Just got back from another CMP rifle match today. This one set a new club record for attendance, which is good for the club and the sport, but on the downside, it brought out a couple of those shooters that really tend to detract from the positive air at these shoots.

The first one was some guy that I wound up standing next to as we got ready to put the first relay of shooters on. (I was in the second.) As we got to talking, the conversation somehow got around to automatic rifles, and he immediately began to tell me with some authority about the current prices for M-14 and M-16 rifles and the positives and negatives of both. I mentioned that I had a couple of machine guns, at which time he said: "Yeah, the only reason I never got into Class Three guns is that as soon as you do, you give those ATF thugs the right to come into your home any time they want." He was, of course, talking about the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE), an agency that's hated by some fringe lunatics the way that deer hunters are hated by PETA nuts. I sighed and told him that this is not true, and that merely buying an NFA firearm and paying the transfer tax doesn't make you a Class Three license-holder anyway. But of course he knows more than me and he told me of "his friend" who has a machine gun. Supposedly ATF agents call his friend every couple of months, always at three in the morning, to ask him if his machine gun is secure. I told him straight out that that was a BS tale and that ATF does no such thing, and he went right off onto a diatribe where he began listing ATF "abuses", and I just put a hand up to stop him, excused myself, and went off to check my equipment again. I don't know why these nuts always have to turn up at otherwise decent gun-related events and start that stuff. I just wish I knew who brought him along as a guest. I know that he's not a member and I haven't ever seen him there before.
And like most militia-fringe kooks, he was obese and had a ratty beard that ZZ-Top would have admired. Why do they always look like that?

Then on my relay, I wound up shooting next to a guy we'll call "Mike". (Actually his name is Mike, and if I knew his last name, it'd be posted here too.) Mike seemed harmless enough, and he'd certainly been talking the talk about guns all morning, but after we shot the first stage, he immediately scooped up all of my brass which had landed anywhere near him and put it in a bag he'd brought along. He even remarked to me that my brass was landing all over him (that happens on every firing line--everyone gets showered with brass from the shooter to the left) but instead of handing me my brass back, he dropped it into his bag and walked off. I told him tactfully that I thought that he had some of my brass but he just kept walking. What made it even more annoying was that I then found out that he had some problem with his rifle and he hadn't even shot that stage. WTF? He didn't even shoot but he still picked up my brass and pocketed it? When He came back, I told him again that he had some of my brass in his bag and he just went by like I didn't say anything. His friend quickly asked me how much I was missing though and handed me the cases, and I let it slide, figuring that his friend would talk to him about that. I was wrong. Next stage, he again picked up as much of my brass as he could, even when he saw me reaching for it and before picking up his own. Again, before I could corral him and discuss that rude bit of behavior, another club member that was with him handed me some brass. I figured that this time, with two members watching him in action, someone would school him. But he did it again on the third stage. In all my time shooting these matches, I've never seen anything like this. I paid for that brass, and more to the point, he knows that he didn't, but he had no problem just scooping up someone else's property. It's because of guys like this that I don't leave my rifle or other gear unattended. Straight out--he's a thief. we don't have many in our serious shooting community, but guys like this have the ability to leave a bad taste in many other shooters' mouths.

Last stage--Standing slow-fire. Mike blew off all his rounds in less than two minutes and retired to the rear. This made me happy, and I'd even slowed down waiting for him to leave once I realized that he was shooting like a goober. But then he went to stand by his friends, and of course he wanted to talk to them about his gun collection, so he began trying to shout over the rifle fire from me and the others who were still shooting. Now here I am, trying to concentrate on that tiny 200-yard black zone, but I can clearly hear Mike's voice as he's shouting about some 1903A3 that he's just bought. It was distracting, I wasn't in a position where I could go back and tell him to shut up, and he kept it up for the rest of the stage. Some people just get up in the morning and put on their asshole hat and Mike is clearly one of those people. At least he was nowhere near the line when cease-fire was called, so this time I got my brass. I had planned to pull him aside and talk to him candidly about this stuff when I got my target scored and my gear off the line, but alas, by the time I was done, big-mouth sticky-fingers was gone. I mentioned all of this to the range master, and as he knowingly shook his head and apologized, two other shooters told about how Mike has in past shoots stolen their brass too. So now I'm wondering why this guy's even allowed at these shoots and it's not doing much to improve my opinion of this club. Mike apparently is either a member or a frequent guest.

Oh well. I've got a long memory, and if Mike's there next shoot, we will talk. And he will not be welcome in the shooting positions adjacent to my own.


After finishing the match, I went down to Harpers Ferry for a run. The place was jam-packed with Memorial Day week-end visitors, but fortunately I've got friends there who will always make sure that I have a parking place. I ran my mile-and-a-half course and came home. I played with Lagniappe for a bit and now I'm going to take a nap. Life's still pretty good.