Not really related, but kinda is. I was at the small private gun club range that I belong to (only 265 members) this past Sunday, doing some clean up and spraying Round Up to get ready for next weekend's Rondevous (sp?) and Mountain Man Jubilee.
There was a family of 5 at one of the rifle bays. They had ice chests, and mom was knitting, the 2 young girls were shooting .22s. Dad was dressed in his 5\11 gear, all the tactical foo-fas you can think of, including a SWAT hat. As The president of the club and I were walking past the table where they had all their gear, I watched the dad go to the table and pick up a rifle that was pointing towards the safe zone instead of downrange, sweeping both of us as he turned and stepped up to the firing line. He then proceeded to pop off ten rounds as fast as he could. Obviously, this rifle was loaded when he picked it up and swept us.
Happens occasionally when you spend much time at range, you might say, right? So you keep an eye on the culprit and make sure it was just a momentary lapse, and if he repeats the act, a few words of caution and wisdom will usually end the problem.
So what's the big deal, you might ask? Turns out this guy IS actually a member of the Sheriff's Dept. SWAT team! Why he was there all geared out for a day of family shooting is beyond me, but hey, different strokes, right? But full gear including the hat, and sweeping folks with a loaded gun makes me wonder if this guy is really the right guy to be on the SWAT team. He broke THE cardinal rule of gun handling, and he responds to SWAT situations? Kids, wife, innocent bystanders and this yahoo keeps a loaded gun pointed opposite of down range and struts around in full tactical gear, sweeping people?
While our club is small, I don't know all of the members, and of course there are going to be some a$$hats in any group that large, but come on. The president told me that he was going to talk to him privately. I sure hope it was just a brain fart, but his actions didn't instill confidence from me towards him. And lose the hat and gear, guy. Us other shooters are not impressed. You might be, but we're not.
Am I being too judgmental here? I thought maybe he had just come from a call or something, but what with the ice chests and family and the fact that they all left in one vehicle leads me to believe that he dressed that way purposely. The vast majority of LEOs that I know are very low key about being cops when they are in mixed company in a social setting. They certainly don't advertise it, not even at the range. Ah well, I'll get over it. It just struck me as odd.
Peace and God bless, Wolfsong.