[Logan5]

Yesterday afternoon I swung by the range to have a poke through the shop there, and the DEP and DPS had just shut the place down.

Now, on the site (http://www.bluetrailrange.com/) it still says that it's just the 200 yard range, but I went out again today, and it's the 100 yard range as well. The only things up and running at the moment are the indoor .22 range, the shop, and I guess the snack bar.
Possibly life will go on, but if you're in CT now would be a good time to show support, as I get the impression that Mr. Lyman is feeling understandably discouraged. Rifle ranges run as businesses typically don't generate the kind of money real estate developers have available, and Blue Trail has been fighting for survival for a while I think.

[owen]

dang, that's too bad. generations of CT target shooters have competed on that range.

[ArfinGreebly]

Not really activism in the usual sense.

Moving this to General for three reasons: 0) see above, 1) more people will see it, 2) you're more likely to get more actual action if more people see it.

[Sans Authoritas]

A dark day for the people who live in the land of the the Long River.

Blue Trails was a beautiful, historic range. The only one of its type in the area. Old man Lyman used to bring out his Browning machine gun on the Fourth of July.

-Sans Authoritas

[Nitrogen]

what did they get shut down for?

[Big Duke Six]

Allegedly(?), some bullets landed on state park land and also into nearby houses.
Here's a link to a brief Hartford Courant article....

http://www.courant.com/news/local/statewire/hc-30051945.apds.m0306.bc-ct--riflmay30,0,531022.story

WALLINGFORD, Conn. - The owner of a Wallingford rifle range has shut down two shooting lanes for a week while an expert determines whether safety improvements can be made.

Homeowners in nearby Durham have complained after finding bullets embedded in homes. In the most recent incident a bullet shattered a window and a bullet was found on the floor.

State officials say a range safety expert has been hired to determine if the Blue Trail Range can be reopened.

The owner of the range doesn't believe the bullets that have struck homes are coming from the range which is more than a mile away.

[209]

Well, that's CT for you. I have seen more and more ranges "make accommodations" for the people who move closer to them. In this case, I've used that range a few times. While it wasn't my first choice in ranges due to various rules, it appeared to be situated in a manner that provided a safe backstop. I hope they prove it's a safe place and reopen.

But, in many cases, it's more a problem of folks building closer to ranges and then not wanting the noise or the perceived "loss of real estate value' they suffer because of the range. I know of several ranges that have shut down and many others that have made major changes in their operation to appease their neighbors.

There is a State Police range in Simsbury that is fighting to stay open and a gun club range near them that is having the same problem. Another gun club range in Old Lyme/Niantic area that is fighting hard to stay open. There was a gun club range in Ansonia that may or may not still be there. Another in Oxford that has made a lot of changes in hours of operation. The CT Police Academy range has changed their hours for "accommodation" reasons.

Even the National Guard isn't exempt. Stones Ranch, in Old Lyme was a great training site. Then people started building houses closer and closer. First, the Guard stopped night training involving use of blanks and pyro after 2200 hrs. Then I hear they closed the demo training site. They next restricted the movement of vehicles into the site after a certain hour. It's gotten to the point the Guard can't really train well there anymore.

As the state becomes more densely populated, I anticipate more and more outdoor ranges to close, leaving us with the need to shoot indoors which is another thing I personally don't care for. Of course, the people will go after the indoor ranges next.

[209]

As an add-on, My PD uses a another PD's range which is in a fairly rich, upper class town. The PD has been under a lot of pressure to close that range. To date, they have successfully kept it at bay.

But, there are either a bunch of stupid people or people that will lie to win. They had a town meeting and a woman who owns a house nearby the range came to request the range be closed. She claimed bullets were landing in her back yard. Her proof? She presented the town committee with a .45cal shell casing she "found in her yard". :rolleyes: Several members of the committee were actually upset by her evidence..... until someone explained parts of ammo to them and how a bullet actually worked. ;)

But, we can't shoot at that range before 9AM because the children "are on their way to school and it's dangerous". We have to stop shooting at 2PM because the children "are getting out of school" and it's likewise dangerous. Use of the range for night training is severely curtailed.

It's that way in most of the Southwest part of the state. It's creeping eastward and north.

