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Protecting yourself at a firing range

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  • matefrio

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    My awareness at the range is yellow or better at all times, not exactly for this, I'm more in danger from the other idiots on the range than I am from a person trying to steal my guns but awareness of one's surroundings is a huge blanket.

    When a new person pulls up to the bench I like to take a break from the line and get behind them for a bit while they unpack and shoot to assess their abilities if possible.

    Just breaking focus a bit and looking around as things change will be enough, keeping your CHL or a backup ready is prudent.

    One of the few times I've ever threatened deadly force was at a range where a guy kept pointing his gun at me out of carelessness and ignorance.
     

    BG1960

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    Definitely been an interesting thread. Even though I generally shoot alone at what I think of as a sketchy range ( Marksman ) in a rough part of town ( City of South Houston ) I never have thought about someone jacking me up for my weapons. Ignorance is bliss I guess.
     

    Dhayes

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    I was happy in my ignorance, prior to this thread.
    Me too. But now when Hubby and I go to the range, I'll sit with the rifles while Hubby goes to take pics of our shot groups during cease fires. He can "beam" the pics of mine to my phone. We both have Samsung Galaxy Nexus phones and can do that.
     
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    jordanmills

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    I don't think it matters where I am. If I get a funny feeling like someone is going to assault me, I'll make sure I'm not there any more. And call the cops if I can articulate some solid suspicion. But it's like the stewardesses say on planes about wearing seatbelts - if they expected a crash landing, they wouldn't have come in to work.
     

    SIG_Fiend

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    At the range, you want to have a heightened level of awareness. It's easy to get tunnel vision, but think about what/who is around you and what is going on. Just look around sometime.

    Also, if other people are present, look at their posture, demeanor, body language, facial expression, and most importantly, look at the hands. Whatever may happen, the danger, whether intentional or negligence, is going to come from the hands.

    Trust your gut. I have plenty of stories I could tell you all and some of them, while entirely true, are outrageous.

    One such story is that I have met and seen a guy shoot on the range multiple times, before he ended up going active shooter. At the range I worked, I noticed this one kid (he was 19) one time. I can't pinpoint what specifically, but something about him was just "off". It was enough to catch my attention and make me focus on him. He had a slightly odd posture and just carried himself in an odd manner. He would bring in his Romanian WASR AK to shoot at the range. I saw him come in 3 or 4 times, and at least one time he brought a friend. There was something very odd about his body language. Nothing that would lead me to any specific conclusions, just different, and that alone warranted focusing on. He also handled his AK in an odd manner. I can't say exactly how/what was odd, just that combined with his posture and demeanor, it was enough to make me focus on him as someone that might be a problem on the range. Could have been potential for negligence, safety issues, etc. Who knew at the time. Anyways, after the last time he came in, roughly 2 weeks passed. Then this:

    Colton Tooley, UT Shooter, Had History Of Interest In Gun Control Policy

    UTPD Releases Footage of September Campus Shooting - YouTube

    APD identifies 19-year-old UT shooter - YouTube


    He ended up dressing in black, donning a ski mask, taking his AK to the Austin UT campus, ran around firing random shots, and ended up killing himself... He just as easily could have decided to go for broke at the range, or anywhere else. Read body language, maintain your level of awareness, and listen to your gut.
     
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