My view from the range at Bill's in Robbinsdale today

[ArtVandelay]

Emailed back and forth with John Monson, who own's Bill's. He asked me for the pictures and time so he could review the the video of me confronting them. After watching the video he said he was shocked and would deal with the issue immediately he also offered me range passes which I turned down. Hopefully some action will be taken though.

[LePetomane]

The only way to enforce your own rules is to follow them 100% of the time.

That concept is lost on members of the political class.

[Duff-Man]

The only way to enforce your own rules is to follow them 100% of the time.

That concept is lost on members of the political class.

That concept is lost on most people.

[walstien]

John is a good guy. Consider the situation - he's running three gun ranges, three gun shops, and is right in the middle of this whole craziness, and he stopped everything he is doing and got back to you right away. He should be commended for taking this so seriously.

For the most part, the guys who work at Bill's south are great. Its the only indoor range I shoot at, and I've seen those fellas rigorously enforce the safety rules. I feel safe there. I've had my wife and kid there. We celebrated my Father's birthday there. Its a safe place.

John takes this stuff seriously. He's a no-nonesense kind of guy and this WILL be handled appropriately. I'd take him up on the range passes and give Bill's a second chance.

I'm impressed that you got a response this fast, and I'm comforted knowing that he takes this so seriously. Give credit where credit is due. What happened this morning shouldn't have happened... but the fact that the owner is all over it goes a long way towards making things right.

[ArtVandelay]

John is a good guy. Consider the situation - he's running three gun ranges, three gun shops, and is right in the middle of this whole craziness, and he stopped everything he is doing and got back to you right away. He should be commended for taking this so seriously.

For the most part, the guys who work at Bill's south are great. Its the only indoor range I shoot at, and I've seen those fellas rigorously enforce the safety rules. I feel safe there. I've had my wife and kid there. We celebrated my Father's birthday there. Its a safe place.

John takes this stuff seriously. He's a no-nonesense kind of guy and this WILL be handled appropriately. I'd take him up on the range passes and give Bill's a second chance.

I'm impressed that you got a response this fast, and I'm comforted knowing that he takes this so seriously. Give credit where credit is due. What happened this morning shouldn't have happened... but the fact that the owner is all over it goes a long way towards making things right.

From talking with John he does seem like a nice guy and I do think it was great to get such a quick response from the owner. But what would you have done if you were there with your wife or daughter and had employees place guns on the shelf pointed at them? For me, I'm unsure of what action was taken, I won't be giving them another chance. Like I told him, totally different situation if it was another customer not employee(s).

[walstien]

John is a good guy. Consider the situation - he's running three gun ranges, three gun shops, and is right in the middle of this whole craziness, and he stopped everything he is doing and got back to you right away. He should be commended for taking this so seriously.

For the most part, the guys who work at Bill's south are great. Its the only indoor range I shoot at, and I've seen those fellas rigorously enforce the safety rules. I feel safe there. I've had my wife and kid there. We celebrated my Father's birthday there. Its a safe place.

John takes this stuff seriously. He's a no-nonesense kind of guy and this WILL be handled appropriately. I'd take him up on the range passes and give Bill's a second chance.

I'm impressed that you got a response this fast, and I'm comforted knowing that he takes this so seriously. Give credit where credit is due. What happened this morning shouldn't have happened... but the fact that the owner is all over it goes a long way towards making things right.

From talking with John he does seem like a nice guy and I do think it was great to get such a quick response from the owner. But what would you have done if you were there with your wife or daughter and had employees place guns on the shelf pointed at them? For me, I'm unsure of what action was taken, I won't be giving them another chance. Like I told him, totally different situation if it was another customer not employee(s).

Yeah, I hear you. Point a gun at my 4 year old and its a different story.

Still, give them another chance. i think I would if I were in your situation. Fortunately the wife and kid wasn't there, it was just you and your Dad. (Actually, if someone pointed a gun at my Dad I'd go ape-sh*t crazy) We're a small community of gun owners and enthusiasts. While Bills may have had a blemish on their record today, they still do a lot of good for our community. John is our voice when the media calls, he is our defender when the media tries to show us in a bad light, and it is the lone outpost to shoot in the metro area. We need them as much as they need us.

As a guy who has shot with his Dad nearly every saturday at Bill's for the past 22 years, I'd be sad to see another Father/Son team leave the clubhouse. We need guys like you to show up. Its our range. You and your Dad make it a better place.

Give it one more shot. Heck, if you come on a Saturday at around 2:00 you can shoot with my Old Man, too.

[t140]

John is a good guy. Consider the situation - he's running three gun ranges, three gun shops, and is right in the middle of this whole craziness, and he stopped everything he is doing and got back to you right away. He should be commended for taking this so seriously.

For the most part, the guys who work at Bill's south are great. Its the only indoor range I shoot at, and I've seen those fellas rigorously enforce the safety rules. I feel safe there. I've had my wife and kid there. We celebrated my Father's birthday there. Its a safe place.

John takes this stuff seriously. He's a no-nonesense kind of guy and this WILL be handled appropriately. I'd take him up on the range passes and give Bill's a second chance.

