How not to be a range/safety officer

Bonesinium · Mar 22, 2015

GPP said:
Good god.
So, do we chalk this up to the old " no biggie he forgot he left his smith and glockson in his carry on" mentality? Are we allowed to finally say that these guys should have known better?

Mistake that almost got someone killed vs. harmless mistake where nobody was in danger. Yep, perfect comparison.

Fixxah said:
Brass rat?

He looked way more concerned about getting that brass then the flying lead going by him, so I'd say, yes.

GPP · Mar 22, 2015

Bonesinium said:
Mistake that almost got someone killed vs. harmless mistake where nobody was in danger. Yep, perfect comparison.

He looked way more concerned about getting that brass then the flying lead going by him, so I'd say, yes.

Cmon man. What was I actually comparing?
Watching the video, it looks like you can see dust kicking up from his rounds impacting the berm downrange where he was shooting

crazymjb · Mar 23, 2015

Goin in the safety class...

Mike

Sent from my cell phone with a tiny keyboard and large thumbs...

AllaSnackbah · Mar 23, 2015

Fixxah said:
Brass rat?

LOL he totally looks like he fits the mold

johnnymac101 · Mar 23, 2015

Looks like he freezes for a second, right behind a "hostile" target!
Glad it ended well.

knfmn · Mar 23, 2015

Holy cow. That's scary stuff.

Pete85 · Mar 23, 2015

Holy shit. Fortunately, clean underwear is all that they need.

Smokewagon · Mar 23, 2015

That's insane.

IPSC_DRL · Mar 23, 2015

Mistakes can and do happen. I would probably hang up my RO hat if that had been my range.

tysdad115 · Mar 23, 2015

One of our pits have a certain time of day when the sun blares in the shooters/RSO eyes making seeing the very target close to the berm very tough. I was taping the back two targets when I hear "shooter ready?" I can't tell you how loud I yelled hold the **** on! Unless you want the targets returning fire! But then again I'm a better taper than shooter, I was thinking about getting one of those tape guns like they use at supermarkets, but of course it would be tactical style. And I'd probably miss the targets with that too, the whole berm would be covered in tape.

blindfire · Mar 23, 2015

Well, the big question I have is this.

What would have happened if, god forbid, the shooter shot the guy and killed him?
Involuntary manslaughter?
No charges since the fault really was the RO or the idiot down range?
Let's assume that this didn't happen in MA. We all know that it would not end well for the shooter if that were the case.

the_shootist · Mar 23, 2015

BostonBullit said:
From around the interwebz - the guy who was downrange is apparently very hard of hearing but IMO this one is entirely on the RO. It's the RO's job to ensure that the stage is in a state that is ready for the shooter to begin the course of fire whether that means all the targets are taped and steel reset or more importantly that there are no people in an unsafe spot.

This is also a big reason that I prefer snowfence or mesh for walls rather than something opaque. I know the hard walls look better and make it more of a challenge for the competitor because they can't see what's in each spot but it makes it damn easy to see if the range is in fact clear before starting the next shooter.

That RO needs to be shot

LoginName · Mar 23, 2015

blindfire said:
Well, the big question I have is this.

What would have happened if, god forbid, the shooter shot the guy and killed him?
Involuntary manslaughter?
No charges since the fault really was the RO or the idiot down range?
Let's assume that this didn't happen in MA. We all know that it would not end well for the shooter if that were the case.

It wouldn't end well for all of us because some ass in the state legislature would propose banning IDPA matches, or
placing bullshit requirements and restrictions on hosting them.

FPrice · Mar 23, 2015

the_shootist said:
That RO needs to be shot

Do you have any evidence that the RO did anything wrong?

the_shootist · Mar 23, 2015

LoginName said:
It wouldn't end well for all of us because some ass in the state legislature would propose banning IDPA matches, or
placing bullshit requirements and restrictions on hosting them.

It stinks worse than the finger in your avatar [rofl]

- - - Updated - - -

FPrice said:
Do you have any evidence that the RO did anything wrong?

He didn't assure the range was clear before he allowed the shooter to start his exercise

mattyw · Mar 23, 2015

blindfire said:
Well, the big question I have is this.

What would have happened if, god forbid, the shooter shot the guy and killed him?
Involuntary manslaughter?
No charges since the fault really was the RO or the idiot down range?
Let's assume that this didn't happen in MA. We all know that it would not end well for the shooter if that were the case.

