Range Safety and Etiquette

Sometimes when I shoot at the indoor range, the people around me freak me out a little. It’s not on purpose—it’s probably just a lack of training—but it’s scary nonetheless. So let’s review some of the things we should be doing to keep from being “that person” at the range.

Bag your gun

Your gun should be in a case or range bag, unloaded, when you enter the front door of the building. It makes your intention clear—you are there to shoot, not rob the place. It should stay in the case until you are at the shooting bench.

Get dressed

In an indoor range, you shouldn’t have to worry about other people’s hot brass dropping down your shirt, but your own brass may be bouncing off the side walls back onto you. Wear a cap to keep it from dropping in between your eyeballs and your glasses. Wear a high collar or a bandana to keep it away from the tender spots underneath your shirt. If you’re especially sensitive to hot brass, consider a long sleeve shirt—anything to keep you from reacting to burning pain by pointing your muzzle somewhere other than the end of the shooting lane.

Gear up

Before you enter the shooting area, put your eyes and ears on, and any other safety equipment you will use.

Know the 2-door system

The little anteroom outside the shooting range acts as a sound buffer, so non-shooters and shooters not fully ready to shoot aren’t assaulted by gun shot sounds. Only one door at a time should be open. If you have friends with you, you may have to enter in pairs.

Only unbag at the firing line

My heart always misses a beat when someone covers me with her muzzle when she moves her gun to/from her range bag at the back wall. Take your bag to the firing line. Peek in it to see which way your muzzle is pointing. If it’s pointing at the people at the back wall, just pick up your bag and turn it around, then remove your gun! You can take your bag to the back wall when you have everything you’ll need at the firing line.

Keep the ejection port/empty cylinder up

When your gun is on the bench at the firing line it should have no magazine in it, and there should be no round in the chamber/cylinder. For semi-autos, the slide should be locked open, and your gun should be lying with the muzzle pointed down range and the ejection port up. Anyone can see at a glance it’s not loaded. For revolvers, the gun should also be lying with the muzzle pointed down range; the cylinder should be open and empty.

One gun, one caliber at a time

Don’t confuse and clutter your play area. You should be focused on enjoying your shooting, not managing a bunch of stuff on the bench you aren’t using. Keep your bench surface area Spartan.

Hang your target at eye level

Remember, you should be bringing your gun sights up to your dominant eye. Your shots should travel relatively parallel to the ground and straight down your lane. If your target hangs too low, your bullet will be bouncing off the floor; too high, and you could be shooting at the mechanism that moves your target up and down the lane. If you shoot off the side of your target at closer distances, you might be hitting the target in the lane next to you that is 20-25 yards down range. Interesting, and perhaps unwanted, conversation could result...

Unload when not shooting

If you are reloading, if you change or tape your target, if you leave your lane to ogle your buddy’s impressive groupings, if your buddy wants to shoot your gun and share your joy—unload! Drop the magazine, empty the chamber, lock the slide back, place it on the bench with muzzle pointed down range and ejection port up.

Take time to breathe

Sometimes I find myself holding my breath a little. My gun isn’t empty, but I need a short pause. I just take my finger off the trigger and index it along the frame, bring my arms back to my chest with the muzzle still pointing down range, and take a breather. When I’m ready to begin shooting again, I just push the gun out towards the target and resume where I left off.

There she goes...

Have you ever gone to hang your target, and it seems to have a mind of its own, slithers away from you, and, to your horror, floats out beyond the firing line? It’s embarrassing, but you have to call a cease fire. Most people will notice. When everybody’s guns are unloaded and on the benches, go snatch that bad girl up.

Pack up at the bench

Your gun should go, unloaded, from the bench to your range bag or the case. Again, keep the muzzle pointed down range until you’re zipped up.

Wash your hands

As soon as you get out of the shooting area, go wash your hands. To remove the lead residue, you must use a lead removal product. The lead molecules have a positive electrostatic charge, and your skin has a slightly negative charge and tends to hold onto to the lead when just washing with soap and water. Products, such as D-Lead or Lead-Off, have molecules of isostearamidopropyl morpholine lactate with a strong negative charge that can poach off the lead molecules. Okay, just remember you need to use a lead removal product!

True denizens of the range will have a hundred other pet peeves to share with you, but this is a start. Be the shooter your friends and others want to take to the range!

2^nd Amendment to the Constitution of the United States

“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

The 2^nd Amendment was adopted on December 17, 1791 as part of the Bill of Rights. The wording came from nearly identical clauses in some of the original 13 state constitutions.

Article II, Section 6 of the New Mexico State Constitution

“No law shall abridge the right of the citizen to keep and bear arms for security and defense, for lawful hunting and recreational use and for other lawful purposes, but nothing herein shall be held to permit the carrying of concealed weapons. No municipality or county shall regulate, in any way, an incident of the right to keep and bear arms.”

Note that Chapter 29, Article 19 NMSA 1978, titled the “Concealed Handgun Carry Act”, adds an exception to the general prohibition against carrying concealed weapons: carrying with a concealed handgun license.