terrible incident at local range

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STS3_SSN705

New member
Link to local news story

Very sad range report. We have a man in critical condition with a 9mm shot to the head. Initial police statement is that he may have attempted suicide. I pray that this guy makes it, and gets help.

Also, I hope this doesn't cause trouble for the range. Does anyone here know of ranges that have survived this kind of incident? I fear that there is a politician just waiting for this kind of thing to happen, so he can shut it down.
 
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skeeter1

New member
There was a woman who rented a 9mm and commited suicide several years ago as well. Maybe it's the same incident (Stonewall, near Cleveland, OH). It hasn't affected the range, but maybe that's because it's very popular with some of the LEO departments that can't afford their own ranges, I don't know.

Well, I hope she turns out OK. Our sport doesn't need any more black eyes. I've often wondered about all of the hoops you have to jump through to buy a handgun, much less get a CCW permit, yet anyone can walk into many ranges and rent a handgun easier than renting a power tool at the local "U-Rent-It" center.
 
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1tfl

New member
One indoor range that I frequent has had 4 self induced gunshots in last 25 years and there may have been more earlier that I don't know about. One was a lady who rented a 38 revolver and some reloaded ammo into the range and proceed to shoot herself in the chest. She dies a slow death... about 5 days later. Other were shots to the head with their own guns and the range ammo. In each case the range survived and still exist. I'm sure they did get visits from parasites a.k.a. lawyers but thats what insurance is for.
 
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JWT

New member
Same thing happened at an indoor range in Tucson last December. A guy came in, rented a
9mm went into the range, stood there a few moments and then shot himself in the head.

It made the local papers, the range was closed for a day or so, but there wasn't any political or public call to close the range. It's still open and operating without any problems.
 
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hoytinak

New member
There's an indoor range I go to in Fayetteville, NC that a guy commited suicide in. The range was closed for a couple of weeks during the investigation but it opened back up shortly after.
 
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JohnKSa

Administrator
A friend of mine had this happen at his range. In addition to the stress you would normally expect, he also had a nasty cleanup job and was subjected to accusational phone calls from the suicide's family.

Many ranges won't rent to a person who comes in alone as a result of these incidents.
 
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PSP

New member
What an incredibly selfish way to commit such an act, though this is not a unique act by any means. It seems to be a regular occurance. There have been multiple suicides at ranges around the Washington D.C. area in the last few years. It causes some shop owners to rethink their rental policies.
 
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Manedwolf

Moderator
Many ranges won't rent to a person who comes in alone as a result of these incidents.
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They should revise that.

They can rent to people who come in alone as long as that person also brings at least one other working firearm and ammunition with them, too!

Lots of people come in to try a gun before buying one, and might do so alone. The fact that they have a gun of their own already would negate any suicide risk, as if they had wanted to shoot themselves, they wouldn't have needed to come to a range and rent one.
 
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Tanzer

New member
Not to be a wet blanket, but we don't need to fuel the antis bandwagon. Around here, you can't rent a gun at a range. Every five years or so someone jumps off the Newport, Jamestown, or Mount Hope bridge. Then some poor fisherman and his grandkid have to make the discovery. There are other ways, but thats not the point. Whether suicide or murder, the mind is the weapon. A gun is a device that hurls a projectile at extreme velocity - that's all it is. If this guy wished to kill himself, he was going to do it anyway.
What an incredibly selfish way to commit such an act
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You got that right!
 
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grymster2007

New member
Every five years or so someone jumps off the Newport, Jamestown, or Mount Hope bridge.
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Every ten days or so someone jumps off the Golden Gate, which by the way I think a bit more romantic than ruining everyone’s day by splattering your brains around a gun range. In any case there are those trying to use the taxpayer’s money to erect a suicide barrier. Bad idea! Might just drive some of these people to the range to carry out their deed.
 
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Jamie Young

New member
A guy did this at Target Masters off of rt 202 in PA about a year ago. Same thing. Rented gun and then shot himself.

Things like this don't get my sympathy.
 
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saltpepperPA

New member
"Things like this don't get my sympathy."

They don't get ranges closed either, rules may tighten up a bit, but your range should still be open in a week or so.
 
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Manedwolf

Moderator
Every ten days or so someone jumps off the Golden Gate, which by the way I think a bit more romantic than ruining everyone’s day by splattering your brains around a gun range.
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Not really. Especially when the bloated "floaters" wash up on a shore after having been drifting around for a few days, half-rotted and chewed on by fish. The cleanup people often put Vicks Vaporub in their masks so they don't throw up from the putrid smell. And floating bodies puff up like grotesque, pallid balloons...

I still think that there should be some clean, simple means for people to dispose of themselves without trauma to others if they wish to do so.

If they want to kill themselves, they're going to do it anyway. Why not make it so that if they do, it doesn't cost anything to clean up and doesn't traumatize any innocent people?

Another approach is to bluntly describe how completely undignified their death will be. Suicides in movies are dramatic and clean. They don't cover aspects like their bowels and bladder letting go for a final impression on those around them.

Public suicides are the ultimate selfish act.
 
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SpectreBlofeld

New member
Every ten days or so someone jumps off the Golden Gate, which by the way I think a bit more romantic than ruining everyone’s day by splattering your brains around a gun range.
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So "romantic" in fact that people have driven across the San-Francisco-Oakland Bridge in in order to get to the Golden Gate to commit suicide.

:confused:

The Oakland bridge would've been perfectly fine for suicide, it just isn't romantic enough, I guess...

...humans...
 
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CrazyIvan007

New member
Every range I have been to here in Colorado has had at least 1 gun to rent. The pistol range about 2 blocks from my house has a few dozen...

I am not aware of any incident like this happening here in recent history. Don't know what issues would come up following such an event. Colorado is a pretty conservative state, but is becoming liberal more and more with the influx of illegals and Californians.

On another note, there are a lot of suicide-by-cop attempts and successes here in Denver. That certainly has erupted some activism against the police here, unfortunately.
 
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