AFS Range Suicide - No. Attleboro

[gearjunky13]

There is death at race tracks, there is deaths at sky diving schools, there is deaths ohv riding parks, and all other sorts of events and places of recreation, this is no diffrent and should be treated as such, a accident was made, sadly it happens

countless times people have done stupid things when riding bikes and hiking, and got themselves hurt bad or killed, its sad but true

Lets keep thing in prospective, and hope the person involved is alright

 

[dessert1st]

One of the rules I ram into people's heads when teaching them how to shoot is:

If the gun fails to fire after you pull the trigger, keep it down range, put it on the table and let me know. I will then troubleshoot it (look down the barrel, continually pull the trigger, hit it against the wall, you know the usual) and teach them how to remedy for future reference.

 

[GPP]

Does Jim Ballou still own Bob's Tactical? If so, he is (or was) a police officer. He showed me his badge one day. Badge-carriers have privileges that us "civilians" do not have. Could have some bearing on how his business managed to stay open in spite of those suicides.

Thank god someone was able to mention some sort of Incident where LE got away with something that the average person couldn't.
If she purposely shot herself ( which unfortunately, is my default thought process) there isn't anything anyone could have done. If there was an RSO right there at the time, and she wanted to off herself, she's gonna do it.

 

[houdini]

any news on her condition?

 

[Hush]

any news on her condition?

Still stupid

 

[EMTDAD]

dead..

​http://northattleborough.wickedlocal.com/article/20140316/NEWS/140317012

 

[Bonesinium]

Tragic.

 

[headednorth]

Bummer. Just takes a second to make a mental mistake and thats that.

 

[AntiHippie]

Does Jim Ballou still own Bob's Tactical? If so, he is (or was) a police officer. He showed me his badge one day. Badge-carriers have privileges that us "civilians" do not have. Could have some bearing on how his business managed to stay open in spite of those suicides.

Jesus Christ, can we give it a rest for just one thread?

 

[FalArAk]

dead..

​http://northattleborough.wickedlocal.com/article/20140316/NEWS/140317012

Damn..

I have never been to a pay per shoot indoor range.

Do you need an LTC to shoot at one of these places,or at least demonstrate you have some sort of idea of what you are doing ?

Is there supervision ?

 

[slap shot]

Damn..

I have never been to a pay per shoot indoor range.

Do you need an LTC to shoot at one of these places,or at least demonstrate you have some sort of idea of what you are doing ?

Is there supervision ?

You need to have an LTC or be with someone that does. There are also RO's there that in my 3 visits were very alert and helpful although not pricks.

Accidents happen and this woman paid dearly for hers.

 

[Fixxah]

Senseless.

-Proud to be dad every day, a licensed plumber most days, and wish I was a shoemaker on others.

 

[BrianK]

So sorry to hear about it. But it does sound like operator error.

 

[jfiore]

I agree.

I hope AFS takes this as a warning to improve their education and supervision practices. They have wonderful facilities, and when I've rented out the range to teach a class I've had a great time. However, my longstanding complaint about the club (and the reason why I don't shoot there) is that they let anyone walk in off the street, hand them a gun with little to no instruction and let them shoot virtually unsupervised at the range. I've seen a lot of unsafe conduct there simply because untrained shooters don't know any better. This may be an tragic example of the consequences of that kind of business practice.

Not true. Maybe its been a while since you've been there. They take things very seriously, and the range officers are all over everyone. People can walk in off the street and rent a gun, but that person must posses a firearm license that coincides with whatever it is they are renting. In the big picture, because the place exsists they are to blame, but ultimately its the whole pencil causing bad handwriting argument.

 

[slap shot]

Not true. Maybe its been a while since you've been there. They take things very seriously, and the range officers are all over everyone. People can walk in off the street and rent a gun, but that person must posses a firearm license that coincides with whatever it is they are renting. In the big picture, because the place exsists they are to blame, but ultimately its the whole pencil causing bad handwriting argument.

Agree, and also i don't think you can rent anything if you're alone since that last event.

 

[ClickBoom]

So we don't know if it was something like a squib load blowing up or that she pointed the gun at herself trying to clear it ?

 

[drgrant]

My guess it jammed, she pointed it 90*, pulled the trigger, ricochet struck her somewhere. Total speculation.

I doubt it was a ricochet. Most ricochets (particularly from handguns) probably won't kill you, unless it went in an eye socket or something crazy like that. I can think of a few gruesome scenarios.... if I was going to make a WAG maybe she shot herself in the leg, hit a major artery and bled out, and either died of that or died of complications from losing a crapload of blood? The news reports are inconclusive. The first one made it almost sound like she was DRT. They said "people didn't think there was anything they could do". There still is a possibility it was a suicide that "looked like an accident" but there's too little info to know definitively. It's possible she was legitimately trying to remedy a jam (while not obeying gun safety rules) or this was just some kind of act to cover up what she was about to do, but we'll probably never know. Someone will know more, but it sure as hell isn't going to come from that newspaper. It's something I'll probably find out in a month or three. "through the grapevine."

-Mike

 

[Marty McFly]

i go there a lot. you do not need any license. they are also lax on instruction. the range guys keeps things safe generally, but they are very lax on new shooter instruction. i find myself helping new shooters quite a bit. good place though and very safe even though what i said doesn't sound like it.

