WEST TEXAS HANDGUN TRAINING
Safety & Range Etiquette
SAFETY
Students must follow all instructions and obey the four lifestyle principles of gun safety:
- Treat all guns as if they are always loaded.
- Never let the muzzle point at anything that you are not willing to destroy.
- Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on target and you have made the decision to shoot.
- Be sure of your target and what is or may be moving behind it, around it and in front of it.
NOTE: Handgun Primer, The Holster Class, and Texas License to Carry classes are conducted as "cold" ranges where all guns are unloaded and either put away in cases, bags, or boxes or tabled except during drills. All other handgun courses are run as a "hot" range, where students are allowed (and expected) to keep their holstered handgun loaded at all times. Students with valid LTCs should arrive for class wearing their loaded, concealed handgun. There is NO handling of firearms in the WTHT classroom under any circumstances, without the express permission of and supervision by staff.
Each class will have additional safety rules specific to the facility and the level of training being conducted.
RANGE ETIQUETTE
If you are new to formal firearms training the experience of being on a firing line with others beside you will be a safe experience, even if it is a novel one. There are several things that will improve your range experience.
Eye and ear protection are required if you are on or near the firing line.
Do not handle your gun unless instructed to do so. There will be an opportunity to address any concerns or the status of your gun prior to the drills starting.
A baseball cap is required to prevent expended brass from the shooters around you from landing in your hair or on/inside the lens of your shooting glasses.
Come to the range with your magazines loaded. Keep 20-30 extra rounds in your pocket so that you can reload a magazine without leaving the firing line.
Do not talk during active instruction, ranges are loud, and the instructor needs to be able to communicate over normal range noise.
Do not leave the range area without letting the instructor know.
If you have an issue with your gun, do NOT turn around on the firing line. Raise your hand while facing and keeping the gun pointed downrange and the instructor will assist you.
During the course of instruction, you will drop magazines, and perhaps other items on the ground. Do not bend down and pick them up until the instructor says to do so.
An environment that is safe and conducive to learning for all students, the rules will be strictly enforced up to and including removal of problem students from the firing line or the facility itself.
NOTE: Under the rules of the Texas License to Carry Handgun program, instructors are allowed to fail LTC students if their gun handling is unsafe. These rules also allow LTC instructors not only to fail students with unsafe gun handling, but also to report them to DPS so that any future LTC application would be affected by the previous instructor's report.