Worst breaches of safety at a firing range or gun store?

[JimmyS1985]

I haven't been to the range or gun store's very much so I haven't seen very many breaches of safety, but last week when I took my friend to the firing range, I brought my brothers Walther P22 and it was acting up. It was consistently stove-piping and I'd have to pull the slide back to help it finish ejecting the cartridge. Well my friend Steve gets a hold of the gun and is running into the same problem. He started looking at the chamber to make sure it had reloaded the next round after a stove-pipe, but still had his finger in the trigger guard, he then shot the side of the shooting range, nowhere near the target since he wasn't paying proper attention to his finger being on the trigger. This was a safety breach, no one noticed it except me, I did remind him to be aware of where his finger is when holding the firearm, but if he had muzzle-sweeped simultaneously that could of been a very bad day for both of us.

Im sure much more avid shooters have seen some very negligent breaches of safety with firearms, do any of you have any stories?

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[Cheesemaker]

I've heard of things being too crazy at ranges. Especially, now its standing room only to shoot. And it's obvious that most of them are completely clueless as to what they are doing.

 

[Baggerman]

I went to one in Vancouver with my son to help him sight in a rifle for deer season this year. A guy had a Mosin Nagant and shot a hole it the roof overhang, I packed up and left.

 

[lostbackpacker]

The most common one I see is some one "sweeping" or "covering"someone with the muzzle of a firearm.

 

[Cooliorz]

I was recently at a local range in Portland where I think I experienced something similar.
I was the only person at the range with the exception of an older gent who was inspecting his gun and he accidentally fired it. I was so upset, I left shortly afterwards.
I also recently noticing the alarming amount of rounds fired in the ceiling directly above my head. Holy crap!

 

[btownemail]

Not too long I was at Bullseye in Tacoma, and the guy next to me was shooting his gun sideways, tryin' to be cool to his girl. Next he started fumbling around trying to open the slide, but I'm guessing the safety was on because the slide wouldn't budge. He must've swept the firing line a couple of times. That was enough for me to pack in it and call it a day. Not trying to bad mouth the range though, I was just there last week and had a good ol' time. Just ran into a bad seed. Been going to ranges for years, that was my only bad experience.

 

[RifleEnthusiast]

What happened to dropping the mag, ejecting and making sure nothing's in the chamber? I know sometimes one just feels "too comfortable" with a firearm, and that I think is the root of all evils with guns, NEVER get reckless or not give a gun (loaded or not) proper respect.
As far as breaches at gun stores, I've been in numerous situations where people would aim handguns looking through their sights while pointing the muzzle in my direction or close enough, I "knew" (or more like hoped) the guns were unloaded, but is still an uncomfortable feeling and it tells you right away how strictly people follow firearms safety rules.

 

[JimmyS1985]

What happened to dropping the mag, ejecting and making sure nothing's in the chamber? I know sometimes one just feels "too comfortable" with a firearm, and that I think is the root of all evils with guns, NEVER get reckless or not give a gun (loaded or not) proper respect.
As far as breaches at gun stores, I've been in numerous situations where people would aim handguns looking through their sights while pointing the muzzle in my direction or close enough, I "knew" (or more like hoped) the guns were unloaded, but is still an uncomfortable feeling and it tells you right away how strictly people follow firearms safety rules.

You mean like Homer in this clip?

The Simpsons - Gun Shop - YouTube

 

[RifleEnthusiast]

You mean like Homer in this clip?

The Simpsons - Gun Shop - YouTube

Yep

 

[SKN]

I was recently at a local Portland range off 82nd ave. recently where I think I experienced something similar.
I was the only person at the range with the exception of an older gent who was inspecting his gun and he accidentally fired it. I was so upset, I left shortly afterwards.
I also recently noticing the alarming amount of rounds fired in the ceiling directly above my head. Holy crap!

If that was at PSTC I hope you reported it to the staff, or at least said something to the violator as safety is a matter of concern for everyone. There have been NDs that impacted the bench/table in the booth, and many high strikes in the armored ceiling baffles down range but I've never seen any in the ceiling above a booth.

 

[Burt Gummer]

I believe some people have OCD or whatever you call it and just cannot function at a range.

I won't put others in harm's way because I brought someone who is normally intelligent, but has some mental flaw that they just cannot accept direction.

 

[M67]

This is why i am thankful i have a private range, where i can shoot all i want to, without dealing with knotheads and fools, that would put my life in danger.

 

[lostbackpacker]

This is why i am thankful i have a private range, where i can shoot all i want to, without dealing with knotheads and fools, that would put my life in danger.

I also belong to private range but still see violations by memebers. Also, some members bring guests or don't pay attention or watch them closely enough,

 

[nehalemguy]

How many of you remember Larry's Sports Center?

I worked the gun counter from '87 thru '94. During that time we had 3 discharges inside the store.

1. A very well dressed guy (I believe a doctor) with a brand new CHL and a S&W 6906. He put a Glaser round into the tile floor. A fragment hit a young lady in her arm and drew a small amount of blood. I always hoped that she took him to the cleaners but I never heard anything further after that one.

