Wanted feedback, How to try to spread responsable shooting to others!

[okie shooter]

I was driving down a highway last weekend here in Oklahoma and spoyted something that really bothered me. Shot up highway signs. I got to thinking aobut this and various destruction you see at shooting ranges(both private and public) and what we as responsable shooters should we do to help prevent this.

My thoughts are those that shoot at highway signs must have little or no thoughts of responsablity or feelings of such. The old hunters safety comment of 1 mile range of 22lr must not sink in to folks. Not knowing where your richoete may go or errant shots(the signs I saw were near a well known fishing spot under a bridge to get access, I just thought how easy it would to accidently kill a fisherman or some one walking up the highway from the creek below) So what do you do to those folks that are that irresponsable when you see them or know them. I sometimes am not sure if trying to talk to them is such a good idea especally if they are armed and have no reguard for safety and such.

This idea streches to my own local gun club, where the at the meetings they discuss folks shooting buildings and containers(the shipping types) that the club stores backstop material and archery targets in. I realize that much of this dammage comes from non members that sneak in to the range. They club leadership recomends calling the pd on the folks if they refuse to leave when asked by a club member but some times I wonder if I would even want to confront them to ask if they were members. Just some thought on the subject though.

I guess as gun owners we need to atleast try to teach and tell others of good shooting conduct. I guess my idea is to make sure there will be places to shoot in the future, I dont personaly own land and have no family here abouts thus want the gun club I am a member of to stay open and reasonably close to home.

Just my two cents on the thought though. I guess if we don't have a place to shoot, the right to keep and bear arms will become like the right to hunt years ago in england, where only the rich land owners and nobles had the rights to hunt. This is why I posted this in the RKBA segment of the board not the general discussion.

[SteelCore]

I've taken all sortsa range training, starting as a pre-teenager in hunter's savety (which was required in PA when I lived there). They showed lots of examples of shot up signs, high-tensin wires, retaining cables, and other vandalistic acts committed by ignoramuses with firearms.

I have left national forest campground because of the idiots shooting and drinking in the next campsite.

I have left public ranges in disgust at the unsafe behaviors taking place there, and there ain't no way I'd confont some of these SOBs at the range and try to cure their improper habits...not without IIIA body armor and a squad of Rangers.(i.e., Discretion is sometimes the better part of valor)

A gun is NOT a toy.

I've had good open ranges I went ot close because of the abuse of a few idiots spoiling it for the rest of us, shooting railtracks or moving railcars :wtfflag: !?!?! SO it IS our duty as responsible, ethical shooters to bring up a new crop of them.

You gotta start with the ones you can access, like kids in cub scouts/boy scouts. Their shooting badge noly allows the use of bolt-action 22s, and a good deal of range safety.

Also, forums like this let us help the 18 and up crowd that is new to shooting gain some measure of the importance of sane, safe firearms handling and range skills. Maybe we could start a "Range Skill and rules" section in the forum, and share our knowledge there, maybe add some fun shooting games that we play at the range, like pin shoots, cowboy action shooting, etc.

Me and my shooting buddies are folks I would trust around me with locked and loaded firearms any time, because they have demonstrated safe firearm handling practices in front of me for years. If we invite someone new, we watche them very carefully--if they display sometihing we think is careless, we kinda tak an aside to each other, and say "Hey, did you see what so-n-so did there? I think we need to talk to so-n-so about that." Then the closest buddy to the guy has the duty to represent our comments and present them to the shooter in the method they deem best. If a correction is made, then we continue. If 'so-n-so' is an ass, shooting is over for the day and he isn't invited back. if he contacts us, we let so-n-so know exactly WTF is up, then go from there.

The most exclusive shooting place I have is at a buddy's and we only have a 3ft tall berm, and 50 (max 100yds) to shoot at. Since it is his land, with his house and family on it, and he has houses within 1/4mile of his, it is exceptionally important that any rifle shooting be done in an ulta-controlled manner. He would not just lose his range, but his house of something really bad happened. There are 5 of us that shoot there total. He and I are the core 2. There is a good friend of ours that has been there shooting safely for a while, but he's getting a little fast and loose as of late, and he's gonna get his chain yanked real soon so he gets back in line.(It's gonna suck talking to another adult like that, but hey, act the part or get treated like a kid).

Once again: it is our duty as responsible, ethical shooters to bring up a new crop of them.

How you do it may be a matter of style, personal taste, etc...I'd like to hear others methods of reaching the crowd and helping them out.

Sorry for the rambling.

[bullseye]

As a lost resort you could get their tag number and call it in if they are shooting private property and you think there is nothing else to be done with them. Before that you could try to get them to shoot with you and maybe get them to shape up and do nice. Most of the people that do stupid things like that have very few guns and if you shared some of yours and got them shooting with you they might get more serious about it and less childish. Also explain to them if you can that their behavior could cost them their guns if they get caught, and you never know where the hidden cameras are. :) It is all a case by case basis, some you can work with, and some you can't. You will have to make that decision at the time. I went out with a guy once that thought it would be cool to try skeet with an SKS. One smack in the head and an explaniation of ballistics and he fell in line, If I hadn't been there he could have been in big trouble. I'd really hate to call the law on someone for being stupid with a gun, but if it meant keeping my place to shoot I'd do it.

[SteelCore]

:bomb:

Wow..just...wow. Mebbe in the desert.