If a RSO seems to be “hovering” near your lane don't get bent.
Stuff we RSOs hear all the time:
“These range officers always hovering all the time really piss me off. They act like I don’t know what I’m doing. !$#%#! range Nazis!”
Folks, bear in mind, when you come to the range you’re only here for a couple of hours, we’re here all day so our ear protection is a lot better than yours.
We hear everything.
Our Sordin MSAs. We can hear an ant fart at 15 yards with these puppies.
As Range Officers our primary purpose is your safety and those around you.
Our second mission is to protect the range and our equipment from damage. We try our very best to enforce the range rules with civility and respect, so when you come on the line and an RSO starts to give you the range rules try not to roll your eyes. We’re not questioning your firearm knowledge. Some rules are universal to all ranges but not all of them. We just want you to have good knowledge of the rules that apply to OUR range.
As Range Officers our primary purpose is your safety and those around you. Our second mission is to protect the range and our equipment from damage.
If an RSO seems to be “hovering” near your lane, especially at an indoor range, don't get bent outta shape.
For example, we’re an indoor, public range in SoCal, not the most gun-friendly places in the world. Much of the “gun culture” people have out here comes from whatever Hollywood tells them. Growing up around firearms is not commonplace here and that presents challenges not found at most ranges in gun-friendly parts of the country. New and inexperienced shooters are pretty much off the charts here. This is why range rules and our enforcing them is so important.
We definitely do watch things closely.
The majority of the time we can identify whether you’re an experienced shooter, new shooter, or a problem child before you load your first mag. We’re trained to do that so don’t take it personal.
Trust but Verify
Having said that, with so much risk involved we operate on the concept of “Trust, but verify”. This may seem a bit overbearing to some and heavy handed to others but unless you’re a member or a regular shooter we will always give you a range brief and keep an eye on you for a bit to make sure you’re handling your firearms safely and hitting what you’re aiming at.
We have 28 shooting lanes and are open 7 days a week. We have close to 500 - 800 shooters a week that range from professional shooters to absolute noobs who have never shot a gun before in their lives. So if we camp out behind you for a while, try to quell the righteous indignation. Why?
We’re probably not looking at you.
You’re focused on shooting. You didn’t come to watch everyone else. We get that. 99% of the time we're watching the guy on your left that brought his 98 lb. girlfriend out to shoot a gun for the first time, hands her his 1911 and allows her to "teacup" it because…well, because he’s a jerk. Then there’s the group of four shooters on your right who "swore on their mother’s grave” they've all shot a gun before - then watch them spend 5 minutes trying to figure out how to load the 12 gauge the rented.
In fact, we’re keeping our eyes on a lot of things that you don’t see:
The 85 year old vet that hasn’t shot in 40 years.
The petrified husband and wife who panic-bought the last XD9 on the shelf during 2020’s “Summer of Love and Riots”.
The bachelor party that decided to party first then come to the range.
The guy that shoots once a year and flags everyone with his loaded gun and doesn’t know why we’re so mad.
The Gun Bunnies who are more focused on selfies for the ‘Gram instead of their sights.
Kids who’s gun knowledge consist of 190 Call Of Duty League CDL points and binge watching John Wick before coming to the range.
And we’re also there to insure experienced shooters stay sharp in the safest environment possible and help new shooters who genuinely want to learn get better. I would guess 20% - 25% of our customers have never shot a gun before and because of the events of the last two years a lot of them are walking in as brand new gun owners. Not hating this, at all. We’re glad to see all the new shooters and love instructing them, so we have a lot to watch out for.
If you’re an experienced gun owner and see a new shooter struggling take a few minutes to help them out. Welcome them to the family. Offer some advice or tips. Trust me, they will appreciate it. Give us a heads up if you see something. Be part of the solution.
Again, if it seems as if we're overly aggressive with a couple of rules, we're not on some power trip. The rules are there for a reason because we've probably seen some stuff that no one wants to ever see again.
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