Gun range selfies get customers banned in Texas
Top Gun Range safety officer removes customers creating a dangerous situation.
A gun range in Houston has banned two men after one of them held a gun to the other's head in an ill-conceived photo op.
Top Gun Range posted security footage of the Oct. 5 incident to Facebook on Wednesday in the hope that it "could be a valuable training tool."
One of the customers brought his own gun into the range for him and his friend to shoot, the business wrote online. The two were given a breakdown of safety protocols.
The video shows one of the men holding the gun, which reportedly was not loaded, close to his chest and near his face as he takes a selfie with his cell phone.
As the man next to him appears to grab something from the counter the man holding the firearm aims the gun at his friend's head, still while seemingly taking photos of himself.
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Suddenly, a range safety officer — who was teaching a safety class just feet away — appears and slams the man holding the gun's hand down to the counter. He "caught it, took the weapon, cleared it and escorted them off the fire line immediately," general manager of the range, Kyle Harrison, told KHOU.
"Taking pictures is OK, but you just have to do it safely," Harrison said, adding that "you have to assume every firearm is loaded. You don't want to point it at something you want to destroy, and he was pointing it at his friend's head."
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He reiterated that guns are "not toys," and should be taken seriously. That's all the time — no exceptions for a quick laugh or an extreme selfie.
The two range customers were banned from the business for life.