Fly
Has anyone recommended a short safety briefing at sign up? Have who ever is working registration go through some safety rules with the people as they sign up?
How you want them to show clear how to bag the gun. These would be the.match expectations and procedures
I was talking to the Match Director about what we could do. As jthhapkido has said, there are many complications. The match personnel are all volunteers, as is the case with all the local matches. So we don't have an abundance of people. Much of the corrections are done on the firing line, and it works. The intention of the RYG match is to have fun, and hopefully improve individual shooting skills. It is a bit less of a "competition" and more of a social event. In that light, we are not as strict as a USPSA match for example. The most important thing is that participants come with an open mind and work on correcting any bad habits that others point out to them.
---but keeping the gun pointed in a safe direction, not handling firearms behind the firing line, keeping your finger off the trigger while loading/reloading/unloading---
And those are exactly the things we see. I was
that guy. The RYG match was my first pistol match and I did the classic "reach for my gun bag while I sweep myself with the muzzle" thing. Something I WISH I would have thought about and practiced before someone had to tell me.
The frustrating thing is that we have a few, not very many, that are told they need to correct a bad habit and they come back every match and do the same thing again. One particular guy had the "I've been shooting for xxx years!" attitude, but most are receptive. One gentleman pulled the gun out while we were down range scoring. I told him he needed to wait until he was told to do so, and when he was done shooting, he asked "Besides not getting the firearm out until told to do so, anything else I need to change?". Great attitude! I took that opportunity to also tell him that when he opens his gun bag/box and realizes the firearm is not pointing downrange, to turn the bag so when it is pulled out, the muzzle will always be pointed in a safe direction. I'm betting we won't see any more of that with him.
There is one guy though that I am going to have a polite conversation with when I see him. I've commented how he sweeps himself. Per my comments in a prior thread, I don't feel there is any difference whether the gun is loaded or unloaded, but if it matters to others here, it WAS loaded and cocked when he did this. While I've made comments, he doesn't seem to be taking it to heart. His response is not "screw you". Rather he seems quite humble. However, I'm wondering if anyone has explained what needs to be done to fix his bad habits. Hopefully I will be able to help him make some neuron connections and he will improve.
I want everyone to have fun. By our final count on number of guns shot at the last two matches (around 100), people are enjoying the event. First and foremost is safety of course. The chance of me getting shot in the back while I'm downrange scoring, or for a competitor to injure themselves is slim. But if you haven't guessed yet, I'm the "wear your seatbelt" type of a guy. I would rather see the odds of and accident reduced to darn near zero.
Fly