 

[drgrant]

Damn..

I have never been to a pay per shoot indoor range.

Do you need an LTC to shoot at one of these places,or at least demonstrate you have some sort of idea of what you are doing ?

Is there supervision ?

It all depends on the facility. Every place is different, and they all seem to evolve/change over time. Most will let people off the street shoot with some limitations. Many (like MFL) have one or more ROs watching people from behind the lanes and profiling people to figure out whether the people who just walked in off the street are "safety good" or not. Back when S&W was open they were like this too, there was usually one or more ROs behind the lanes depending on how many people were shooting. I can't speak for Bob's because I haven't been there in many years.

-Mike

 

[dessert1st]

Back when S&W was open they were like this too, there was usually one or more ROs behind the lanes depending on how many people were shooting. I can't speak for Bob's because I haven't been there in many years.

-Mike

Bobs now has an RSO too.

 

[turbo38gn]

It all depends on the facility. Every place is different, and they all seem to evolve/change over time. Most will let people off the street shoot with some limitations. Many (like MFL) have one or more ROs watching people from behind the lanes and profiling people to figure out whether the people who just walked in off the street are "safety good" or not. Back when S&W was open they were like this too, there was usually one or more ROs behind the lanes depending on how many people were shooting. I can't speak for Bob's because I haven't been there in many years.

-Mike

S&W always had new shooters at the lanes, whether licensed or not watch a 5-10 minutes video on safety and gun handling. They also supplied hats and safety glasses... or no can shoot... and with several RO's in the lanes, still couldn't prevent someone from blowing their head off.. Their RO's were all over the shooters, they didn't let anything go..

 

[falcon123]

Thank god someone was able to mention some sort of Incident where LE got away with something that the average person couldn't.
If she purposely shot herself ( which unfortunately, is my default thought process) there isn't anything anyone could have done. If there was an RSO right there at the time, and she wanted to off herself, she's gonna do it.

Now that you mention it. He obviously rented her a defective gun with exploding bullets just so he could get publicity for this place to attract more customers.

 

[jfiore]

i go there a lot. you do not need any license. they are also lax on instruction. the range guys keeps things safe generally, but they are very lax on new shooter instruction. i find myself helping new shooters quite a bit. good place though and very safe even though what i said doesn't sound like it.

yea, it doesn't sound like it at all. why not support the place that you frequent instead of posting that they are lax? I don't know. I guess I have a different view on it. I don't think the range is any more responsible then the desert is when people are shooting out west at the dunes. The range offers a full selection of classes for people who want to learn how to shoot. Renting a gun and walking out to the line and just figuring it out on your own would just be irresponsible on the part of the shooter. I have personally witnessed AFS deny 2 guys entrance because they read the posted rules sign too fast.

 

[dixidawg]

Wondering if perhaps tha lady may have been a member here?

 

[TheKingNothing]

The only thing that this incident should do is remind all of us to never get complacent and always follow the four basic laws of firearms safety. Follow the rules, and you'll never be sorry.

Before some smartass asks me to repeat them in their reply:

1. Treat every gun as though it is loaded
2. Never point the muzzle at something you are not willing to destroy
3. Keep your finger of the trigger untill you are ready to shoot
4. Know your target and what is beyond it.

Even experienced shooters can let this lapse, Im just viewing this as a lesson to the rest of us.

 

[MikeInMA]

Just heard on the radio, and am sorry to report that the person who is the subject of this thread has passed. RIP.

 

[M1911]

Many years ago, we had a woman try to commit suicide on our pistol range at the Woburn Sportsman Association.
She came in to take a women's safety course and shot herself in the head, as the class was ending, while the other women were leaving the range.
She lived, but almost didn't make it. Rumor at the time: She was an anti-handgun fanatic and wanted to get the WSA shut down..
I just figured she was nuts, anti-gun or not.

What I had heard was that she shot herself in the chest, survived, but was comatose years later. She was supposedly a student in a Basic Pistol class. Of course, I got that third or fourth hand.

I doubt that she was anti-gun and trying to get WSA shut down.

 

[TheKingNothing]

Sorry to hear she died. I say again, let this be a reminder to us all how important safety is.

 

[BuckTheMoose]

Follow the rules, and you'll never be sorry.

1. Treat every gun as though it is loaded
2. Never point the muzzle at something you are not willing to destroy
3. Keep your finger of the trigger untill you are ready to shoot
4. Know your target and what is beyond it.

Even experienced shooters can let this lapse, Im just viewing this as a lesson to the rest of us.

+1. All it takes is one mistake. Stay safe everybody.

Just heard on the radio, and am sorry to report that the person who is the subject of this thread has passed. RIP.

I just heard about this incident this morning also. Whatever the circumstances, the outcome is very sad.

Buck.

 

[M1911]

As an instructor and range officer, IMO, it really doesn't matter much how strict range officers are. If someone wants to kill themselves, there is little a range officer can do. It takes very little time for someone to point a gun at themselves and pull the trigger.

I realize that the press reports are that it was an accidental shooting. I have doubts that it was truly accidental.