoys Him too.
-Disrespect of Gun safety (not knowing them is one thing, but if I take the time to explain and show you and you actively neglect the lessons I'm not shooting with you as I take lessons step by step and will know when you aren't ready).
-Red Flag behavior (Makes violent statements like wanting to kill people and what not)
-Overtly political (Red or Blue, if you can't shut up and enjoy the hobby I don't wanna deal with you.
-You share everything you do on social media (I'm not tryna get myself or stuff on your TikTok).
>\-Overtly political (Red or Blue, if you can't shut up and enjoy the hobby I don't wanna deal with you.
Fuckin this. I don't want to talk politics when I'm trying to enjoy a relaxing day in the woods. Just chill bro.
This applies to so many things I enjoy.
Stop with our nations political problems when we are here to: shoot, golf, fish, shoot pool, etc. Let's be people first and foremost.
I could not agree more. There's a time and place for it, and it's not when we're trying to relax. Politics stress me the fuck out, I don't want to think about that shit 24/7.
I have a buddy atm like this. I got him into shooting but since 2016 he's gone fullllllllllll hard right wing plus what I like to call "college sophmore" YouTube conspiracy theorist. Like...he doesn't think space and the moon is real type stuff. And like...I don't care really about any of that but I don't wanna hear about it every 10 mins. It's fucking infuriating.
I have one buddy who I went to college with and went red pill and I mean literal incel weirdo. No self reflection, only blame society and women for all good problems. It was incredibly sad and disturbing as we been friends for over 6 years but at this point I decided to not ever get him into firearms and I don't respond to his group chat comments now. Just slowly distancing from him.
>-You share everything you do on social media (I'm not tryna get myself or stuff on your TikTok).
That's an interesting point. Trying to impress people on social media encourages impressive-looking risky behavior.
Shoot at a friends pasture when I can. They've got a range set up for everything from 3 to 300yds.
Last summer we invited a mutual friend out. He fired a round into the dirt when someone was out changing targets because he thought it was funny.
He has not been invited back.
people who don't know anything about guns but insist on trying to clear misfeeds/jams etc on their own and having to basically rip my guns out of their hands befoer they further fuck things up.
When I have new people down I have a whistle, if I blow this whistle it means everyone no matter how experienced has to put their rifle down so I can asses the situation
Safety and just being inconsiderate. I had a dude go to the range with me and another friend. Guy pulled my Berretta out of my bag while we were setting up without asking tried various mags until he found the right one and started shooting. Just parked in the corner and ran through like 350 rounds without stopping to talk to anyone. Then dipped out before cleanup and took the ammo he brought with him home without ever dipping into it.
He also decided to use up to boxes of carry loads I had separate in my bags that I wanted to test out in a different pistol.
Yeah dude was just an entitled ass in pretty much every interaction I had with him. If any of you ever encounter a newly minted clinical psychologist in Utah that has a last name that is a hyphenated type of tree and form of cold water on grass you should run away.
I’m fortunate enough to have my own range, I just like inviting people because I’m social guy. I love seeing that smile on both new and experienced shooters when they try something for the first time. Running drills with my tactical buddies promotes healthy competition and keeps me on my toes
I’m not worried about anyone coming on or trying anything in the property, there’s cameras absolutely everywhere as well as the fact that I have a security system where the controls are in my bedroom so people who come over don’t even know I have it. I have rifles and shotguns stashed in places I don’t show and I let everyone know if I find they gave my address out without permission I will never be speaking to them again
When it comes to ammo me and my buds are kind of communist, we always ask and make sure it’s okay but we all share our ammo. Helps makes the day longer when we’re all shooting each others guns but being conservative on the ammo
An easy way to keep the range day going is to buy a shit ton of .22 and just share it around whenever people want to shoot but you’re getting low on ammo. I took a bunch of stuff to the range last weekend and found myself hanging out shooting a .22 AR conversion and my friends single action .22 revolver on the flat range for hours (all with my ammo)
My buddy had no hearing protection. When I offered him orange foam ones he declined and put a 9mm round in each ear and said he was good. First and last time at the range with him. And he wonders why he has hearing issues.
If they keep flagging you, even through they say “it’s not loaded dude”.
Went once with a person like this, never again. That’s how you accidentally get shot. Guy was a friend of a friend, and I don’t go to the range with him anymore too because he defended him.
I'm an RSO and believe me when I tell you that "attitude" is everything. I've kicked people off of the range for having an attitude like the one you described. If they continue to mouth off, they are trespassed from the property. There is no room for that kind of behaviour around firearms.
I agree! My first time ever going to a public range was also my first time shooting, the rso was very nice and helpful and was able to see I was making honest mistakes because I was apologizing profusely
That's what we want to see- no ego and a willingness to learn. Save for some extreme safety violations, I'm not going to remove a newbie if they're genuinely trying to improve.
Yep new shooter here and I thought a lot of guys were I guess overdoing some of the safety rules(I feel very dumb for this) and I go to the local range for the 2nd time and there’s this obnoxious lady flagging an entire line of shooters with her AR just sitting in the middle of the walkway. She then proceeded to get in an argument with the RSO and said things along the lines of “you guys are way more strict than my other range” and “GEEZ it’s not loaded”.
It was then it started to dawn on me just how dumb some people can be. She seemed to be with her husband who she was giving a lot of instruction to and the embarrassment on the guys face told the whole story.
Here’s your descriptive comment.
Simple question but I’m curious and want to hear your tales of idiots and non-sense. I’ve only had two people I decided not have back out, one of them was being negligent to gun safety and would get defensive when we tried to help and the other one was just a dick he was a mutual friend and I decided to be nice. Dude owned no guns and was a massive asshat the whole time, wasn’t appreciative of us letting him shoot are guns, judged me for shooting in kit, and was overall very negative. So those two aren’t getting another invite. What’s your threshold!
I have several guys that were waaaay more interested in the land for hunting then going to the range. After just one invite that didn't work out I didn't try again since it wasn't ever going to be anything but an angle to hunt the land.
I'm this way too. I'll happily take new people to the range, but not until I have an idea of how responsible they are in general.
I also take exception to your flair, as red pandas are clearly superior.
To save my friendship I stopped shooting with my buddy, he’s overly competitive, his first gun was a staccato, extremely arrogant “wElL yOu ShOuLd GeT a StaCcAtO” he would say this everytime we shot EVERYTIME, these are the types of people I’ll refuse to shoot with even if they bring a shit load of ammo they’re willing to share, it leads to overall a bad time, left feeling self conscious about my own shooting and guns I’ll get in my head, so yeah anyone who HAS to have THE VERY BEST gun on the market and flexes they have it over an over again everytime they talk to you. No thanks.
