Was at an indoor range yesterday to continue training my wife, also do some self practice.
After awhile in came three gentlemen who were sharing one lane. A short time later I saw the men not wearing there ear protection and thought they might have put inside the ear protection. Then shortly I saw one of the men without eye protection. ( ? ).
Shortly after that one of the men was swinging around a firearm of the shooting line as he talked and laughed with the other two men. That was the straw that broke the camels back, I had to go over to the three men and warn them of the danger they were causing others at the range. At that time I saw that they all had absolutely no ear protection and the one never put his eye protection on. Of course I could see on their faces, who the heck does this guy think he is telling us what to do.
Because of these men my wife and I decided to leave the range and on the way out I told the person at the shop desk about what I did back on the range, the worker thanked me and said that she was so busy in the shop she was unable to keep an eye on the range screen and that at that time she was the only person there working.
Thinking back a few months this wasn’t the first time at that indoor range that I had to stop someone from doing something dangerous. The previous time a gentleman had just purchased a new 38 spec. revolver and was so happy he was walking around between the shooting line bays and the storage tables showing off his firearm to others with it fully loaded with live rounds.
The moral of these happenings is, REMEMBER YOUR COLOR CODES, ALWAYS BE VIGILANT OF YOUR SURROUNDINGS.
I only use the indoor range if I am the only person there. Started that when I saw the bullet holes in the wall. 180 degrees from the firing line…
The exact reason I **NEVER **go to indoor ranges. 
What I was going to say. ^^^
And it sounds like a range nobody should go to.
So many problems, but here’s the one at the root of it all in my opinion:
Maybe they shouldn’t open for business under these conditions. Can you imagine the community swimming pool open without a lifeguard present, and the concession clerk being the only one on staff?
It these kind of situations that have made me decide not to renew my gun club membership here when it comes due. Too many unsafe practices and too less giva-s**t from the clubhouse staff. Let alone the fact that if you say any thing to the unsafe parties they get huffy and belligerent. Not worth the hassle. I’ll drive to some place else to do my training.
Stay safe out there!
Indoor ranges are not bad if staff is taking care of them.
I’m a member of 2 local indoor ranges and both ALWAYS have at least 1 RSO watching people in their lines and 1 person who lets people go into the lines. That person ALWAYS checks if eye and ear protection is on - otherwise no entry.
All these described by @William377 can happen everywhere - indoor, outdoor, on the range, on private property… wherever “firearm uneducated” people are left without supervision.
Not all indoor ranges are like that.
This isn’t unique to indoor ranges and is a scenario which can occur at any range or location where firearm safety is neither practiced nor enforced. A range should only be open when an RSO is available. No RSO no range time. That simple IMO. Firearms are not toys and I don’t want to be around anyone treating them as such.
@William377 , my recommendation is to find a safe range to visit so you and your wife can enjoy the experience.
Thank you for sharing your experience. This is an excellent reminder to us all that safety is Paramount when handling firearms and when being around others handling them. This also serves as a great educational use case for new shooters on what to expect and what they should tolerate at the range.
Shawn17 - My wife and I have started to investigate other ranges. Yes we’re going to have to drive a lot further but we’ll have a better chance of no extra holes in us.
Thanks for your response.
BeanCounter - My wife and I have been to excellent ranges elsewhere with 100% safety control. Though they are a good distance from our small town.
We’ve decided to make the longer drives from now on so we are more sure we make it back home.
Thanks for your response.
I also don’t mind the longer drive for safety reasons.
I’ve been to a couple of the indoor ranges here, one was just weird. Everyone had an 50 cal., full sleeve tats and talked really load. The main deal breaker in that one was no walls, just paint on the floor to separate lanes. The one I frequent now has totally enclosed shooting area, ballistic panels on both sides of each wall and probably the most important, an RSO that is actually in the area all of the time.
I am a member of an indoor range and feel quite safe. The people working there know their stuff and pay attention.
A couple of precautions I take at any range: 1) take an end spot if possible so I only have to worry about one side, 2) before settling down to practice I step away from the firing line and observe the people around me. If I see any unsafe practices, I inform the RSO. There were times when I decided to wait around for certain people to finish.
I prefer outdoor ranges, myself, but I do like the indoor range I go to. It’s one of the few options out there not requiring a bunch of extra bs, just a small monthly fee if you want to be a member. Any time I’ve ever even suspected someone of a mishap, (range doesn’t allow you to carry an uncased weapon between the wall bench and the target lane bench, for example) before I could say a word, the staff were already in there reprimanding the culprit. The only thing that bothers me is when the guy with the 105mm howitzer is blasting off rounds so loud there’s visible shock waves. I think if I saw consistently bad behavior and the range didn’t handle it, I’d find another range. Life is too valuable to waste it on someone else’s carelessness.
Here’s somebody’s bad day at the range. I don’t know how or why it happened, but I found this lying about 60 yds down range on one of the 100 yd rifle lanes. This was on the same day that someone shot down range when a fellow shooter and I went down to change our targets.
What @Jerzees said.
It has always been our habit for one of the group that goes to the range to be the RSO. This person is always the non shooter of the group.
The designated driver.
When I am at the indoor range I am wearing my professional gear. I am not the RSO but, anyone who sees a dangerous situation should say something anyway! My range know me and they are very supportive to the customers on the range. There are usually two or three people working at the range I go to.
On that note; I have gone shooting with some idiots! I swear one guy was seriously try to shoot me. We were out in the desert and his shots came snapping by my head. I dashed ahead for ten yards then low crawled back in the other direction until I came out to the road. I circled around him and came up on him laying on the ground doing a turkey peek looking for me. I shouted, “What the ^&* are you doing?” He said I was shooting at him but I replied, I would not have missed if I was trying to shoot you!" Never went shooting with him again as well as, pretty much anyone else for a while!
I actually feel safer at my indoor ranges. It’s thanks to the way they have been designed and operated by properly thinking staff.
The only danger situation that may occur is when some moron walks out from the line with the firearm… but so far these people were always stopped on time.
The outdoor ranges are different. There are no lines with bulletproof walls… on one range there is no lines at all… but this one is for training classes only. Anyway, the point is that there is no such safety control on the outdoor range than at indoor one.
Because of that I shoot at outdoor only with people I trust. Even that I witnessed the situation when student finished his drill and instead of clearing his firearm and holstering it he just turned around pointing the muzzle at all other people on the range. 
Yeah… such mistakes can happen anytime and anywhere, no matter how safe we are trying to be…