My experience at an indoor shooting range that caters to the uninformed, the afraid, and the politically illiterate

I went to an indoor range down in the DC suburbs with a buddy of mine. Neither of us had been to this range, so we decided to give it a shot. This particular range had a reputation for catering to a more liberal clientele, and even offering classes that focused on being "bi friendly" as their website described it. I went down to check it out and see if I would want to go back. <br><br>I opened the website to see if they had any specific rules for that range, as they all do. They had a long list of rules, to include that the range was a "safe space," that no one is allowed to speak to another about firearms in the store, range, or parking lot unless spoken to first, that firearms should not be discussed inside the shop, and that you cannot bring a firearm into the range if it has forward rails, a pistol grip, a malfunctioning safety, or if it is an AR or AK platform. I was set on going to this range regardless of their rules, so I tucked my pistol mag in my pocket and slung my AR over my shoulder. I asked the woman at the front desk if I could use my rifle in their lanes and she said yes, as long as it is a 22. I smiled, said yes, and made my way to the range with her permission. <br><br>I met my friend in the back of the shop, and we made our way down to the range. I put my rifle on the shooting table and started loading, and the range safety officer approached and said, "That's fine, but you don't have to do that now." I smiled again and said, "I'm ready to shoot." <br><br>I started shooting my AR at my target that the range provided. My friend shot his pistol and I shot my rifle. After I had been shooting for probably about 15-20 minutes, the lady range safety officer returned and told me my rifle looked "intimidating." I smiled, apologized, and went back to shooting. After a few more minutes, the lady went down to the lane next to me and started telling a couple with their small kids that we aren't allowed to speak to other shooters in the range because I had politely said, "How's it going?" to them when they arrived next to me. After she had left the family, the woman spoke to me and said, "I think we pissed off the range lady." I smiled and said, "Yeah, that's okay. You didn't do anything wrong. She just doesn't like my gun." The father in the family told me, "We brought our kids to the range because it is something that we do as a family that we want to share with our children." After I had been there for probably about 45 minutes, the lady range safety officer came down to me and told me that I needed to leave because my gun was "scaring people." I smiled, apologized, and started putting everything away before I left to go back to the front desk. <br><br>When I got to the front desk, I asked for the manager, and the lady working at the desk said, "Yeah, I can't believe that range lady. She always does stuff like this." The manager came out and asked me what happened. I told him my story from start to finish, and let him know that I wasn't mad at anyone and it was all very friendly and considerate, and that I was just leaving because I was asked to. He offered me a full refund for my time and ammunition, I thanked him and I left. <br><br>I shared this story because I want to let everyone know that you can interact with people who don't know or don't like you or your hobbies in a calm, friendly, and considerate manner. As gun people, we get a really bad reputation, but that reputation is not universal and will fade over time. I would recommend that everyone try to interact to people in this way, and once you are treated poorly, you can adjust your behavior accordingly. Thanks for reading my story and I hope you learned something. <br><br>Edit: Thank you for the support and awards, and thank you so much to the person who upgraded my pistol sub platinum. It's the little things like that that make me feel like I'm doing something right. Keep your chins up y'all! Also, consider this a fair warning to anyone that is visiting the DC suburbs.