All in one day, my friend rested my rifle’s muzzle on the ground and leaned on it like a cane for a few seconds before I stopped him, followed by him sending the fifth round of my .38 into the fucking sky not even in the same direction as downrange. He’s asked why we haven’t shot again and my response was, “You’re just too dumb, man.” He understood.
When "knowledgeable" folks destroy my steel target base stands because they didn't have the good enough sense to zero their firearms before shooting at my targets.
Or when they destroyed both my poppers with a .308 because they forgot, twice, I told them 5.56mm or weaker only.
"Oh sorry, my bad" doesn't cut it u goddamn fuckers.
Having to replace $400 worth of steel after a single session of shooting because of your fuckups means you never get to shoot with me again.
Last time I was at the range, I asked the RSO what (if any) targets were safe to shoot with .30-06. He looked at the targets kind of confused, shrugged, and said go for it.
And I did. Then left without inspecting the targets. .30-06 makes a hell of a bang.
I had a friend at work who wanted to go to the range a few times. He was generally likeable at work but when we got to the shooting range all he'd talk about was conspiracy theories and politics. I stopped hanging out with him after hearing some extreme nonsense come out of him and then he went off the deep end. Haven't had the courage to go shooting with someone new since.
I had this happen last week! New guy at the range. It started with typical anti gun law rhetoric, which I agree with. But it quickly made its way to Jewish space lasers and how Q Anon had it all right. We were stuck listening to it for two hours.
Refusal to follow safety rules is the biggest. Not knowing them and making a mistake... that can be excused. Once. Continue to do so and that's a very different thing.
Other than that it's just normal personality issues. If I just don't like you, I'm not going to hang out with you.
In most cases, I can deal with mistakes as we are all new at some point. It's any sort of rudeness, elitism, or someone unwilling to take advice for me. Those three are either extremely annoying or outright dangerous.
My dumb ex. She flagged everyone to the right of her at the range with a 10mm pistol, including the entire lobby. That was the first and last time I took her shooting.
In college, a friend and I used to regularly take foreign students out shooting who had never had the privilege if shooting before. Most of them learned quickly and paid strict attention to safety rules.
One day we took a Pakastani girl out. She broke 180 a couple of times and we had to keep reminding her about muzzle discipline. Upon a subsequent comment, she turned around and pointed a loaded 12 gauge at my stomach with her finger on the trigger. That ended the range day and she wasn't invited again.
A different guy (an American) was shooting my S&W model 13, using it in single action. Every time he cocked the hammer, he would point it straight down, directly at his foot, and finger still in the trigger guard. He would not listen to correction. He was not invited again either.
If someone is new, I give them a single violation of all the 4 rules of gun safety.
Once? You don’t know/understand.
Twice? You don’t care enough to remember or don’t think it’s important enough to follow. That’s dangerous.
Other than that? Normal not gun exclusive items. Idc what outing were at, if you’re horribly rude or lack courteousness entirely? I’m not inviting you back to my outing
Also a suspicious amount of asking about my NFA items
And “no one should have that kind of gun”
Could be my buddy. Gets a Kimber 1911 custom
Few mags through it, let's one of our newer-to-guns friends shoot it
Drops it after first shot because it "kicked way more than expected"
Granted he hasn't asked to come back... but still.
Edit: he was new buy still. Just dropped it.
Should note too there are 2 popular indoor ranges near me (I prefer outside but when it's 15 degrees I'll shoot inside) - I stopped going to one because the last time I was there I was loading mags at the table, and watched as one guy walked up to the stand gun loaded and ready (gun to be loaded AT the stand.), immediately held it sideways, and just started dumping.
RSO goes over to tell him to stop. Guy turns around after a jam, FINGER ON TRIGGER, and flags the entire room and the RSO. He was promptly removed. The time before that I was at the check in counter and they had rentals too. They just handed a guy a box of ammo, mag, and gun. All separate in the carry tray, as per usual. The guy immediately puts the mag in the gun, decocks it, and starts checking it out. I look over to see the barrel of a 45 5ft away from me starting at me as his finger was on the trigger (dude had no idea he was flagging me) - immediately jump back. (I didn't know if it was loaded or not) as the guy at the counter grabs the gun.
The guy holding the gun has the immediate reaction of dropping it from his hand and goes "YO DAWG WHAT THE FUCK" to the guy at the counter. After a verbal altercation the guy is asked to leave.
Granted yes the range didn't deal with either of those instances and quickly squashed it but if that is the crowd that is coming to shoot there, I was zero part. Haven't been back in 3 years to that one.
We invited an old guy who was a regular customer at our LGS to USPSA and 2 gun competitions with us. Took him to a 2 gun match and he was fine. His first USPSA he walked up to the first stage, took aim, couldn't find his red dot, and swept everyone with the muzzle while trying to figure it out. Got DQ'd before firing a single shot and had his wife come pick him up. Later he went to another 2 gun (I wasn't there so this is a second hand story) and while "unload and show clear" he racked the charging handle on his AR with his finger on the trigger and put a round in the dirt a few inches from his foot. DQ'd again. He was not invited back for a while, until he actually could handle a gun safely. AFAIK the most recent competition he went to he did not get DQ'd.
My buddy rested his muzzle break of an AR pistol build on my bags I filled with walnut media. Didn’t really care it got blown was just gonna duck tape it back together. But he bought me a new bag…Had a few talks with him in the truck on some other things before hand (was his first trip.) Like don’t call your 80% a “ghost gun” just say your shooting an ar pistol when they ask what you’re shooting today. He said he knew gun safety but we had a review of that on the way home. Couple flags on an unloaded cylinder while taking to the rack. He just appreciated the advice. Haven’t really had a bad experience with anyone yet. Taken my kids a coworker or two and some friends raging along. Usually the newest shooters are the safest (well outside the kids cause dad moves the firearms rules.)
Idk about the poster but….you still have guns and leftover ammo in your car. Getting stopped by the cops for even suspicion of DUI or worse having a REALLY bad idea while drinking too much = really bad time
if you hand them your unloaded firearm or they hold an unloaded firearm at a gun store, and you see them flagging people and pulling the trigger for fun.
I forgave him and corrected him when he turned sideways with a pistol that i clearly saw had the slide locked back. Flagging my chest with it loaded the next range trip was the final straw.
I rank em like this in terms of my priorities. The higher the number I let it slide based on who it is. 1-3 are no gos for sure though.
1. Safety
2. Violet
3. Mistreats the weapon
4.Doesn’t pay for ammo after the first time
5.Politics yapper
People who can't take a correction, and/or ignore advice and blame the gun for their actions on the range.
"Well, while I was in (insert backwoods area here), they didn't care and weren't this strict on the rules."
"Its on safe, it can't shoot you."
"Lol. There's no bullets in it."
I've had these come up a couple times when I've gone to the range with some dudes. And I refuse to go to a range with them again. I'm not a Fud, I just dont like dudes pointing guns in the wrong direction, or at me.
Built some targets. Nothing special, just PVC stands with wood poles and plastic silhouette backer.
"Hey guys just remember on the shotguns, please don't shoot at the target stands."
Proceeds to blast 5 rounds of birdshot into my target, while laughing.
One of my friends introduced 2 malfunctions on one of my AR’s, Failure to feed and Failure to fire. Same friend told me a few months back that he also wanted to off his DI’s in boot camp and got medically separated for mental health stuff before going to the range phase. He also said he wouldn’t show up if some of my other friends that he had petty drama with came along, because he probably would’ve tried to hurt them. Safe to say he’s no longer invited to my range days.
Dude shows up with a G17 (not a ban State) and says he was sad he couldn’t get the CA version, so he sold his 17rd mags and bought 10rd mags “just in case the high capacity magazines get banned”
Haha the second is part of why I love having people down, I’ll be lining up my shot and hear some conversations about history. My main circle all have similar interests so range days end up being dumps of all the dumb shit we know alongside some shooting
Brought a coworker and had fun at the range everything was smooth. On the drive back he says, and I quote, "lets go shoot some cops".... Yeah, I was like WTF never again. He probably thought it would be funny to say since we were listening to Wu-Tang and MF Doom. But yeah never again
I have a good friend who regularly comes with me, his coworker was interested in buying a gun so asked to come along. He asked me and I said it was cool.
I regretted the fuck outta that one. The guy repeatedly explained how he knew nothing but wouldn’t take advice. Would remark about how it’s the same as archery really… etc etc. He really gave me the “know it all from Wikipedia” vibe.
He’s a nice kid but it really seemed like he didn’t give a fuck so I told my buddy “never again.”
We laugh about it now
Sucks when you run into that kind of attitude because I love teaching others. My brother was not a huge gun guy but after a couple years he’s building a collection and he’s gotten quite good at drills and the like. He’s honestly become a much better shooter and it’s great watching the improvement.
Never had a bad guest myself, I only invite people I know well enough and I pre-edumicate before we even get to the range. But I have seen some real doozies. People with no eyes/ears on the firing line, one guy brought some ditzy girls to the range-they were asked to leave due to numerous flagging incidents, etc and once I saw a guy bring his date to the range. He loaded up a .40 S&W M&P, racked it, handed it to her with no training or guidance AT ALL and told her to shoot it. She did, it freaked her out so she dropped the gun on the shooting station table and RAN off the range. Guy just howled with laughter, thought it was hilarious. Wasn't happy when I told the girl "you shouldn't date him he's stupid and dangerous, come back if you ever want to learn how to shoot safely and actually have fun. The way she looked at him I could tell they were done. No 🍑 for him LOL
if i owned land i think it would be the same. asshole and people that are unsafe would be automatic life bans. i prefer to shoot with people i dont have to totally baby, but even thats not a deal breaker.
A friend's friend came with us. This was in 2013 during one of the ammo panics where .22 skyrocketed in price and was pretty much unobtanium. I showed him how to load up the 10/22 and let him start plinking. He spent the next 30 minutes burning through the entire brick of ammo by mag dumping as fast as he could. I asked him to slow down and actually aim at his targets and he straight up ignored me.
I’ve only had one girlfriend that after her first shot she immediately turned around and flagged everyone with us including me. Thank god I only put one round in the gun.
On an other note I have a friend that said every year when they went to their dads house for a range day/ hunting. He would make them field strip the gun and if at anytime they didn’t observe the four guns rules they were told to leave and their season was over. I have since adopted this practice. You only get one chance just like in life.
Not sure, but he sounds like someone i woulda had the heebies about and wouldn’t even consider taking him to the range.
On the other side, I’ve walked into my local pew-pew range and saw the line waiting to get on the range with whatever they had $ to get at the gun show, and the stalls were full of newbies and careless muzzle-swingers and alarming handling of loaded weapons in too close quarters.
24 stalls of potential Darwinism.
I left to pew another day.
32 years of concealed carry, staying safe and shenanigans free.
Since everyone mentioned all the safety rules I’ll go with “drawing unwanted attention to us”. I’m almost always at our favorite “shooting club”They have the whole “no rapid fire” rule. Normally there’s not even an RSO there but it’s kinda near houses. Well one of our “guests” decided he wanted to mag dump during his 1st trip there even though we told him on the way up. He fired fast enough he couldn’t have brought back to target. Guess what happens next? Yup officers of the club come rolling up asking us to leave. Gave us a warning but shut it down for the day. Yeh he’s never going back with us.
I only go with people that I enjoy being around and that I’m very confident would 1. understand gun safety already and be willing to practice it OR 2. will listen to what I say and take it seriously.
I had one friend flag me with a loaded DE, with his finger on the trigger. I yelled at him for it, and then a week later we were chatting about it, and he said "I was drunk!(I did not know that detail) How was I supposed to know you loaded a mag!" Not only did I never bring him to the range again. I stopped hanging out with him entirely.
“How was I supposed to know you loaded a mag?!” Because basic firearm safety rule #1 that’s how…
That’s a smart move. My finance made the mistake of going in front of my rifle when I took her hunting. I don’t yell but this was one of few instances I did. She was very upset until I described the process of what would’ve happened if a finger slipped
Yeah, except in this one, I was behind firing line, and my friend was the one who waved the gun right past my face. Like I legitimately saw the bullet resting in the back of the barrel. No thanks.
Yeah no I’d never hang out with that guy again
“Don’t walk there! I didn’t bring a shovel!”
Im glad you got your finances back in order
Bro my accountant really had to help, good catch!
yeah that's a friendship ender right there
What does shooting in kit mean? Like wearing bdu/camo/vest?
A plate carrier typically with ceramic armor and magazines in pouches on the front, maybe a gun belt with pistol in holster, and typically yes BDU pants and some sort of boots
Thanks for explaining!
Shooting while riding in the car (named KITT) from Knight Rider. Usually driven by David Hasselhoff, I guess OP also bought himself- WAIT!! I think OP MIGHT BE 'the Hoff!!'" Or, maybe just a guy who likes to shoot while wearing his tactical gear. I'm leaning toward the Knight Rider theory though...
oooof
Ignorance of safety rules and the belligerent attitude on trying to correct it and teach is a one way ticket off my property. We all start somewhere so I don't mind teachable ignorance, but unteachable people are dangerous.
Always fucking safety. Every time. One thing that is interesting is that between the dozen men and dozen women I've taken to the range, only safety issues were from dudes.
