Shooting range

A shooting range, firing range, gun range or shooting ground is a specialized facility, venue, or field designed specifically for firearm usage qualifications, training, practice, or competitions. Some shooting ranges are operated by military or law enforcement agencies, though the majority of ranges are privately owned by civilians and sporting clubs and cater mostly to recreational shooters. Each facility is typically overseen by one or more supervisory personnel, known as a Range Officer (RO), or sometimes a range master in the United States. Supervisory personnel are responsible for ensuring that all safety rules and relevant laws are followed at all times.

Shooting ranges can be indoor or outdoor, and may be restricted to certain types of firearm that can be used such as handguns or long guns, or they can specialize in certain Olympic disciplines such as trap/skeet shooting or 10 m air pistol/rifle. Most indoor ranges restrict the use of high-power calibers, rifles, or fully automatic firearms.

A shooting gallery is a recreational shooting facility with toy guns (usually very low-power airguns such as BB guns or airsoft guns, occasionally light guns or even water guns), often located within amusement parks, arcades, carnivals or fairgrounds, to provide safe casual games and entertainment for the visiting crowd by prizing customers with various dolls, toys and souvenirs as trophies.

In urban areas, most shooting ranges will be at indoor facilities. Indoor ranges offer sheltering from inclement weather conditions and can be operated around the clock under a controlled environment. Outdoor shooting ranges are typically found away from populated areas due to concerns of safety, noise pollution and soil contamination.

Indoor shooting ranges are usually constructed as standalone structures, though they may be housed in larger buildings in isolated areas such as the basement. The basic components of most indoor ranges consist of firing lines/lanes, targets and a bullet trap/"backstop" (which prevents stray shots and overpenetrations). Design considerations may vary depending on planned use but they all must address the basic requirements for operating the range safely, and that is provide ballistic protection, safety controls, proper ventilation, acoustic isolation and appropriate lighting.

Firing range walls are usually constructed of poured concrete, precast concrete or masonry blocks. The walls must be sufficiently impenetrable and provide adequate ballistic protection from stray shots and back-splatter. Floors are constructed from dense reinforced concrete with a smooth surface finish and are usually slanted slightly from up range (shooter positions) toward the backstops downrange to allow for better maintenance and cleaning.

Indoor range roofs are constructed from steel joists or precast concrete panels with a smooth flat surface that will redirect misfired bullets, facilitate maintenance, and prevent lead buildup. Roof baffles are installed at a 25–30 degree angle to protect ceilings, lighting fixtures, ventilation ducts, and any other unprotected element from stray bullets. Baffles are typically constructed of armored plate steel covered with fire-rated plywood. Deflectors are similar to baffles, but are not usually covered with plywood; they can be installed either vertically or horizontally and are used to redirect stray bullets from unprotected fixtures and elements inside the firing range such as doors, windows, and ventilation registers. Shields are constructed of plate steel and plywood.

The central controls for the firing range equipment, communication, lighting, and security are housed in control rooms or stations. The range master, who is in charge of range operation and management, operates the controls. The control station must provide the range master with an unobstructed line of sight of the firing lanes and all shooters. Control stations are usually constructed of concrete blocks with bulletproof observation windows.