Bad experience on Crown Land

[u/CountryFine]

Went out to a fairly popular crown land shooting spot in my area today, it was my first time there and im not super familiar with the etiquette of public shooting but definitely had a weird experience.

When I first arrived it was just one guy and his girlfriend plinking with their .22, i asked if they minded me setting up next to them and they had no problems so I set up and started plinking with my .22 too. We would pause and go adjust our targets at the same time, and everything went smoothly.

Eventually they left and immediately after a big group pulled in. Right away they started unloading their targets and walking all around down range without saying a word to me, not even a “hi”. I sat patiently for about 10 minutes waiting for them to clear downrange, and then they just started shooting without any heads up to put on ear pro. It really came across that they felt as though because they were a bigger group they were free to take control over the area even though I was already there.

They were also shooting their prohib (GSG16 I think) and using unpinned 30-round SKS mags. I’m against the bans as much as the next guy, but this is just irresponsible. The last thing we need as a community are headlines about people getting caught shooting prohibs or “high capacity assault-style SKS’s.”

If any of you happen to be reading this, I’m sure you’re all decent people just out to have a good time, and I get it. But please think about the responsibility that comes with bringing firearms to a public spot. Every time something like this makes the news, it gives ammunition to the people trying to take this away. Abide by the laws even if you disagree with them, and please teach the young kid you brought proper safe handling, letting him walk around waving a gun in people’s direction isn’t okay.

I left shortly after and found a different area to shoot but as a new shooter the experience left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth. Maybe its just because im new to the hobby, but the shooting environment that this group created did not feel safe and respectful, and im hopeful that this isnt the norm for crown land shooting.

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