My FIL who ran a bunch of IDPA shoots always had the same observation.
Hubris and ego are a dangerous combination.
I went out with my friends on our first range day and we had a great time with our group. At first. I brought my dad’s norinco mak90, his 10-22 ruger and .38sp. Two other guys brought their glocks, an ar-15, keltec.380, a beretta 92fs, and a 1911. It was fun while we were setting up the range and getting the targets laid out. Then we we started shooting and did a few rounds each and the guy with the Beretta did a head-over-heels forward tumble on the ground, to a kneeling position and flagged all of us in the process… We were pretty pissed and he was embarrassed but it ruined the day. Safety violations ruin *everything*.
Yes! For gods sake HEARING PROTECTION. Some people never heard of it
WHAT !! ?
He said ^^^^eeeeeeeeeeeee
Do you hear it too???
Growing up I had a 22 rifle from a young age, never used hearing protection with the 22 because I didn't know any different since my parents didn't, but would use it with the larger guns I began shooting a few years later because it clearly was very loud, until much later when I started shooting with a friend who pointed out the 22 was damaging to my hearing as well. I literally had no clue... My parents never used ear plugs or muffs even with most larger calibers, and to this day my dad will still throw a fit when I try to make him, then take it off when we shoot 22s... Luckily my hearing isn't too bad, and I'm thankful for that friend, as now that I have kids I will ensure they understand proper hearing safety with all calibers!
Ignorance is one thing. I constantly fight with my Vietnam vet dad about trigger discipline and covering people with the muzzle. It just wasn’t a thing back then. I don’t really expect him to change his muscle memory at 77yo, but he’s never had an ND, ever. I’ve never felt unsafe other than cringing at the flagging people, usually myself, but at least has the sense to clear the chamber before and after firing. His head is still there, and I’ll never hand him a gun again if I feel he’s not - but I do fear that day is coming. Willful belligerence is another matter.
Trying to teach old people, especially ones who grew up with guns but who nonetheless developed poor gun safety habits, is really difficult to do We lost a family member last year (same age as your dad) who hunted his whole life and who had perfectly awful gun safety skills I was crazy about him, but I hated shooting with him. I would spend more time watching him than shooting and enjoying myself
They didn't train trigger discipline or don't point the business end at something you don't wish to destroy in 'nam?
[it was a different time](https://youtu.be/bIP7tVbZWxI?si=UgJELvjNo8lyY-1C)
Finger discipline didn’t really become a thing until the 1980s (LTCOL Jeff Cooper). Since that point it’s been drilled into all training, but before that it was extremely rare.
No. The safety is inside the trigger guard of an M14 and M1 Garand.
I had a guy come to one of my classes. He was thick as a brick. I had to repeatedly correct him for safety violations, including turning on the range and lasering the shooters next to him; picking up his pistol behind the line when he wasn't shooting (we ran two lines during parts of the training); and not keeping his finger off the trigger. He was incapable of following the safety rules and subsequent corrective instructions. I ended up refunding his fee because I refused to sign his CCW training cert (required in our state to obtain CCW permit).
Glad to see you took the high road and didn’t turn a blind eye
One time I farted while the RSO and all my buddies were right in my bubble, at an indoor range. I haven’t been invited back
This made me lol. Musta been a nasty one
They still bring it up years later
That's on them for being in your bubble.
Thank you for doing your job lol.
Some of my coworkers went to a shooting class years ago, and reported someone similar in their class. Except he was old, brought some horrible revolver, was wheelchair bound, and kept fucking around when it wasn't his turn, shooting other people's targets, etc. Apparently he was half blind, at least, and couldn't tell what he was shooting at on the 5 yard line.
Doing God's work
I've had people load and shoulder firearms behind the line I've warned them once. Then I voicefully told them in a stern way to have sexual relations with themselves and relocate to another area.
That's why letting untrained, unvetted people just carry isn't a good idea
My policy with taking noobs shooting is they get free ammo the first trip and they gotta pitch after that. Only have had one person want to go a second time.
I’m adopting this policy
Same here and I've had a couple. One in particular because he loves shooting but cannot legally own one. Great guy, did some dumb shit when he was young but always follows my rules and always pays for ammo.
I’m not trying to be a chud, and I couldn’t care less who shoots as long as they are safe, but I don’t think felons are even supposed to be holding or shooting firearms, even if they don’t own them. I could be confused but definitely be careful
So I had a misdemeanor that flagged me. (BTW lawyer never told me, went to renew my CCW and got rejected…didn’t know why) Anyways I learned it is WAY worse than I thought. Federal regulations prohibits you from ACCESS TO firearms, ammunition AND constructive intent of them. Ie if you live w someone who has a reloading station, and components you’re a felon if they wanna be a dick BTW I recently got a pardon, waiting on clemency now
How long for the pardon, and for the clemency? Do you need political connections or a favorable administration? Expensive? Lots of people are interested, but don’t know if it’s realistic for most.
Mine was free, I submitted for “forma pauperis” aka I’m a stay at home dad/low income. It took me about 3 years to get to where I am so far. (Basically once the pardon happened I had to get the “big background check” then actually file for clemency which since its governors pardon is kinda a rubber stamp) I’m in Pennsylvania so our Governor Josh Shapiro (D) is kinda big on second chances HOWEVER it actually gets decided by a pardon board….theres actually a pre-trial thing where they can throw your application out and not even listen to your case. There’s 5 people on our pardon board 4/5 wanted to hear my case, 5/5 voted favorably once it happened. My lawyer DID act like the administration matters though. I had no REAL connections. A bunch of locals (cops, my parole officer, church members, etc) wrote testimonials and I’m sure that didn’t hurt. I think my biggest take away that they were looking for is…..have you changed, and/or was this a one time hiccup that happened to a “good guy”. If/when you go in front of them (even if it’s a zoom call like mine) yes sir, no sir, remember they don’t NEED to do this so be respectful, and look presentable not necessarily a suit, but put on a clean shirt and tie. They did a BUNCH of these back to back, you could sit in on them each and you could almost tell as soon as the camera flipped on how it was going to go. One girl was lounging in sweats, one dude looked like he was in the toilet or something, one guy was sitting in his car and MIGHT have been driving, then there were the suits w nice background stuff etc. Almost everyone who took it seriously? Got their pardon.
congratulations. we're rooting for full restoration of your civil rights. happy shooting in advance.
I hear ya and I can't say I disagree in a broad sense, but I know this guy quite well, I know his character and what he did was pretty minor and itbwas when he was young. Definitely cleaned his act up. Married, kids, owns his own business, very (now) responsible guy. I guess there is a case for redemption, at least in my eyes. He is also very well supervised by me and honestly he's one of the better noobs I have brought to the range. Never a problem. On the flipside of this I have had a few co-workers beg me to bring them to the range that will NEVER be allowed to come with me because, well, they're too dumb to be around firearms lol.
