Letter from MRA - Safety issues on McLaughlin range

[LoginName]

Just a heads-up in case you didn't get a letter (only applies to those who have qualified on the McLaughlin range).

Apparently there have been some safety issues/violations.

Anyone with range priviliges must attend a a meeting on either Saturday, Dec 1st at 10:AM or Saturday, Dec 15 at 10:AM to discuss the matter.

Anyone failing to do so will have to requalify in order to use the range.

 

[dreppucci007]

Anyone with range priviliges must attend a a meeting on either Saturday, Dec 1st at 10:AM or Saturday, Dec 15 at 10:AM to discuss the matter.

Anyone failing to do so will have to requalify in order to use the range.

Seriously??? Outside of NES Member Events, I barely shoot, and it's usually due to scheduling. So now I'm going to have to requalify?...What a f***ing sham. I think I may have to find a new club.

 

[tele_mark]

Seriously??? Outside of NES Member Events, I barely shoot, and it's usually due to scheduling. So now I'm going to have to requalify?...What a f***ing sham. I think I may have to find a new club.

Harvard has a place for you -- come join the other MRA refugees!

 

[jamz]

Yeah, one of the reasons that I let my membership there lapse. Never got a friendly vibe there due to a couple of the club officers, even when I stopped by again a few weeks ago.

 

[Massman]

It seems to me that if everyone followed the range rules set forth for all the ranges and used some common sense, we would not have this problem. The rules are there for a reason, not to make life difficult on anyone.
Personally, I think a little bit of my time is well worth it.

 

[Big Daddy 45acp]

Yeah, one of the reasons that I let my membership there lapse. Never got a friendly vibe there due to a couple of the club officers, even when I stopped by again a few weeks ago.

I have been a member there for around 10 years. Never had an unfriendly vibe!

The problems arise when 1 member brings 6 guests and then they proceed to take over 7 lanes, shoot with complete disregard to the rules and don't clean up after themselves.

Another problem is members with the "Ostrich Syndrome". They do not report violations. Or even give a friendly reminder. Usually a friendly reminder is all it takes.

A little time out of my busy schedule is well worth it, in order to be able to shoot whenever I want.

 

[Junglerott]

Seriously??? Outside of NES Member Events, I barely shoot, and it's usually due to scheduling. So now I'm going to have to requalify?...What a f***ing sham. I think I may have to find a new club.

I think as long as you go to one of the meetings you don't have to re-qualify. I understand that people are pissed that we have to go through this, but it is definitaly necessary. It only takes one round getting out to close the club down forever and I'm sure the anti's will find a way to try and close more clubs. People become complacent and need a refresher on safety once in a while.

 

[M1911]

Seriously??? Outside of NES Member Events, I barely shoot, and it's usually due to scheduling. So now I'm going to have to requalify?...What a f***ing sham. I think I may have to find a new club.

I'm not a member of MRA. I don't know what brought this about at their club. But I can hazard a guess.

I strongly suggest that you sit down with one of the officers at MRA and ask him about it. LISTEN to what he says and think about the situation from their perspective. Club leaders have very few levers with which to change members' behavior.

I can tell you about the situation at another club. At the outdoor range of this club, some members have repeatedly been firing high, damaging the outdoor backstop. After a significant amount of volunteer work was performed to repair the damage, within weeks there were fresh holes in it. All it takes is a single round to leave the range and a tragedy can happen (along with the likelihood that the range will be shut down forever).

So how does the club leadership beat common sense into the heads of the knuckleheads who are doing this? One way, which I suspect MRA has chosen, is to require each and every member to come into the club and get a refresher on the rules and an up close and personal inspection of the damage. It is usually impossible to determine just who caused the damage, so the only thing you can do is to bitch at everyone.

Is it time consuming? Yes, much more so for the volunteer officers than for the members, most of whom don't do squat and now bitch about having to give a whole 30 minutes of their time. The club leadership will be spending many hours of their own time doing the requal, trying to ensure club safety. And the club leadership are doing all this work with no complaint.

