Need suggestions on club operations

[Sarge]

Calling all club BOD members or other club staff.

Our club has experienced huge growth over the last three years or so and is quickly approaching 2000 members.

We have had a rash of incidents lately involving safe gun handling. Nothing bad has happened but there have been several complaints of shooters not even observing the most basic gun handling rules.

We are currently wrestling with a way to possibly slow our growth but more importantly implementing some type of program where prospective club members must demonstrate competent gun handling skills before applying for membership.

Has anybody been a part of anything like this within their club? How exactly did you set it up. How did you tell the prospective member that they were not up to par on safe gun handling and therefore not permitted to join the club?

We feel that the vast majority of our members are safe, avid gun enthusiasts. But we are getting more and more lately who are a menace to the rest of the members.

Edited January 5, 2012 by Sarge

[furyalecto]

Just a suggestion, probably not a good one:

Require NRA basic pistol class (if it is readily available in your area) as a prerequisite for membership or retaining membership if they have not completed it in a certain amount of time.

If it is not available, try to get some of the members qualified to teach it.

[ima45dv8]

You might want to PM mleeber. Mark is the overall range safety officer and a board member for a very large range north of Atlanta. I think his authority even extends across all of the various disciplines that shoot there, as well as general members who might not shoot events but just use the range for personal time.

I also hope he posts any suggestions here for future reference.

[j0n]

My local club requires proof of live fire training prior to allowing a new member to join. I have still had to yell at people for handling guns while I am downrange. I don't feel mandatory training helps.

[gino_aki]

I'm not sure what our club does is really applicable to your situation but here goes...background is that our club handles a large part of running the local county facility.

Club members only get to shoot with authorized Range Officers present to run the firing line. Range Officer's instructions are LAW. First safety offense gets a warning. Second, you're gone for the day. Only certified LE instructors, NRA Instructors, and NROI RO's are authorized by the County Parks and Recreation Division as Range Officers. Only Range Officers who volunteer to work the firing line and or maintain the range get keys to the range.

We do have to schedule "Open to The Public" days at the range but the same rules apply to non-members as well.

For your case I'd echo the "demonstrated competency" test as a membership requirement that others have suggested.

If you really want to slow the pace of membership sign ups, nothing works quite as well as jacking the price a couple hundred dollars.

Edited January 8, 2012 by gino_aki

[Chills1994]

I don't know what to tell you. I am a member of a few clubs that have experienced safety issues. You can talk to people about safety til you turn blue in the face and it still won't do any good... Some people's IQ's just drop 20 points every time they get their hands on a firearm. I think about the only thing that would do any good is to catch a few people red handed, terminate their memberships on the spot and let the club's rumor mill get the word out about how they got poop canned from the club.

[Sarge]

Thanks for the replies guys. You have shown me that my post was vague so I'll try to clarify a few things.

Our club is very deeply rooted in the rifle disciplines. On almost any given day there is some type of match going on. You name it we have it as far as rifle out to 600 yards is concerned as long as it does not entail any running and gunning. We just don't have the safety buffer to risk launching rifle rounds off the reservation. But we are also well equipped on the pistol side of the house as well. Our number one purpose for being is to promote the shooting sports. The vast majority of our members do not shoot any sanctioned matches of any kind. They are recreational weekend shooters so we try to run a facility geared towards them.

We are a private club that is not affiliated with any law enforcement agencies or government operations. As a matter of fact we allow very little if any use of our facilities by LEO because it takes up too much range space which limits availability for our membership. We do not utilize any type of safety officers except as used in matches. The facility is self policing with every member having access to the grounds at any time.

Actually the board members are each tasked with submitting an idea to address the issue of our recent safety infractions. All applicants are required to be NRA members as well as watch the NRA safety video during orientation.

My thoughts are to implement a two day application/orientation program which would involve a more in depth safety check. It would involve both rifle and pistol and require demonstrated safe use of all guns a prospective member intends to use at the range. Basically I think the way to go is to make sure new members understand that they are not shooting on their dad's farm any more and must not point guns in unsafe directions or load them in the trunk of their cars, etc. Just think back to all the stupid stuff you may have done with guns and you will get my meaning.

If they don't meet minimum safety standards during day one they don't move on to day two. I'm just looking to see if anybody does anything similar and how they implement it.

Thanks.

Edited January 7, 2012 by Sarge

[Alan550]

Kevin,

Our club requires that each new prospective member participate in 2 shooting events and attend a club meeting prior to turning in the application. This gives the ROs a chance to see gun handling first hand. Also, a 100% vote of the members present at the meeting is required in order to get in to the club. One "no" vote and they don't make it. Some have been told in advance to withdraw their applications because of attitude problems on the range when they were called down on safety issues by the RO in charge that particular day, in order to prevent their being embarrassed by getting that "NO" vote on meeting night.

We also have a "cap" on membership numbers, and require NRA membership. Anyone disobeying club rules (destruction of club property, etc.) is out of the club. So far these procedures have worked for us. YMMV

Alan~^~

[Canuck223]

If I'm reading the situation correctly, you need a means to deal with safety issues without creating chaos and upheaval. No change happens without a little bit of chaos and a tiny bit of upheaval.

Calling every member back in for retraining is a huge undertaking, and frankly an insult to the members who are not creating the problem.

My suggestion is to consider the following.

1) Send every member a letter, outlining the issues and concerns. Include a copy of the range rules, and any range specific considerations and hazards.

2) Require every member to wear a club membership card while on the property.