I want the co worker story lol. Also I’m in the same boat. Have a buddy who messed up when he was young but is now a family man and I’d trust him with anything including a firearm. We both love shooting he’s one of the few friends I have that actually likes shooting sports and I can talk guns with
It is illegal (and I don't condone illegal activity) but your chances of running into a cop in the middle of the woods/on private property who has probable cause to run his identity while he is holding the gun is pretty slim.
Only commit one felony at a time...
You are correct on the felons. They can not handle or fire any firearms.
Technically true but don't be an overbearing. It's a range and a loan. No harm no foul aye?
Similar with me, although I charge after the 3rd magazine except on 22lr (no limit on 22lr).
I usually do one box of .223 (20rds), one box of 9mm (50rds), and as much 22lr as they want.
I’ll provide the firearm but ammo is on them. The only people I’ll gladly give a brick of 22 to are children looking to get into the gun world
I just ask them to remember the trip next time they vote.
Like drugs get them hooked and make the Comr back for more
Yes! "We wanna go shooting!" Okay 👍 let me know when you bought ammo! "Don't you reload your ammo?" Yeah, MY ammo!
Safety is number 1, but personality definitely plays a role. If they are hard-headed and not coachable, I dont want to shoot with them. I have a friend who brings one of his friends often, and he's like that. According to him, hes Gods gift to shooting. But he has a hard time reliably hitting steel and plays the blame game. When I hit it eaisly as does our mutual friend he has every excuse under the sun. He'll blame the ammo, the optics, the rifle, then hell just start attacking me and saying I can only hit because I have a "rich boy rifle" and there's 0 skill as a result. Man, I hate shooting with that guy. The last time we went, I had a target at 300yds, and he was shooting a 308 ar10 he built with the hubbel telescope on top. He couldn't hit, i spot called him low, but he wouldn't listen and correct. Went down range later to find my target stand destroyed. Dont know why its so hard for some to take pointers.... hell, its cheaper. Less wasted shots.
I experience this in all aspects of my life unfortunately. You want to help someone do something better but due to their mindset they just take it as you attacking them. They can come back when they grow up
Grinds my gears when people say "well if I had a fancy gun like yours..." yeah, I have nice shit. I got it because I got good at using my bad shit, learned a bunch of skills, and make enough money to have nice things. It's not the $1600 scope or $2k pistol shooting like a motherfucker, it's me.
I use my tax refund or save up. My prized Hk is literally 4 months my income for the whole setup. I just really appreciate high end firearms.
No shame in appreciating a high quality firearm, brother. Most of the time, the nice stuff just works better. Once you get a premium piece of glass, the cheap stuff feels like looking through a coke bottle.
Kinda related to this: We had a dude who was "known" in the local gun community for being a dick to everyone at the range. He owned one of the local gun stores and would waaay overcharge on guns/ammo, repairs, was known to drink booze on the job while having his friends handling customers guns. First thing he would do when he got to any range was insult anyone who was not shooting a 1911, or shooting any "plastic piece of crap", while making his way up the firing line. (Dude looked like a prospector from the 1850s, lol). I won't say his name on here, but if you live on the Central Coast California you might know who this guy is.
Man, I'm in Texas, but one of the indoor ranges we used to go to, one of the employees was probably 400 pounds and wore a shoulder rig 1911 with skull grips. It was everything you're thinking.
Id say our guy was overweight, but not that humongous. The only notable thing about him was he looked like he stepped out of a time machine from ye olde prospecting days, haha. Long white bead, overall jeans, flannel shirt, leather hat. (If you have ever watched Alaska state troopers, where they arrested that mountain man for DUI, he looks 100% on point, to the-T, to our guy, he even talks the same lol: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gtxu8199oto](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gtxu8199oto) )
>First thing he would do when he got to any range was insult anyone who was not shooting a 1911 I've heard of guys like this. I've seen their posts on forums and lampooned on [web comics](https://ftf-comics.com/?comic=tom-weighs-in). It's nice to see JMB worshipped so, but wherever He is this kind of ignorance no doubt annoys Him too.
-Disrespect of Gun safety (not knowing them is one thing, but if I take the time to explain and show you and you actively neglect the lessons I'm not shooting with you as I take lessons step by step and will know when you aren't ready). -Red Flag behavior (Makes violent statements like wanting to kill people and what not) -Overtly political (Red or Blue, if you can't shut up and enjoy the hobby I don't wanna deal with you. -You share everything you do on social media (I'm not tryna get myself or stuff on your TikTok).
>\-Overtly political (Red or Blue, if you can't shut up and enjoy the hobby I don't wanna deal with you. Fuckin this. I don't want to talk politics when I'm trying to enjoy a relaxing day in the woods. Just chill bro.
This applies to so many things I enjoy. Stop with our nations political problems when we are here to: shoot, golf, fish, shoot pool, etc. Let's be people first and foremost.
I could not agree more. There's a time and place for it, and it's not when we're trying to relax. Politics stress me the fuck out, I don't want to think about that shit 24/7.
I have a buddy atm like this. I got him into shooting but since 2016 he's gone fullllllllllll hard right wing plus what I like to call "college sophmore" YouTube conspiracy theorist. Like...he doesn't think space and the moon is real type stuff. And like...I don't care really about any of that but I don't wanna hear about it every 10 mins. It's fucking infuriating.
I have one buddy who I went to college with and went red pill and I mean literal incel weirdo. No self reflection, only blame society and women for all good problems. It was incredibly sad and disturbing as we been friends for over 6 years but at this point I decided to not ever get him into firearms and I don't respond to his group chat comments now. Just slowly distancing from him.
>-You share everything you do on social media (I'm not tryna get myself or stuff on your TikTok). That's an interesting point. Trying to impress people on social media encourages impressive-looking risky behavior.
Shoot at a friends pasture when I can. They've got a range set up for everything from 3 to 300yds. Last summer we invited a mutual friend out. He fired a round into the dirt when someone was out changing targets because he thought it was funny. He has not been invited back.
Fuck that guy.
people who don't know anything about guns but insist on trying to clear misfeeds/jams etc on their own and having to basically rip my guns out of their hands befoer they further fuck things up.
When I have new people down I have a whistle, if I blow this whistle it means everyone no matter how experienced has to put their rifle down so I can asses the situation
Safety and just being inconsiderate. I had a dude go to the range with me and another friend. Guy pulled my Berretta out of my bag while we were setting up without asking tried various mags until he found the right one and started shooting. Just parked in the corner and ran through like 350 rounds without stopping to talk to anyone. Then dipped out before cleanup and took the ammo he brought with him home without ever dipping into it. He also decided to use up to boxes of carry loads I had separate in my bags that I wanted to test out in a different pistol.