If you've got a better solution, I strongly suggest that you go to the MRA leadership and volunteer to implement that solution. The only reason that these clubs survive is that the club leadership spends many hours of their own time running the club. In many clubs, the same 6-12 people do all the work. They have and still are giving back to help ensure we have places to shoot. Have you contributed as well?

 

[LoginName]

I'm not a member of MRA. I don't know what brought this about at their club. But I can hazard a guess.

I strongly suggest that you sit down with one of the officers at MRA and ask him about it. LISTEN to what he says and think about the situation from their perspective. Club leaders have very few levers with which to change members' behavior.

I can tell you about the situation at another club. At the outdoor range of this club, some members have repeatedly been firing high, damaging the outdoor backstop. After a significant amount of volunteer work was performed to repair the damage, within weeks there were fresh holes in it. All it takes is a single round to leave the range and a tragedy can happen (along with the likelihood that the range will be shut down forever).

So how does the club leadership beat common sense into the heads of the knuckleheads who are doing this? One way, which I suspect MRA has chosen, is to require each and every member to come into the club and get a refresher on the rules and an up close and personal inspection of the damage. It is usually impossible to determine just who caused the damage, so the only thing you can do is to bitch at everyone.

Is it time consuming? Yes, much more so for the volunteer officers than for the members, most of whom don't do squat and now bitch about having to give a whole 30 minutes of their time. The club leadership will be spending many hours of their own time doing the requal, trying to ensure club safety. And the club leadership are doing all this work with no complaint.

If you've got a better solution, I strongly suggest that you go to the MRA leadership and volunteer to implement that solution. The only reason that these clubs survive is that the club leadership spends many hours of their own time running the club. In many clubs, the same 6-12 people do all the work. They have and still are giving back to help ensure we have places to shoot. Have you contributed as well?

With regard to MRA... some of the damage I've seen at the various ranges is ridiculous (particularly at the Loeb range). A lot of it is most likely due to unsafe procedures and inexperienced shooters.

Some of the damage almost looks intentional... as in "there's no f***ing way someone could have done that by accident".

It is (will be), a bit of a PITA to have to attend a safety reminder class due to the incompetence, carelessness and vandalism of a few shit heads, but considering the alternative (shutting down some of the ranges or requiring RSOs to be present), there really isn't much of a choice.

Adding to the problem is that MRA just happens to be in an extremely anti-gun state. I have no doubt that all it would take is just one bullet sailing over the berms and landing in the wrong place
and the the Brady types would be screaming for blood.

Link to MRA letter (PDF file)

 

[MikeD]

Why does one have to qualify on the McLaughlin range when they're already qualified to use all the other ranges?

I haven't received any letter, so I guess that means I'm not a qualified shooter.

 

[crak]

Weren't the cameras, keycards and every other flaming hoop supposed to cut down on nonsense, or at least help them figure out who did it?

 

[M1911]

Weren't the cameras, keycards and every other flaming hoop supposed to cut down on nonsense, or at least help them figure out who did it?

All that does is tell you who was in at what time. It doesn't tell you WHEN the damage occurred.

The only way to do that would be to check the range before and after each shooter. What shift will you volunteer for to do just that?

 

[Junglerott]

Why does one have to qualify on the McLaughlin range when they're already qualified to use all the other ranges?

I haven't received any letter, so I guess that means I'm not a qualified shooter.

You qualify for Pope and Loeb when you are at orientation. McLaughlin and Suma are done seperately. If you are qualified to use the McLaughlin range I would suggest you atten one of the meetings or your access to McLaughlin may be terminated.

 

[jamz]

McLaughlin is the most pleasant to shoot at too, IMO in the warmer months. Too many rules, too much rigamarole. Sad that a few idiots have to ruin it for everyone else.

