Beware of the Tourists
Discussion
Went to my local gun range, which has frequently been mentioned on here, this afternoon, to try out my new semi-auto.
It's been rainy here in FL today, so the place was quite busy with British tourists.
In the shooting-lane next to mine were 3 English lads (mid/late 20's) who were behaving like total morons.
Not certain if it was loaded or not, but one of these pricks inadvertantly pointed a rental pistol at me, completely ignoring the range rules about keeping weapons pointed down-range.
After suggesting to this t
t that if it happened again, very, very bad things were likely to happen to him, he did this, having just reloaded the clip of a 9mm with his finger on the trigger.
Thankfully, they were all kicked-out, as a result, but didn't leave without getting mouthy and threatening with the range staff (all of whom are heavily armed).
Undoubtedly not representative of most tourist visitors, but it reminded me to be very aware of those around me, at places like this.
It's been rainy here in FL today, so the place was quite busy with British tourists.
In the shooting-lane next to mine were 3 English lads (mid/late 20's) who were behaving like total morons.
Not certain if it was loaded or not, but one of these pricks inadvertantly pointed a rental pistol at me, completely ignoring the range rules about keeping weapons pointed down-range.
After suggesting to this t
t that if it happened again, very, very bad things were likely to happen to him, he did this, having just reloaded the clip of a 9mm with his finger on the trigger.Thankfully, they were all kicked-out, as a result, but didn't leave without getting mouthy and threatening with the range staff (all of whom are heavily armed).
Undoubtedly not representative of most tourist visitors, but it reminded me to be very aware of those around me, at places like this.
The range should be assessing the attitude of all guests at the point of entry, and supervising ANY that they're not 100% certain know their way around guns/ranges! The range is responsible for the safety of all onsite.
We visited a range on my stag-do, but half of us had fired handguns before, either in Basic or as part of the Pistol Society at Uni, and as a result (despite being on-stag) we acted appropriately the whole time.
Not tourists per se...just idiots.
We visited a range on my stag-do, but half of us had fired handguns before, either in Basic or as part of the Pistol Society at Uni, and as a result (despite being on-stag) we acted appropriately the whole time.
Not tourists per se...just idiots.
I have to say that this range is, in my experience, quite well run, in that they do afford patrons a degree of autonomy. Perhaps they should be supervising absolute novices more closely, but I'm not sure how you determine who's an idiot versus who isn't based on a 1 minute interaction in the store.
I suppose the ideal way to run things would be to have supervised 'novice and tourist' sessions, but I think that may alienate the regulars.
I suspect it kind of goes with the territory, when you have a gun range offering rental weapons of varied description in a tourist destination.
I know that quite a few folks on here frequent this business when holidaying in Orlando - my point was not to cast any judgement on the range itself (I patronize the place frequently and have purchased a number of guns from them) - more to remind people to stay aware and be mindful of those around them in what is a fun place that can go bad on you in a heartbeat.
I suppose the ideal way to run things would be to have supervised 'novice and tourist' sessions, but I think that may alienate the regulars.
I suspect it kind of goes with the territory, when you have a gun range offering rental weapons of varied description in a tourist destination.
I know that quite a few folks on here frequent this business when holidaying in Orlando - my point was not to cast any judgement on the range itself (I patronize the place frequently and have purchased a number of guns from them) - more to remind people to stay aware and be mindful of those around them in what is a fun place that can go bad on you in a heartbeat.
Guns are basically banned here in the UK so when some people come into contact with guns for the first time they have no idea how to handle them, how to respect them and also what the dangers are.
They have seen lots of movies and TV shows showing guns being handled badly and they assume that is how to do it.
I went to a gun store/range in Florida and had almost a full day just sensibly using the stores own guns, I asked questions, listened and above all obeyed the range rules and played safe.
I had a great time and learnt lots about gun control and safe handling, I also found I am quite a good shot and that on the first go an Uzi is very hard to keep still.
You can lay a large portion of the blame at the feet of the lads in your tale, they had the wrong attitude. You also need to lay some of the blame at the feet of the rle makers in the UK for making guns illegal and therefore desirable. The lads should have been monitored a little more closely if it was their first range visit.
It's a miracle no one got shot.
They have seen lots of movies and TV shows showing guns being handled badly and they assume that is how to do it.
I went to a gun store/range in Florida and had almost a full day just sensibly using the stores own guns, I asked questions, listened and above all obeyed the range rules and played safe.
I had a great time and learnt lots about gun control and safe handling, I also found I am quite a good shot and that on the first go an Uzi is very hard to keep still.
You can lay a large portion of the blame at the feet of the lads in your tale, they had the wrong attitude. You also need to lay some of the blame at the feet of the rle makers in the UK for making guns illegal and therefore desirable. The lads should have been monitored a little more closely if it was their first range visit.
It's a miracle no one got shot.
Gassing Station | Holidays & Travel | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff