I witnessed an appalling level of gun safety ignorance today...

[Guest Jo7hs2]

The RSOs at Stones River take flack here on TGO from some members, but I now totally understand why they are so restrictive, based on the folks who come in there on pink cards...

I was waiting in line this morning, and I witnessed a young boy (maybe 10-12) using a soft-cased rifle essentially as a kickstand, holding it under his chin and occasionally leaning on it. After I grew sufficiently appalled that none of the adults in the large group had said anything, I finally asked the adults if they could please have him stop holding the rifle that way.

The woman I'm assuming was his mother, probably stung by thinking she was being told how to parent, said she would, but that the gun couldn't hurt him, as it was a .22. She then tried to tell me a .22 couldn't kill you. Wow! Apparently a lead projectile the size of a pea, moving at over 1000fps, is safe to have transit the soft part of your head.

Edited November 20, 2010 by Jo7hs2

[Lumber_Jack]

I'd say physics was not her strong suit! And apparently neither is motherhood!

[kb4ns]

Darwin at work again. :-\

...based on the folks who come in there on pink cards...

What does that mean?

[dats82]

Darwin at work again. :-\ QUOTE]

Not soon enough; she already reproduced.

[Guest Jo7hs2]

What does that mean?

Pink card? The first time you go there, they label you with a pink card instead of a white one, so they know to give you the talk. Most people with one get yelled at least twice in the first few minutes, mostly just because they are used to a less strict environment. I was so proud of myself when I didn't get scolded once on my first trip. Still haven't.

I think every time I've been there they've had to deal with that one guy who had never been there and refused to follow the rules. Each time it was an experienced shooter who had never been to that particular range. Well, except for the teen who swept me with a .22 a few weeks back...

Edited November 20, 2010 by Jo7hs2

[Guest Jo7hs2]

What's amazing is that the kid still had the rifle under his chin for at least a minute afterwards. Didn't register in the slightest, and when an adult finally took it, he bounced it on his foot for the next few minutes...

[Erik88]

when I have kids, they will not be allowed to shoot until they prove to me that they understand the rules of gun safety.

What amazes me is the lack of common sense among grown men while at the range. I've been muzzled more times than I can count.

[Guest Jo7hs2]

And I should say that the man and his two sons who shot next to me were the model for how children and guns should interact. The little one even corrected his dad a few times for stepping over the red line.

[TGO David]

You're right that the RSOs over there get some flak. You're also right that a lot of stupid happens on that range because of the neophytes who attend without any sort of mentor present. Both of these are reasons why that range is at the absolute bottom of my list of places to go shoot. I don't like range nazis and I don't like people who have no intelligence when it comes to handling firearms.

[mikegideon]

I haven't seen any nazi behavior there in a long time. I don't normally go there when it's crowded, but I usually see a red card or two. They generally nip any unsafe behavior in the bud before it gets dangerous. My dealings with those RSO's has been nothing but postive. I spend most of my time on the rifle side, and always have a green card. My only intraction with the RSO's is when I'm picking my lane, or we're chewing the fat about guns.