Time to act

I often engage in a few high-risk activities including shooting. Guns are inherently dangerous and when a human being is added the threat-level rises exponentially. A firearm can't load and shoot itself, it takes a human being to marry up the firearm and ammunition, take the gun in hand and shoot it - That's where problems arise.

I've been a shooter for over thirty years and despite being what I would consider an extremely safe and confident operator have been around many incredibly dangerous situations involving firearms and on every occasion it was human-stupidity that caused the situation. Some of these occasions went badly however getting lucky also occurred. I just don't like to rely on luck when it comes to firearms safety though; deliberately safe practices are best.

Range safety

Last week I was at the range to speak with a chap there, not shooting. I concluded my business and wandered about to have a look what was going on around the facility. All looked good and all sounded good, gunfire rang out all over the place and everyone looked to be doing the right thing and then I heard shouting - not something one usually hears on a range - where things should be calm and measured generally. I'm a range officer so thought I'd investigate this unusual occurrence.

I watched as three individuals interacted in animated ways, exclaiming and laughing loudly and generally not acting in a manner befitting a gun range. They seemed to be handling the firearms safely however and there's no rule against laughter so I stood back, almost out of sight, and watched.

I recognised a member, a young military guy and the other two wore visitor badges. My range is military-run but open to civilians by application and it's not unusual to see the two groups mix. I was looking at the lad letting his two mates shoot some guns; again, not uncommon. The young guy is a cook in the Army, not a special forces operator, and his firearms skills are poor, certainly where handguns are concerned anyway, because they generally only train with rifles. So, I didn't expect him to be an expert however, as always at the range, I expected a high degree of safety and adherence to the rules.

Condition zero

I watched as the chap loaded a couple of magazines then handed them to his mate who loaded one turned down range and squeezed off a half-dozen rounds in quick succession, hitting nothing. He turned his head towards his mate, the Army cook, and grinned broadly. They spoke a while and then...Here it is...Did not clear the handgun. They simply walked back towards a small table, carrying it in hand, and laid the handgun on it and proceeded to chat.

I know, it doesn't sound like much of a safety breach but, in truth, it's massive.

The procedure when shooting is completed is to clear the handgun: Take out the magazine, rack the gun to eject any round chambered round, hold the slide open, show the range officer who says clear, slide forward, hammer down and holster. The shooter lets the slide go and pulls the trigger to drop the hammer, holsters and locks the handgun in place. The range officer says, range is clear and that's that. This happens every time and naturally when this procedure is done the muzzle is pointed downrange at all times.

If you know anything about semi-automatic handguns you'll know that when one fires it the spent case is ejected and, if there's rounds in the magazine, another round loads. The slide cocks the hammer and the firearm is ready to fire once more. That happens in a split second. Those lads didn't clear the gun so it was still a live range, the gun was still loaded, now resting on a bench. Inexcusable and potentially deadly.

The five conditions

• Condition 4: Chamber empty, no magazine, hammer down, safety on.
• Condition 3: Chamber empty, full magazine in place, hammer down, safety on.
• Condition 2: Chambered round, full magazine in place, hammer down, safety on.
• Condition 1: Chambered round, full magazine in place, hammer cocked, safety on.
• Condition 0: Chambered round, full magazine in place, hammer cocked, safety off.

These are the five ways a handgun can be carried with condition zero being one in which the risk of accidental discharge (AD) or negligent discharge could result in injury or death. At my range, condition four is the only way one should have the firearm once off the shooting line, except the safety doesn't have to be on, and it needs to be checked and verified by a range officer prior to being holstered.

Excuses not accepted

I went over quickly and as they looked up said, that handgun wasn't cleared, step back from the bench.

They looked confused and the Army guy had the sense to look horrified, obviously knowing what was coming, but they complied. I stepped to the bench where three handguns were sitting, picked up the one that had just been placed, turned down range and dropped the magazine, cleared the firearm and made it safe. There was a round in the chamber and three more in the magazine. I then checked the other two which were clear.

I asked the young lad to pack them away and when done recorded his membership number. The other two were not members, just friends of the lad visiting the range to shoot guns. I sent them home.

Over that day and the next few the incident was investigated with the result being the young lad has had his membership revoked; he has been at the club long enough to know the rules and this behaviour is not tolerated. He had a chance to speak of course however there was nothing he could have said that would have saved him. He failed to adhere to several fundamental rules of firearms safety and blatantly broke a few club rules as well. There is no flexibility.

Firearms can be safely and responsibly owned and operated and there should be no compromise when it comes to firearms safety; literally none, especially on a range.

In the field extenuating circumstances cause incidents and those incidents often lead to serious ramifications. On a range, a controlled environment, there is zero excuse for safety breaches. Mistakes happen, a finger on a trigger when it should not be, an operator breaking 90 degrees with the muzzle and so on and when these things occur they're dealt with in various ways depending on the severity and potential implication of the breach: Re-training, disqualification from an event, ejection from the range and sometimes memberships are revoked.

A shooting incident at a range here would draw a lot of unwanted attention; firearms and their owners get a bad enough reputation as it is. It's for that reason, and of course general safety, that the rules exist and are so stringently enforced. I feel sorry for the kid but I'd feel a lot worse if someone was shot because I didn't take the time to act.

I know there's not many firearms people here, but safety relates to all of us. Feel free to comment if you've had a case where safe practices have not been adhered to and it caused an issue or potential issue either at home, work or in general society.