[distra]

They have yet to determine if the bullet holes are from the range. I highly doubt it, but the media is playing it up like the shooters were taking aim at the residents homes. :banghead::cuss: I sent a note to the local TV news who made some real inflamatory comments concerning the range. :cuss: Our range in the Montville area came under attack last year. It really was not directed towards us, but the consequences of the town ordinace would have closed us down. We fought back and it was clear the ordinace would not pass. We have to stay vigilant keep the developers from moving in too close. I've heard of clubs posting big signs on their boundries to discourage new development on adjacent land. I hope the DEP gets to the bottom of problem, but I won't hold my breath. :rolleyes:

[Devonai]

I hope that this problem is debunked as easily as some cases in the past where, as 209 touched on, the evidence was either an empty case or a loaded, unfired cartridge. I believe the latter was the case in Cara Donna Provisions VS the Braintree (MA) Rod & Gun Club.

[Big Duke Six]

209-
Just a small correction on your statement...the range in Simsbury the local homeowners are trying to close up is Metacon, not the State Police range....they are right next to each other, but the H.O.'s probably didn't want to fight the state...

[kd7nqb]

Always sad to see a range get closed. Is this by any chance the range in CT that recently had a fire from the use of tracers? My family is from CT and I was born in Bridgeport so I try and keep an eye on CT happenings.

[distra]

Is this by any chance the range in CT that recently had a fire from the use of tracers?

Have not heard of that one. Ledyard was closed down a couple years ago for rifle rounds leaving the range and I'm sure if they are open yet. Metacon is one that's had its hands full dealing with developments close by, but I don't think any rounds left the range I think that was brought about by some rich lawyers who didn't like hearing the noise.

[romma]

Ledyard is not open yet, but should be soon...

Pistol range is open though.

[Shooter1234]

Saw this link elsewhere...

http://www.savebluetrailrange.org

Didn't know if it was legit so I called. They said that it is so I sent in some $$. I have a feeling they are gonna need it as the first of the frivolous lawsuits has already been filed. :cuss:

http://civilinquiry.jud.ct.gov/DispDetail.asp?DocNum=NNH-CV-08-4031580-S :banghead:

Its time that we help them out. The Lyman family is key to shooting and shooting sports and without blue trail, shooting will be impacted not just locally or regionally, but nationally. :(

[owen]

If rounds really were escaping, then the lawsuit is hardly frivolous.

[yesit'sloaded]

But is it the range owner's fault if some bonehead popped off a round at a 45 degree angle? Arrest the bonehead for reckless endangerment. Unless the range was actually dangerous with an insufficient backstop I think this is a case of going after the wrong guy.

[Smiley]

I am a lifelong CT resident. I do not have any hard evidence but every news report that I saw showed empty cases in the yards of the individuals homes that were complaining, not bullets!!!. I saw on two seperate news channels the sheep being showed what was suppossed to be bullets lodged in someones roof. Again they were showing spent casings sitting on someones roof.

I am certain that an occasional bullet actually makes its way near some house since they have been building closer and closer for the last 30 years. It is just a matter of time before the range closes. Blue Trails has had to defend itself agaisnt lawsuits and complaining neighbors for as long as I have been alive. Eventually the owners will simply tiring of spending money to defend itself against people who want nothing more than for the place to shotdown. Not to co-exist.:banghead:

[30 cal slob]

Is this by any chance the range in CT that recently had a fire from the use of tracers?

Yes, late March.

But what I don't understand about this whole mess is that there is a huge mountain between the range and the home that supposedly got hit by rounds 1.5 miles away.

I smell a dirty rat. :scrutiny:

It's my understanding that the Metacon Gun Club in Simsbury prevailed in the lawsuit to shut it down. :D

[statelineblues]

I was going to say something (very low road :fire:) about this situation, but sent some $$ to the people trying to save Blue Trail instead...

[Aguila Blanca]

I read a report on another forum that quoted the Hartford (?) newspaper, and then said the woman being interviewed by the paper was showing the reporter a complete round (case, bullet and all) and claiming that this was what had "shot" her house.

I can only hope that an attorney gets some of these twits on the stand, has them testify as to how their houses were "shot" with empty cases and complete cartridges -- and then gets them nailed for perjury. The thing is, this is being investigated by state police officers. They should be smart enough to know the difference between a cartridge, a spent case, and a bullet. