At almost any shooting range where more than one shooter is present, at some point you’ll hear someone shout a phrase like “Range is hot!” or “Going hot!” This is in contrast to, of course, “Range is cold.” In this usage, on the firing line on a specific range, “hot” and “cold” are used to inform everyone present of the current status: If the range is hot, also sometimes called “live,” anyone on the line can shoot at any time. If the range is cold, no one should be shooting or handling firearms, and it’s safe for anyone to go downrange and reset targets, examine targets, or do whatever else they need to do.
While this is information you absolutely need to know for safety, that’s not the hot and cold we’re talking about today. “Range is hot” refers to one firing line on a specific range that might be one of many ranges at a gun club, and each firing line/range will go hot and cold separately as needed throughout the day.
Instead, the hot ranges and cold ranges we’re talking about today refer to the entire facility or club. The status generally stays the same at all times and does not change throughout the day. Many—I might guess most—gun clubs are cold ranges, and you absolutely need to know if a club is hot or cold before you visit. What’s the difference?
Simple: At a hot range, holstered loaded handguns are welcome on the property, and on cold ranges, your guns must remain unloaded (and sometimes cased) until you are standing on a firing line.
Gunsite Academy proudly defines themselves as a hot range. Holstered firearms are welcome everywhere on the property, from the ranges to the roads to the clubhouse, the office buildings, the pro shop and the lunch tent. There is a clearing and maintenance station under the lunch tent and gun holders (in .45 and 9mm) in the bathrooms for safe use. On the other hand, the range closest to my home is a cold range. No uncased firearms are welcome in the clubhouse or offices, and all guns must remain unloaded until the shooter is standing in front of a target on the firing line at a specific range.
This is an important distinction that can get you kicked out of a club if you run afoul of a cold range’s rules, so I recommend that when you’re going to a club you haven’t visited before, you should call ahead and ask if holstered, loaded handguns are welcome. I don’t recommend asking “is your range hot or cold?” because whoever answers the phone could confuse it with the firing-line-specific commands we talked about in the first paragraph, and you might get inaccurate information as a result. If you can’t get an answer to that question, show up to the club for the first time with your firearms cased and unloaded. Then you can get a feel for the place, talk to someone in person and find out if they run a hot or cold club so you know for next time. Showing up at a hot range in cold condition is fine; many people do it. But showing up at a cold range in hot condition could result in a problem with club management, no matter how innocent your intent, so err on the side of caution at a club you’re not familiar with.
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