I'm impressed that you got a response this fast, and I'm comforted knowing that he takes this so seriously. Give credit where credit is due. What happened this morning shouldn't have happened... but the fact that the owner is all over it goes a long way towards making things right.

From talking with John he does seem like a nice guy and I do think it was great to get such a quick response from the owner. But what would you have done if you were there with your wife or daughter and had employees place guns on the shelf pointed at them? For me, I'm unsure of what action was taken, I won't be giving them another chance. Like I told him, totally different situation if it was another customer not employee(s).

Yeah, I hear you. Point a gun at my 4 year old and its a different story.

Still, give them another chance. i think I would if I were in your situation. Fortunately the wife and kid wasn't there, it was just you and your Dad. (Actually, if someone pointed a gun at my Dad I'd go ape-sh*t crazy) We're a small community of gun owners and enthusiasts. While Bills may have had a blemish on their record today, they still do a lot of good for our community. John is our voice when the media calls, he is our defender when the media tries to show us in a bad light, and it is the lone outpost to shoot in the metro area. We need them as much as they need us.

As a guy who has shot with his Dad nearly every saturday at Bill's for the past 22 years, I'd be sad to see another Father/Son team leave the clubhouse. We need guys like you to show up. Its our range. You and your Dad make it a better place.

Give it one more shot. Heck, if you come on a Saturday at around 2:00 you can shoot with my Old Man, too.f

Not sure if I have seen John in the media. Cite?

[walstien]

Too many Strib and Pioneer Press articles, appearances on channels 4, 5, 9, and 11, and radio interviews to count.

He is who the media calls when they want a story about guns and gun ownership.

[GNCAaron]

Everybody makes mistakes - the employees at Bill's today, the OP, everybody. A sincere apology and a handful of range tokens would have been good enough for me.

[Nalez]

Man,
I understand some new kid with a firearm making errors in safety, but the staff? If the big letters "do not put firearms on shelf" is not a clue, I do not what is!

- Always keep the muzzle pointed in a safe direction down range. (fail)
- No loading firearms on shelves. All muzzles must be pointing down range at all times! (fail)
- The range officer reserves the right to remove you from the range at any time for any reason. (can we remove the range officer?)
- Only one uncased firearm per point is allowed at any time. (well, I guess there may only be one at the firing point, but there are 5 or 6 without a case in sight behind the firing line)

[XDM45]

@walstien Give them another chance? To what? Shoot me? Yes, the guy has 3 ranges, but then he needs to have better management and control. People make mistakes, true that, but go ahead and have an ND and when the cops show up, tell them "everyone makes mistakes. Give me another chance>" See how that goes over for you. (especially if someone gets shot in the process too.)

There cannot be any mistakes with firearms. Zero tolerance. Zero errors.

I know mistakes happen. If someone handles firearms long enough in their life, they will probably have an ND, and hopefully they are in the middle of a 40 acre farm if and when that happens. I've see the video of the cop teaching the gun course that shot himself, we've all seen Tex's video, these are pros and stuff happens, I get it.... no one is perfect, but the cavalier attitude and carelessness of those people responsible for their actions is inexcusable.

I'll still buy guns from Bill's but I'll never use the range again. I'm done.

[Paul]

I completely disagree with your thought that if you handle guns long enough you will probably have a ND. I know guys that have been hunting, shooting or carrying a gun for 70 years... They haven't managed to 'accidentally' squeeze off a round.

A statement like that is just laying the groundwork to make an excuse for your own carelessness.

[sawgrass]

I completely disagree with your thought that if you handle guns long enough you will probably have a ND. I know guys that have been hunting, shooting or carrying a gun for 70 years... They haven't managed to 'accidentally' squeeze off a round.

A statement like that is just laying the groundwork to make an excuse for your own carelessness.

Agreed. It is completely avoidable every time!

[mnarguy556]

As someone who has spoken to a fair number of Bill's employees, they're range safety record isn't the best with a few employees. One particular incident at Bill's North that is pretty outrageous, a .50 AE Desert Eagle being returned from the range was simply put into a clearing barrel and fired, without the chamber ever being check for being clear. That employee still works at BGS (in a leadership position), there is no place for that sort of irresponsibility to be tolerated at a business that should ran by competent, and safe, employees. The employees are actually told by management to transport all of the class 3(full autos) outside of their cases(unlike the other weapons that they rent) to and from the range. Seems weird that John wouldn't know about such a policy? So they're actually encouraged to leave them out of the cases and put them on the back counters. If you like the rentals, BGS is a good place, but safety can be very lacking from both patrons and employees (who often can't be bothered with the light of day). The range is also filthy at times, air filters are often unchanged and dirty (leaving an eerie, toxic, grey cloud in the range), use many bristle brooms to push lead particles in the range only forces them into the air for everyone else to breath.

[XDM45]

I completely disagree with your thought that if you handle guns long enough you will probably have a ND. I know guys that have been hunting, shooting or carrying a gun for 70 years... They haven't managed to 'accidentally' squeeze off a round.

A statement like that is just laying the groundwork to make an excuse for your own carelessness.

Well, I am pretty dang careful, so I plan to be one of those guys who has been shooting for decades without an incident.