Safety Rules Overview - North Florida Defensive Carbine Club

North Florida Defensive Carbine Club
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NOTE: This overview is not intended to be an exhaustive listing of all rules. This is intended to provide new shooters with an overview of selected rules and procedures. Please refer to the rule book or a range officer for additional details.

General Information

All matches are run on a cold range. Firearms may only be loaded at the instruction of the range officer. The range officer is solely responsibility for calling a range hot or cold. All personnel must remain outside the course of fire when the range is hot unless specifically allowed by the range officer. Shooters may not handle firearms outside the course of fire unless in the safe area. Shooters may load ammunition into magazines outside the shooting area provided that they are not handling ammunition in the safe area.
Hearing and eye protection is mandatory when the range is hot.
Designated safe areas are provided for shooters to manipulate, repair, or inspect firearms in an unloaded condition only. Shooters may not handle ammunition, snap caps, dummy rounds, or magazines in the safe area. Shooters in violation of this rule will be subject to match disqualification.

Gun Handling

Breaking the 180 degree safety plane with a firearm will result in match disqualification. The 180 degree plane is defined as an imaginary plane which passes through the center of the shooter, is perpendicular to the ground, and is parallel to the back berm or designated 180 degree line.
Sweeping of any person will result in match disqualification excepting sweeping the lower extremities: (1) when holstering or drawing a pistol or (2) with a slung and unloaded rifle as confirmed by a range officer (RO).
Shooters must clear their pistols in the presence of a range officer if they intend to enter the prone position with a holstered pistol. Failure to do so will result in match disqualification.
Dropping a loaded firearm will result in match disqualification. Dropping an unloaded firearm will not incur a match disqualification provided that the firearm is retrieved by an RO.
Grounding of a firearm may only be conducted in designated containers which are specified for the type of firearm being grounded. The grounded firearm must either have the safety engaged or be completely unloaded (magazine removed, chamber emptied). Any violations of these rules will result in match disqualification.
Slinging of a rifle is allowed; however the slung rifle must be cleared in the presence of a range officer prior to being slung. The rifle is considered slung once a shooter relinquishes their grip on the rifle.
Accidental discharge of a firearm, shooting in a direction or manner deemed unsafe, shooting at a target with an improper firearm or ammunition (for example, shooting designated pistol steel targets with a rifle), discharging a firearm outside the supervision of a range officer, failure to follow the instructions of a match official, and unsportsmanlike conduct will result in match disqualification.
Moving, unloading, reloading, holstering, drawing, performing a remedial action, etc. with a finger inside the trigger guard will result in match disqualification.
Holstered handguns must have the manual safety activated (if present) or be decocked. Striker fire pistols without safeties may be holstered with the striker cocked.

Verbal Warnings
In lieu of further disciplinary action, a match official, at their discretion, may issue the following verbal warnings to shooters:

"MUZZLE" or "180" - A match official may issue this warning before stopping the shooter if the shooter’s muzzle approaches the 180 degree safety plane. If a match official issues this warning, the shooter is not required to stop but should exercise caution to avoid a 180 violation.
"FINGER" - The match official will issue this warning once before stopping the shooter if the shooter’s finger is not visibly outside the trigger guard when loading, reloading, unloading, clearing a malfunction, and moving when not actively engaging targets. If an match official issues this warning, the shooter is not required to stop but should correct his error before continuing the course of fire.
"PISTOL PRONE" - A match official may issue this command if they suspect that a shooter’s holstered pistol is loaded when the shooter is about to go prone. If a match official issues this warning, the shooter must immediately stop, return to the upright position, and either continue shooting in an upright position or present an unloaded pistol before going prone.