2. An off duty officer shot himself through the thigh with a Hi Power in the holster isle. He was alone when he did it but I later learned that he was testing to see how fast the pistol could be drawn from the holster.

3. Another officer put a round into a wall inside the SNC Supply law enforcement store that operated inside our warehouse.

Good times!!!!

E

 

[nehalemguy]

Another discharge was at the Cedar Hills Larry's. A customer wouldn't believe the clerk that his revolver was chambered for .38 S&W and not .38 spl. The clerk opened two boxes and showed him the physical difference between the rounds and then turned to answer another customer. The revolver owner took one of the .38 S&W rounds, chambered it, and pulled the trigger to prove the clerk wrong. Fortunately he did at least aim at a wall.

E

 

[Sgt Nambu]

Years ago a fellow was setting down his .357 and it discharged with the muzzle on the bench! Looked like the flying splinters from incoming cannon fire in the old days of sailing ships! Those of us who have been in the military have seen any number of sloppy weapon handling incidents. For folks who are so well trained with firearms infantry men are ridiculously careless! Familiarity does breed contempt. I personally witnessed a grunt finishing cleaning his rifle, chambering a round, then joking that he was going home early placing the muzzle against his ankle joint and squeezing it off! Blew his foot nearly clean off! He had simply not realized that he had chambered the round, something he did a dozen times a day! This happened in a bunker not on a range but it made a profound impression on me! To bad, he was a good guy and believe it or not an excellent soldier.

 

[EZLivin]

This thread is a perfect example of why I really really hate it when people are chastised for not liking a certain gun that has no external safety, or rags on someone who doesn't keep a round in the chamber when carrying. The standard line is always some variation of "if you keep your finger off the trigger the gun won't fire." Yup, but this isn't a perfect world. Everyone at one time or another experiences moments of temporary stupidity, so accidents will happen. TCGC has said most of the accidental discharges on the property involved cops. They said that 3 years ago or so - I don't know if that has changed with all the new shooters joining.

 

[MarkAd]

Everyone of thes was preventable by following the 4 COMMANDMENTS of firearms safety.
I am appalled that any of you would not take the time to reenforce or remind fellow shooters of that when the opportunity presnts itself.
Yes I would in cases pack up and leave, but not until I had attempted to reenforce safety and correct the person. It is on us to police ourselves.
I believe if you do not take part in the policing or correction you are enableing the bad handling of firearms and are part of the problem.

 

[gearheadbill]

I think indoor ranges are more dangerous than just about anywhere else. Lotsa cowboys (and cowgirls these days). IMHO

 

[Norm0931]

I spent most of my last year and a half in the Corps working at Hathcock Range at MCAS Miramar as a Combat Marksmanship Instructor (the new designator for PMI). During that time we had more than our fair share of incidents. Here are some of the worst.

1) On the "Table 2" (25 yard engagements) portion of the standard qualifications a female Marine Lieutenant caught a piece of hot brass on her neck. The brass rolled down her neck and peeled away some skin. Her subsequent freak out caused her to swing her locked and loaded (magazine inserted, round in chamber, bolt forward, safety OFF, FINGER ON TRIGGER) M4A1 Carbine directly in to the cheek of the poor Marine next to her. I speared her to the ground and ripped the weapon out of her hands. She tried to have me charged with assaulting an officer. My Gunner disagreed.

2) We had a Marine who was qualifying on the pistol range. It was the first day of shooting. All Marines are required to confirm the functionality of their weapons before departing the Armory for the range. Needless to say this staff NCO forgot this step. The stage was 15 rounds 25 yard slow fire in 15 minutes. He went to fire his first shot and the weapon went fully auto up the berm and then down to the 7 yard line. He was immediately kicked off the range.

3) We were on the range giving familiarization training with the Mossberg M500 and Benelli M1014 Joint Service Shotgun. We had one Marine who decided that, "My dead homies from my gang were crawling out of the ground!" So, logically he opened fire on them a few feet away from the firing line. He actually got discharged from the Marine Corps.

4) Oh, one time we had to work a weekend because a National Guard unit was using our range to get prepped for a deployment in about a month. Originally, the plan was to run them through the basic USMC Combat Marksmanship course. When the cluster arrived the gaggle of 20 officers decided they would not do that but, do the Army qualification at 25 yards. So they set out to BZO their 40 weapons with their 120 soldiers. At least 3/4 of the unit had never fired a weapon except in boot camp. None of them knew how to properly operate the sights on the M16/M4. We had a 40 lane firing line and at least 2/3 of each group (using the same weapons) was impacting the lower berm at 100yds (5 to 6 feet below the target). When that debacle was completed we moved on to the actual 25 yard qualification. Their first shooting position was like 10 rounds kneeling. Most of them were kneeling on the wrong knee. When I tried to educate them a very "I'm a ranger" (when he was LT he was with admin for the Battalion) Major told me that the Marine Corps method of kneeling (cover the femoral artery, toe to knee, good elbow to muscle contact) was not the Army way of kneeling and I was not to instruct his soldiers on our way of doing things. While not a safety violation, it was a complete cluster. I hope those guys did okay in Iraq.