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Accidental shooting reported at Fort Myers gun range

Posted at 1:34 PM, Aug 29, 2016
and last updated 2016-08-30 06:20:07-04

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- A person was reportedly injured Monday at a Fort Myers gun range.

According to Fort Myers Police, an accidental shooting took place at Shoot Straight, located on Colonial Boulevard near the Edison Mall.

Police say the victim, a man, was shot by a family member.

The victim is said to have non-life threatening injuries, and was taken to Lee Memorial for treatment.

Police said no criminal charges have been filed.

The owner of Shoot Straight wouldn't comment, so Four in Your Corner went to another gun range, Fowler Firearms, to see what safety measures are in place to prevent accidental shootings like this one.

"Any time that one of the safety rules is broken, something can always happen wrong," Jon Dezendorf, the manager at Fowler Firearms, said. "It's a negligent shooting, meaning you forgot one safety rule, now something bad happened."

Dezendorf said they've never had a negligent shooting at Fowler Firearms.

Whenever someone wants to use their range, they have to read through and sign a waiver, including 21 rules to the range.

"Number one: you treat every firearm as if it's loaded," Dezendorf said.

Another big rule: always keep your firearm pointed down-range, regardless of if it's loaded or not.

"Number three: we do not put our finger on that trigger until we've acquired the target and we want to shoot the firearm," Dezendorf said.

He said it's up to the range to control the environment, but ultimately, it's up to the shooter to abide by the rules.

Dezendorf recommends gun safety classes to first time shooters before they hit the gun range.