 

[MikeD]

You qualify for Pope and Loeb when you are at orientation. McLaughlin and Suma are done seperately. If you are qualified to use the McLaughlin range I would suggest you atten one of the meetings or your access to McLaughlin may be terminated.

I qualified on the Loeb,Pope and Suma ranges, for one reason or another they never took us to the McLaughlin range. My question still stands..why do I have to qualify again on the McLaughlin range?

 

[M1911]

I qualified on the Loeb,Pope and Suma ranges, for one reason or another they never took us to the McLaughlin range. My question still stands..why do I have to qualify again on the McLaughlin range?

I suggest that you direct that question to the club leadership in person.

Despite what some people might think, they probably aren't doing this just to take hours of their time or to be a pain in your behind.

 

[LoginName]

I qualified on the Loeb,Pope and Suma ranges, for one reason or another they never took us to the McLaughlin range. My question still stands..why do I have to qualify again on the McLaughlin range?

There is no "again" if you never qualified for the McLaughlin (or Suma range).

I'm uncertain why you had qualified on the Summa range, but not the Mclaughlin. It seems that you were qualified on one range, but not both. Unless the person running the show said screw it and signed you off for both, or the Mclaughlin was in use at the time... it's popular with the black powder shooters.

The only reason anyone would have to requalify is if they fail to attend the meeting. The reason for the meeting is explained in the letter.

I haven't been to the McLaughlin in a few months, but the last time I was there I could clearly see bullet strikes in the steel barriers used to prevent projectiles from going over the birm. The barriers themselves are about 3' tall and are mounted at least 8'-10' above the ground. The firing line itself also has a sloping 1/4" steel plate projecting out in front. In order to hit the barriers, a person would have to be shooting at a 30-45 degree angle.

It sucks having to attend the class, but it would suck even more if the range was shut down all because of a few pinheads.

 

[Junglerott]

I qualified on the Loeb,Pope and Suma ranges, for one reason or another they never took us to the McLaughlin range. My question still stands..why do I have to qualify again on the McLaughlin range?

You won't have to if you attend the meeting.

 

[SiameseRat]

OK- this is what I make of the situation-

The Board of Directors has made a bunch of great improvements to the McLaughlin range in an attempt to fix old damage and prevent new damage. Now, somebody, or several somebodys don't know how to shoot, or don't care to shoot well. They are the people ruining it for everyone else. Don't get mad at the MRA, don't get mad at the meeting or the requalification- get mad at the asshats who don't know how to shoot!

Keep an eye on your fellow members, and don't be afraid to speak up. Either tell them what they're doing wrong or introduce yourself, casually ask them their name and give that info to somebody in the office.

 

[MFP4073]

Siamese... I think you are correct.

With all of the old equipment it was difficult to see any recent damage because there was already so much. Once thousands were spent and the new equipment was in place it was clear that there was a disregard for the club, other members, and safety. I think the new steel baffles were up on the McGlaughlin less than a week and there were bullet strikes on them. One must actually try to hit them. If they "accidentally" hit them repeatedly they should not be handling firearms, IMO. After a month there was a hole punched in it because somebody decided to tryout their armor piercing ammo on it. At one point someone decided it would be fun to shoot a bunch of holes in the side walls of our bowling pin tables.

For a while it seemed like everytime we came in to set up for a match we would find something damaged. I just don't understand how some of these folks do not have more respect for their range.

 

[rscalzo]

Not that I'm saying that this is the case but I was amazed when I saw what a 5.56 round loaded with the M855 62 grain round was doing to some of our softer steel targets out at the three hundred yard line. These rounds had the steel core and were doing more damage to the plate than a M80 7.62 round. Of course this steel was not the same hardened variety we used in the other targets.

But in any case, a hit that high up is cause for concern. As one of the RO and Board members over at our club, I'm sometimes puzzled by the capabilities of some members/guests. Hopefully not intentional and quickly corrected on our part.