Ever since this one armed kid was at my local range swinging his gun around and pointing it at everybody while he was reloading a what not I've wanted to start wearing body armor to the range.

There are a couple of ranges that I know of that require it now.  Don't know if someone got shot or what...if you don't have one-you have to rent one to shoot there....crazy

For both of you, where is this????

The one armed kid was at American Shooting Center on Kearny Villa Rd in San Diego

Where the range master did not allow Osama targets because they might offend someone.

You gotta be yankin me! I'd take the range master-bators pic with a digital and then make him your target next visit![:D]

If some kid at the range was pointing his gun at me, I would point mine at him and kindly yell "STOP POINTING YOUR GUN AT ME DUMBASS!!!!"

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Aimless, most vests will not stop a .308 round.  However, it is a measure of protection against a round that has been in flight for a while or already slowed down some other way.

dissipator16, I have never worn one to the range, but it's probably not a bad idea.  I've seen too many idiots like the one you're talking about.  Passing loaded pistols back and forth, etc.

I wear Level IIIA to the handgun range.  It is the highest rated soft armor and stops pretty much all handgun rounds, a couple of rifle, and shotgun (supposedly), but definitely nothing like .223 or .308.  For that sort of protection, one needs plating or hard body armor.  It is a good safety item that covers me from some threats even when I don't see them - such as some goober down the firing line.

The primary reason I wear the body armor is that the gun range is the only place where I know people have pointed loaded guns at me.  In every case, as it appears able, it was stupid/ignorant and unintentional gun handling of a new shooter or an experienced shooter distracted by some issue such as a malfunction, broken part (grip panel came off), or excitement of some sort.  For a while, I collected stories on negligental and accidental discharges that resulted in injury or death.  In many cases, the person with the gun got distracted from the foremost concern of where the muzzle was pointed and that their finger should not be on the trigger.  The distractions are amazingly simple in most cases, but are enough to cause a breech of safety.

Unintentionally pointing a gun at someone is a training/safety problem.  It should not happen and goobers who do crap like that need to be removed from the range.  Getting pissed and pointing your gun back at that person is against the law.

We're required to wear it at work on the range. We all wear the Second Chance [url=http://www.secondchance.com/prod.asp?action=prod&prodID=20]External Assualt Carrier[/url], which works quite well. It has large external pockets, an ID panel on the back, and is fairly comfortable. When I'm teaching at academies or in-service at other locations, I always wear it.

I've had one student turn around and point his weapon at me ("my gun isn't working..."), and I prompted "convinced" him that that wasn't a good idea (drew down on him and said "mine is!"). While I'm less concerned about being hit by a direct fired round, I am more concerned about being hit by a round that has hit something, like the metal plating, target holders, etc, and bounced back. I have a friend who is also another LEO, and he has a round still stuck in his arm after it went completely down range, hit an upright for the baffles, bounced back, and hit him in the arm - going all the way to the bone.

When people ask us why we wear armor, we tell them this: why does the xray technician wear a lead vest? Because they are around it all the time, and want to minimize their exposure. Same with us. Since we are on the range more, the chances of us getting hit by something is higher.

I suggest becoming friends with him so you can find out when he's going. This way you know when not to go. And it does't hurt to wear a vest, just hot.

Before I shot the FAL I built for the first time, I covered it with a GI kevlar vest "just in case" even though I knew the headspace was okay, etc.  After that, I wore it for a few shots.  But I don't normally do such things.

Every time I head out to the range I get my mom to duct tape trauma plates to my chest and back. Then I pull on the IIIa body armor and a heavy coat (with built-in air conditioning). I always wear my steel-mesh underwear and blast helmet too, which comes in handy if someone flips out and tries to chop your head off, but that's another story.