I would guess that nothing criminal would come of it for the shooter, probably in any state, but civil suits would be a different story, against anyone involved

FPrice · Mar 23, 2015

the_shootist said:
He didn't assure the range was clear before he allowed the shooter to start his exercise

Suppose the RO cleared the range and the guy just kind of wandered back there? (on his own)

The problem right now is that no one here knows the back story and all we can do is "suppose".

If the RO did not clear the range then he is at fault. And I would suggest that the course designer may need to re-think just how he/she designs courses with built-in blind spots.

the_shootist · Mar 23, 2015

FPrice said:
Suppose the RO cleared the range and the guy just kind of wandered back there? (on his own)

The problem right now is that no one here knows the back story and all we can do is "suppose".

If the RO did not clear the range then he is at fault. And I would suggest that the course designer may need to re-think just how he/she designs courses with built-in blind spots.

I agree!!!

FPrice · Mar 23, 2015

the_shootist said:
I agree!!!

My "semi-educated" guess is that there was enough fail involved to include several parties.

the_shootist · Mar 23, 2015

FPrice said:
My "semi-educated" guess is that there was enough fail involved to include several parties.

That's the problem of not knowing the whole story (to your point). We often tend to be too presumptuous.

Asaltweapon · Mar 23, 2015

My sphincter tightened up and I'm in my office. [shocked]

SteelShooter · Mar 23, 2015

Why the hell would he try to hide BEHIND the target???

Bonesinium · Mar 23, 2015

SteelShooter said:
Why the hell would he try to hide BEHIND the target???

Maybe he recognized who was shooting and figured that was the safest place? [laugh]

not new guy · Mar 23, 2015

jibbr71 said:
I think so, or it was the Safety Officer. Either way, the reactions of all parties were not what I would expect.

This is a situation where it's OK to use quotation marks - around "safety officer" specifically.

Hitting the deck seems like the best course of action if you suddenly realize you're on a hot range/course. Plus you can ID the brass you're picking up better from down there.

mattyw · Mar 23, 2015

SteelShooter said:
Why the hell would he try to hide BEHIND the target???

instinct, hide behind whatever you can, not that it would have mattered but I figure most would do the same without thinking

Fattman · Mar 23, 2015

Jeezus, that is scary stuff right there. The shots fired at 19 seconds I do not doubt got damn close to the guy down range. Wouldnt you be able to tell if someone was firing in the same pit 20 feet from you? I would think the sounds from other pits has a different sound than unabated gunfire in your direction.

Supermoto · Mar 23, 2015

FPrice said:
Suppose the RO cleared the range and the guy just kind of wandered back there? (on his own)

The problem right now is that no one here knows the back story and all we can do is "suppose".

If the RO did not clear the range then he is at fault. And I would suggest that the course designer may need to re-think just how he/she designs courses with built-in blind spots.

Unless he went over a berm, the guy down range would have to go right past the RO to get to the targets. This is a failure on ROs part to make sure the range was clear before starting the shooter

oppressed · Mar 23, 2015

Also a good thing that the shooter was in the middle of a reload when he noticed and not completely focused on targeting. Amazing how the brass rat did not see the bullets kicking up dust on the berm and not hit the deck?

jibbr71 · Mar 23, 2015

Supermoto said:
Unless he went over a berm, the guy down range would have to go right past the RO to get to the targets. This is a failure on ROs part to make sure the range was clear before starting the shooter

This^^^ or maybe he was dropped in by helicopter [thinking]

I don't shoot IDPA or defensive minded matches, but I've seen enough pistol pits to know that it would be pretty tough to sneak onto a range after it's been cleared. This seems like a very damning oversight on the part of the "Safety Officer".

enbloc · Mar 23, 2015

They say "live fire" training is the best you can get...

How not to be a range/safety officer

Bonesinium

GPP

crazymjb

AllaSnackbah

johnnymac101

knfmn

Pete85

Smokewagon

IPSC_DRL

tysdad115

blindfire

the_shootist

Banned

LoginName

FPrice

Retired Zoomie

the_shootist

Banned

mattyw

FPrice

Retired Zoomie

the_shootist

Banned

FPrice

Retired Zoomie

the_shootist

Banned

Asaltweapon

SteelShooter

Bonesinium

not new guy

mattyw

Fattman

Supermoto

oppressed

jibbr71

enbloc

Life Member Emeritus

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