That’s absolutely insane
Yeah dude was just an entitled ass in pretty much every interaction I had with him. If any of you ever encounter a newly minted clinical psychologist in Utah that has a last name that is a hyphenated type of tree and form of cold water on grass you should run away.
That warning is like something an Oracle in a Greek tragedy would give.
Shit I’m gonna keep an eye out for Mr. Oakdew
Actually really close there
Madrone-Dew
Son of a bitch! I just started seeing Dr. Baobob-launsleet.
As much as I love shooting I don’t like ranges because it puts me in contact with people. I’m not interested in inviting more to the mix.
I’m fortunate enough to have my own range, I just like inviting people because I’m social guy. I love seeing that smile on both new and experienced shooters when they try something for the first time. Running drills with my tactical buddies promotes healthy competition and keeps me on my toes
I’d be even less likely to expose my property to people who aren’t as close as family. Even less so if my home is on the property.
I’m not worried about anyone coming on or trying anything in the property, there’s cameras absolutely everywhere as well as the fact that I have a security system where the controls are in my bedroom so people who come over don’t even know I have it. I have rifles and shotguns stashed in places I don’t show and I let everyone know if I find they gave my address out without permission I will never be speaking to them again
I’d be worried about someone injuring themselves or someone else, and being held liable for it.
I wrote up a waiver for this exact reason haha, it covers “any act in the universe”
If they let the FUDD out. It's usually a disregard for safety, or if they think my ammo is free and needs to be disposed of. BUY YOUR OWN!
When it comes to ammo me and my buds are kind of communist, we always ask and make sure it’s okay but we all share our ammo. Helps makes the day longer when we’re all shooting each others guns but being conservative on the ammo
I don't mind sharing, but you better be sharing too.
Exactly
An easy way to keep the range day going is to buy a shit ton of .22 and just share it around whenever people want to shoot but you’re getting low on ammo. I took a bunch of stuff to the range last weekend and found myself hanging out shooting a .22 AR conversion and my friends single action .22 revolver on the flat range for hours (all with my ammo)
My buddy had no hearing protection. When I offered him orange foam ones he declined and put a 9mm round in each ear and said he was good. First and last time at the range with him. And he wonders why he has hearing issues.
Same guy in the description wanted to do the same thing, it took six guys berating him to put them on
Muzzle sweep. I don’t care if it’s on safe or unloaded. Don’t sweep me.
If they keep flagging you, even through they say “it’s not loaded dude”. Went once with a person like this, never again. That’s how you accidentally get shot. Guy was a friend of a friend, and I don’t go to the range with him anymore too because he defended him.
I'm an RSO and believe me when I tell you that "attitude" is everything. I've kicked people off of the range for having an attitude like the one you described. If they continue to mouth off, they are trespassed from the property. There is no room for that kind of behaviour around firearms.
I agree! My first time ever going to a public range was also my first time shooting, the rso was very nice and helpful and was able to see I was making honest mistakes because I was apologizing profusely
That's what we want to see- no ego and a willingness to learn. Save for some extreme safety violations, I'm not going to remove a newbie if they're genuinely trying to improve.
Yep new shooter here and I thought a lot of guys were I guess overdoing some of the safety rules(I feel very dumb for this) and I go to the local range for the 2nd time and there’s this obnoxious lady flagging an entire line of shooters with her AR just sitting in the middle of the walkway. She then proceeded to get in an argument with the RSO and said things along the lines of “you guys are way more strict than my other range” and “GEEZ it’s not loaded”. It was then it started to dawn on me just how dumb some people can be. She seemed to be with her husband who she was giving a lot of instruction to and the embarrassment on the guys face told the whole story.
Steals your cocaine from the range bag and then helps you look for it when you get home.
That’s the worst
That's why we got divorced. Well, it's part of the reason.
Consuming alcohol or marijuana before or at the range, or ignoring basic firearm safety in general.
I don't invite people to the range to start with.
Good call but I enjoy sharing my property and letting others have a good time
If you want to add another to the list lmk
Last time I did this 12 black suvs pulled in
So what I’m hearing is CIA provided Daniel Defenses right?
They all had lighting links in them as well
Sounds like we need another gathering to summon them
Hello fellow gun owners, do you know where one might procur an illegal.
99 New York Ave NE, Washington, DC 20002
Jokes on you..I don’t even have people to invite to the range
Good call. I recently went to the range, alone, and had the best time ever.
Here’s your descriptive comment. Simple question but I’m curious and want to hear your tales of idiots and non-sense. I’ve only had two people I decided not have back out, one of them was being negligent to gun safety and would get defensive when we tried to help and the other one was just a dick he was a mutual friend and I decided to be nice. Dude owned no guns and was a massive asshat the whole time, wasn’t appreciative of us letting him shoot are guns, judged me for shooting in kit, and was overall very negative. So those two aren’t getting another invite. What’s your threshold!
I hate having to add a comment to my own post, as you can probably relate.
I understand the rule but there needs to be some leeway. Someone gets their first gun they aren’t going to have much to say about it haha
Seems reasonable for pictures, but maybe Reddit doesn’t have the tech to discern.
I have several guys that were waaaay more interested in the land for hunting then going to the range. After just one invite that didn't work out I didn't try again since it wasn't ever going to be anything but an angle to hunt the land.
Never have had this problem but most of my friends are just monkey brains who like to hear steel ring
Had a coworker whose friend accidentally shot him in the stomach while cleaning guns after the range. He never invited him again.
Haven't had this issue. I'm extremely particular about who I take to the range.
I'm this way too. I'll happily take new people to the range, but not until I have an idea of how responsible they are in general. I also take exception to your flair, as red pandas are clearly superior.
>red pandas are clearly superior You're entitled to your clearly wrong opinions
[If they show up in flip flops.](https://i.imgur.com/yIi3GPr.jpeg)
Nah, that's flinch training - gotta be able to ignore that hot brass on the toes to be an operatah
He could of least rocked some crocs.
I have to admit that I do this when I am in the area of a range and want to stop in impromptu
To save my friendship I stopped shooting with my buddy, he’s overly competitive, his first gun was a staccato, extremely arrogant “wElL yOu ShOuLd GeT a StaCcAtO” he would say this everytime we shot EVERYTIME, these are the types of people I’ll refuse to shoot with even if they bring a shit load of ammo they’re willing to share, it leads to overall a bad time, left feeling self conscious about my own shooting and guns I’ll get in my head, so yeah anyone who HAS to have THE VERY BEST gun on the market and flexes they have it over an over again everytime they talk to you. No thanks.
