How it's supposed to be.

Sunday, I took my friend Troy and his 2 sons over to my families property, (2.5 Acres) to shoot off a few rounds. Well in this part of Texas it's F-L-A-T. So if I'm going to do some shooting, I need to make sure my bullets don't go where they are not supposed to. Well along one side of the family property there is a drainage ditch, which last month the county cleaned out and took down an additional 2 feet. Which gave me a very good berm to shoot into. So instead of a 2 and half foot to 3 foot berm, I had almost 5 feet of berm to shoot into. Well we took my G-3 Clone, my SKS, my Mav 88 12 gauge, in addition to Troy's 20 ga/.22 LR Rossi combo gun. We were having a ball, shooting at tin cans, and a board I set up in the ditch. Then suddenly, I saw a Sheriffs car driving down the road. So Troy and I took all the weapons unloaded them and set them on the hood of the Suburban, and waited for the sheriff to come on over, as I saw him doing the slow drive by, so I knew he was looking for the entry to the property. Finally he came on over, I made sure we all were standing away from the 'Burb, our hands out of our pockets. He stopped about 15 feet away, and I approaced him with my hands at my sides, a little away from my body so he could see they were empty. I stopped about 5 feet in front of his car, making sure I wasn't blocking his view of Troy and his boys, ( a 15 year old and a 10 year old). I waited for him to get out of his car, as he did I could see he relaxed as he chacked all of our hands which were all in plain sight. He asked me if we were shooting I said "Yes sir." He asked if I owned the property, I said, "My family owns it sir, it's in the family trust" He asked if I had some I.D. I siad "Yes sir, left front pocket." He asked to see it, I got it out and handed it to him. He asked what were shooting. I told him "My SKS, C-91, 12 Gauge Pump, and a 20 gauge/22 combo gun" He asked what were shooting into. I told him "The berm of the ditch, as it's the only sure backstop we have until mom and I can rent a dozer to put up a good one for a backstop" He simply nodded then called in my license number to dispatch, and told them we were shooting a few semi auto's into the ditch, and he didn't find anything wrong. He then handed me back my license and thanked us for our cooperation, and then got in his car and left. That is how it should be handled. He verified we were shooting in a responsible manner made sure who we were and then left. I, when I saw him coming, I stopped and unloaded all weapons and put them where if he wanted to could examine for himself to ensure they were unloaded and no threat to him, then we all stood away from the vehicle where the weapons were, with our hands in plain sight so he could see we weren't offering any threat. After he left we went back to shooting for another 30 minutes, as the 10 year old was getting really good with the .22. Finally we cleaned up all of our shot up cans, picked up all the brass and shell casings, came home and started cleaning guns.

That is how you are to do it. If a L.E.O. comes over while you are shooting, unload and secure your weapon where he can see it isn't loaded. Stand away from your weapons with your hands in plain sight, so he can see you don't have a weapon to possibly harm him. If he asks for Identification, tell him which pocket it is in before you reach for it, and don't get too close to the officer until he has determined the situation. Answer any questions the officer asks you immediately, and don't try to be evasive, Most officers have a built in BS detector and can tell. Just tell him the truth. Remember, he has to ensure 3 things. His safety, the public's safety, and then your safety in that order. His safety comes first. So don't offer anything to him which might make him think you're a threat to him, especially since he doesn't know you from Adam.

Enjoy yourself, and be safe.

Mark