3) Recruit a core of calm, respectful, broad shouldered individuals to monitor the range use and where needed, document incidents of unsafe behavior, and address them on the spot.

4) Remind every member that it's thier property at risk, and to address concerns with the member, and with the board if needed.

5) Follow through on the reports.

Yep, smacks of range nazi's.

Part of the problem is in the large clubs, there can be a sense of anonimity. When members know that they are not only accountable for thier actions, and liable to be dealt with if they forget themselves, things tend to improve.

[Nik Habicht]

While our club has a live fire portion of the new member orientation, I'm not certain how much good it does. Our club rules do require that members wear ID, with their member number prominently printed on that ID.

When members observe a violation of club safety rules, they are directed to report that to the Board of Directors, ideally with the offending person's name, badge number, or license plate, if a member, or with the name of the member sponsoring an unsafe guest. The Board will then invite the member to appear at the next Board Meeting to explain his/her conduct.

Depending on how that goes, there might be no impact on the member (member acknowledges and understands mistake, is unlikely to repeat it) all the way up to being dismissed from the active rolls (for recalcitrant sinners.)

The club provides written range and safety rules to all members during orientation -- different ranges may have different rules. Our actual ranges run off a common firing line scenario, with the first member arriving to shoot becoming the range officer.

The pits work a little differently, and so do the shotgun fields. I see lots of safety reminders in the newsletter the club puts out on a monthly basis. In addition to general reminders, the board will also describe safety problems that have been reported to them, without mentioning the offending members name, and what the resulting action was. Those reports also tend to include what should have happened....

[remoandiris]

Are the problems at certain ranges; practice pistol, bullseye, rifle, etc? Or is it across the range? If certain ranges, concentrate your efforts there. If across the ranges, general re-education is needed.

You could add "what not to do" scenarios to your club orientation. Unfortunately, you can't fix stupid.

IMO, one thing you do NOT want to add a range "police force". That is a sure way to get people heated, especially if the range cop doesn't know/understand/participate in the discipline in question.

Edited January 8, 2012 by remoandiris

[Coach]

Our club is not nearly as large as yours but we had many gun handling safety violations. Four years ago we started implementying a hands on gun handling test before membership is granted. We go down a check list club rules, safety rules and then make the perspective member uncase a gun, dryfire it, unload and show clear, recase the gun without being unsafe. Sometimes they have to do this several times. When multiple members are working on a common firing line some folks did not see how it was possible to uncase a gun and get it point down range without sweeping themselves or someone else. Of course I had to explain what sweeping was. Most people have no idea.

This hands on demonstration has been very helpful in our situation. We are require completion of the state Hunter Safety Course or pass our written safety test. Since we started doing the hands on test I have not had a gun pointed at me on the range. Every new member has to go through it no matter what. LEO's have gotten rather pissy about the requirement and refused to join but we make no exceptions.

[kevin c]

As far as the Action Pistol sports go, we do this:

Anybody, including the public, came come to our privately owned range to shoot in practice, but must sign in and be supervised by the Range Officers assigned practice duty that day. If new to the range and to action shooting, they get some basic instruction on the shooting line. If they want to compete, all new shooters must have an official membership card from one of the national action shooting organizations, or take our safe handgunner course, which reviews safety, rules and basic technique in detail. The course uses AV materials, live fire drills, shooting on a practice stage, and takes most of a day. We have several RO's who teach the course. Participants who pass get a card certifying that they are good to go, plus a voucher for their first match.

A shooter violating a safety rule, either in practice or during a match, is done for the day, and is written up. Repeat offenders get reviewed by the Action Shooting Committee that runs the range. Some require remediation - taking the course again and/or one on one help. On occasion, we do a "time out" - suspension of shooting priveleges for a period, with reinstatement contingent on taking the course again and not having another safety violation. We did have one case where we had to suspend one individual's range priveleges permanently.

In short, we vet people for action shooting experience, educate/orient those who don't have it, have a monitoring process for safety violations, and a method of dealing with recurring infractions. It seems to work pretty well.

Edited January 10, 2012 by kevin c

[West Texas Granny]

You could adopt the following.

1. Hire range safety personal to monitor daily range activities. Much cheaper than a lawsuit.

2. Develop safety SOP and have members read and sign it. Have guests read and sign it. Have non members ( public) sign it every time they use the range.

3. Let membership know range safety is also their responsibility.

4. All members,guests and public are badged.

5. Realize that even long term shooters who supposedly are considered safe do stupid things just not your new shooters.

6. Safety is not a one time deal so a yearly safety class for all members could be made a requirement for renewal of membership or a condition of continued use of the range.

7. If you have kids under 18 that use the range make sure there is a safety program in place that they must take before they are allowed on range property. A hunters safety course may be a good option.

[JKSNIPER]

Cameras can help with unsafe shooting. If people know they're no longer anonymous they tend to behave the way they should in the first place.

IMHO Require all people to attend and pass a firearms safety class.

Just a basic safety test at the end with questions about firearms and range safety rules.

Monitoring entry and exit of people with photos taken of vehicles coming and going can help narrow down persons responsible for acts of shooting mischief......like the idiots who shoot the rimfire .22 plate rack with .223 rifles.

Anyone caught breaking the safety rules should be dealt with immediately on the spot. With electronic access its easy...the admin for the system and delete that persons access code and send them a letter notifying them why they are no longer welcome at the range.

JK

[Flexmoney]

Kevin,

They are looking at some of the same at C-ville. Talk with Conrad (club BOD) when you get a chance.