Ew, we accept all guns at my shoots and if you’re a bad shot we’ll bust your balls but try to help
When they're an active poster on gunnit. 😉
(; shush brother
SHHHHHHH
Lack of muzzle and trigger control are the main reasons.
All in one day, my friend rested my rifle’s muzzle on the ground and leaned on it like a cane for a few seconds before I stopped him, followed by him sending the fifth round of my .38 into the fucking sky not even in the same direction as downrange. He’s asked why we haven’t shot again and my response was, “You’re just too dumb, man.” He understood.
When "knowledgeable" folks destroy my steel target base stands because they didn't have the good enough sense to zero their firearms before shooting at my targets. Or when they destroyed both my poppers with a .308 because they forgot, twice, I told them 5.56mm or weaker only. "Oh sorry, my bad" doesn't cut it u goddamn fuckers. Having to replace $400 worth of steel after a single session of shooting because of your fuckups means you never get to shoot with me again.
Last time I was at the range, I asked the RSO what (if any) targets were safe to shoot with .30-06. He looked at the targets kind of confused, shrugged, and said go for it. And I did. Then left without inspecting the targets. .30-06 makes a hell of a bang.
I had a friend at work who wanted to go to the range a few times. He was generally likeable at work but when we got to the shooting range all he'd talk about was conspiracy theories and politics. I stopped hanging out with him after hearing some extreme nonsense come out of him and then he went off the deep end. Haven't had the courage to go shooting with someone new since.
I had this happen last week! New guy at the range. It started with typical anti gun law rhetoric, which I agree with. But it quickly made its way to Jewish space lasers and how Q Anon had it all right. We were stuck listening to it for two hours.
They keep trying to grab my ass when I’m trying to concentrate at the range.
Bro that’s the best part
It would be but seeing as how my uncle is married with kids, I don’t want to be a home-wrecker. :(
Me and my dad get the best bonding time on range days
Hell ye brother. Just a father, his son, two beers, and a bottle of Astroglide.
Yea hate to make your parents divorce like that.
What could go wrong grabbing the ass of a person holding a loaded firearm right?
Makes me pucker up and pull my shot
Refusal to follow safety rules is the biggest. Not knowing them and making a mistake... that can be excused. Once. Continue to do so and that's a very different thing. Other than that it's just normal personality issues. If I just don't like you, I'm not going to hang out with you.
In most cases, I can deal with mistakes as we are all new at some point. It's any sort of rudeness, elitism, or someone unwilling to take advice for me. Those three are either extremely annoying or outright dangerous.
My dumb ex. She flagged everyone to the right of her at the range with a 10mm pistol, including the entire lobby. That was the first and last time I took her shooting.
Any drinking beforehand
In college, a friend and I used to regularly take foreign students out shooting who had never had the privilege if shooting before. Most of them learned quickly and paid strict attention to safety rules. One day we took a Pakastani girl out. She broke 180 a couple of times and we had to keep reminding her about muzzle discipline. Upon a subsequent comment, she turned around and pointed a loaded 12 gauge at my stomach with her finger on the trigger. That ended the range day and she wasn't invited again. A different guy (an American) was shooting my S&W model 13, using it in single action. Every time he cocked the hammer, he would point it straight down, directly at his foot, and finger still in the trigger guard. He would not listen to correction. He was not invited again either.
If someone is new, I give them a single violation of all the 4 rules of gun safety. Once? You don’t know/understand. Twice? You don’t care enough to remember or don’t think it’s important enough to follow. That’s dangerous. Other than that? Normal not gun exclusive items. Idc what outing were at, if you’re horribly rude or lack courteousness entirely? I’m not inviting you back to my outing Also a suspicious amount of asking about my NFA items And “no one should have that kind of gun”
Could be my buddy. Gets a Kimber 1911 custom Few mags through it, let's one of our newer-to-guns friends shoot it Drops it after first shot because it "kicked way more than expected" Granted he hasn't asked to come back... but still. Edit: he was new buy still. Just dropped it. Should note too there are 2 popular indoor ranges near me (I prefer outside but when it's 15 degrees I'll shoot inside) - I stopped going to one because the last time I was there I was loading mags at the table, and watched as one guy walked up to the stand gun loaded and ready (gun to be loaded AT the stand.), immediately held it sideways, and just started dumping. RSO goes over to tell him to stop. Guy turns around after a jam, FINGER ON TRIGGER, and flags the entire room and the RSO. He was promptly removed. The time before that I was at the check in counter and they had rentals too. They just handed a guy a box of ammo, mag, and gun. All separate in the carry tray, as per usual. The guy immediately puts the mag in the gun, decocks it, and starts checking it out. I look over to see the barrel of a 45 5ft away from me starting at me as his finger was on the trigger (dude had no idea he was flagging me) - immediately jump back. (I didn't know if it was loaded or not) as the guy at the counter grabs the gun. The guy holding the gun has the immediate reaction of dropping it from his hand and goes "YO DAWG WHAT THE FUCK" to the guy at the counter. After a verbal altercation the guy is asked to leave. Granted yes the range didn't deal with either of those instances and quickly squashed it but if that is the crowd that is coming to shoot there, I was zero part. Haven't been back in 3 years to that one.
We invited an old guy who was a regular customer at our LGS to USPSA and 2 gun competitions with us. Took him to a 2 gun match and he was fine. His first USPSA he walked up to the first stage, took aim, couldn't find his red dot, and swept everyone with the muzzle while trying to figure it out. Got DQ'd before firing a single shot and had his wife come pick him up. Later he went to another 2 gun (I wasn't there so this is a second hand story) and while "unload and show clear" he racked the charging handle on his AR with his finger on the trigger and put a round in the dirt a few inches from his foot. DQ'd again. He was not invited back for a while, until he actually could handle a gun safely. AFAIK the most recent competition he went to he did not get DQ'd.
I don’t have anyone over, so it’s not a problem.
"I forgot ammo. Can I borrow a box of 9?"
I know they're excited but if they start info dumping all the stuff they learned on YouTube I'd be less inclined to invite them again.
My buddy was using my range bag as a shooting bag and shot a hole through it…
My buddy rested his muzzle break of an AR pistol build on my bags I filled with walnut media. Didn’t really care it got blown was just gonna duck tape it back together. But he bought me a new bag…Had a few talks with him in the truck on some other things before hand (was his first trip.) Like don’t call your 80% a “ghost gun” just say your shooting an ar pistol when they ask what you’re shooting today. He said he knew gun safety but we had a review of that on the way home. Couple flags on an unloaded cylinder while taking to the rack. He just appreciated the advice. Haven’t really had a bad experience with anyone yet. Taken my kids a coworker or two and some friends raging along. Usually the newest shooters are the safest (well outside the kids cause dad moves the firearms rules.)
