Took a ride over to Sunset Hill Shooting Range in Tannersville, PA the other day to do get some target practice in. It’s not a bad range at all, outdoors – bays for pistols, rifles, shotguns, and they’ve got a pretty large assortment of weapons for rent.
Didn’t quite start out without a hitch however, one of the folks behind the counter had a bit of an attitude, and the first thing she did was hand me a non-cleared gun and ask me to clear it – meaning make sure it’s empty. I felt like I was back at my drivers test again. My buddy started to point out where the clip release was and she screamed at him “DON’T COACH HIM.” So I release the clip, drop it on the counter, then check the slide – I couldn’t find the slide lock. This whole time she’s screaming at ME to keep it pointed at the floor.
She pulls the same shit on my other two friends, one of them a trained weapons expert, and we pretty much blow it off figuring the aggravation will dissipate once we’re shooting. Afterwards we all agreed that we probably should have not even taken the gun and chided HER for handing us an uncleared weapon. After all, it’s the policy of the place that if you’re not firing a gun, it better be clearly empty. Personally, most of my experience is with basic revolvers and rifles – so I’m a fair shooter, but if you hand me a gun and start screaming at me… Arg.
It was a fun time, it costs like $10 to get in if you’ve already been there, otherwise you need to fork over another $25-35 dollars for their “safety briefing” which essentially shows you how to load, fire, and clear whatever weapon you’re working with for the session. I didn’t mind that part, and the instructor was a joy to work with.
All in all, I’d go back, but if I get asked to clear another weapon, she better hand it to me already cleared or I’m going to make her look REALLY foolish.