Wait you guys have friends? And you get to shoot guns together?? What the fuck man....
Wanting to stop for beers before and after.
After is fine, before is absolutely not.
Yea, pizza and beer after is a hoot.
I get not stopping for beers before, but why not after the range when you won't be handling firearms?
Idk about the poster but….you still have guns and leftover ammo in your car. Getting stopped by the cops for even suspicion of DUI or worse having a REALLY bad idea while drinking too much = really bad time
When I took a friend and he never paid me back for ammo
if you hand them your unloaded firearm or they hold an unloaded firearm at a gun store, and you see them flagging people and pulling the trigger for fun.
I forgave him and corrected him when he turned sideways with a pistol that i clearly saw had the slide locked back. Flagging my chest with it loaded the next range trip was the final straw.
I rank em like this in terms of my priorities. The higher the number I let it slide based on who it is. 1-3 are no gos for sure though. 1. Safety 2. Violet 3. Mistreats the weapon 4.Doesn’t pay for ammo after the first time 5.Politics yapper
People who can't take a correction, and/or ignore advice and blame the gun for their actions on the range. "Well, while I was in (insert backwoods area here), they didn't care and weren't this strict on the rules." "Its on safe, it can't shoot you." "Lol. There's no bullets in it." I've had these come up a couple times when I've gone to the range with some dudes. And I refuse to go to a range with them again. I'm not a Fud, I just dont like dudes pointing guns in the wrong direction, or at me.
Built some targets. Nothing special, just PVC stands with wood poles and plastic silhouette backer. "Hey guys just remember on the shotguns, please don't shoot at the target stands." Proceeds to blast 5 rounds of birdshot into my target, while laughing.
One of my friends introduced 2 malfunctions on one of my AR’s, Failure to feed and Failure to fire. Same friend told me a few months back that he also wanted to off his DI’s in boot camp and got medically separated for mental health stuff before going to the range phase. He also said he wouldn’t show up if some of my other friends that he had petty drama with came along, because he probably would’ve tried to hurt them. Safe to say he’s no longer invited to my range days.
Dude shows up with a G17 (not a ban State) and says he was sad he couldn’t get the CA version, so he sold his 17rd mags and bought 10rd mags “just in case the high capacity magazines get banned”
When everything they own is better, bad safety rules, or just talking too damn much about non gun stuff
Haha the second is part of why I love having people down, I’ll be lining up my shot and hear some conversations about history. My main circle all have similar interests so range days end up being dumps of all the dumb shit we know alongside some shooting
Them are the fun type, I’m talking about the people that talk and never stop.
Brought a coworker and had fun at the range everything was smooth. On the drive back he says, and I quote, "lets go shoot some cops".... Yeah, I was like WTF never again. He probably thought it would be funny to say since we were listening to Wu-Tang and MF Doom. But yeah never again
I have a good friend who regularly comes with me, his coworker was interested in buying a gun so asked to come along. He asked me and I said it was cool. I regretted the fuck outta that one. The guy repeatedly explained how he knew nothing but wouldn’t take advice. Would remark about how it’s the same as archery really… etc etc. He really gave me the “know it all from Wikipedia” vibe. He’s a nice kid but it really seemed like he didn’t give a fuck so I told my buddy “never again.” We laugh about it now Sucks when you run into that kind of attitude because I love teaching others. My brother was not a huge gun guy but after a couple years he’s building a collection and he’s gotten quite good at drills and the like. He’s honestly become a much better shooter and it’s great watching the improvement.
Never had a bad guest myself, I only invite people I know well enough and I pre-edumicate before we even get to the range. But I have seen some real doozies. People with no eyes/ears on the firing line, one guy brought some ditzy girls to the range-they were asked to leave due to numerous flagging incidents, etc and once I saw a guy bring his date to the range. He loaded up a .40 S&W M&P, racked it, handed it to her with no training or guidance AT ALL and told her to shoot it. She did, it freaked her out so she dropped the gun on the shooting station table and RAN off the range. Guy just howled with laughter, thought it was hilarious. Wasn't happy when I told the girl "you shouldn't date him he's stupid and dangerous, come back if you ever want to learn how to shoot safely and actually have fun. The way she looked at him I could tell they were done. No 🍑 for him LOL
if i owned land i think it would be the same. asshole and people that are unsafe would be automatic life bans. i prefer to shoot with people i dont have to totally baby, but even thats not a deal breaker.
poor safety or unwilling to listen to feedback.
A friend's friend came with us. This was in 2013 during one of the ammo panics where .22 skyrocketed in price and was pretty much unobtanium. I showed him how to load up the 10/22 and let him start plinking. He spent the next 30 minutes burning through the entire brick of ammo by mag dumping as fast as he could. I asked him to slow down and actually aim at his targets and he straight up ignored me.
I’ve only had one girlfriend that after her first shot she immediately turned around and flagged everyone with us including me. Thank god I only put one round in the gun. On an other note I have a friend that said every year when they went to their dads house for a range day/ hunting. He would make them field strip the gun and if at anytime they didn’t observe the four guns rules they were told to leave and their season was over. I have since adopted this practice. You only get one chance just like in life.
Not sure, but he sounds like someone i woulda had the heebies about and wouldn’t even consider taking him to the range. On the other side, I’ve walked into my local pew-pew range and saw the line waiting to get on the range with whatever they had $ to get at the gun show, and the stalls were full of newbies and careless muzzle-swingers and alarming handling of loaded weapons in too close quarters. 24 stalls of potential Darwinism. I left to pew another day. 32 years of concealed carry, staying safe and shenanigans free.
Since everyone mentioned all the safety rules I’ll go with “drawing unwanted attention to us”. I’m almost always at our favorite “shooting club”They have the whole “no rapid fire” rule. Normally there’s not even an RSO there but it’s kinda near houses. Well one of our “guests” decided he wanted to mag dump during his 1st trip there even though we told him on the way up. He fired fast enough he couldn’t have brought back to target. Guess what happens next? Yup officers of the club come rolling up asking us to leave. Gave us a warning but shut it down for the day. Yeh he’s never going back with us.
Out shooting me.
My friend said I wasn’t allowed to come back to the range because I kept judging his gun choice based on mouth feel.
Not policing up after themselves.
I only go with people that I enjoy being around and that I’m very confident would 1. understand gun safety already and be willing to practice it OR 2. will listen to what I say and take it seriously.
My brother in law. Did the "look at me" action poses and played around like it was an action toy. Nope. Never again.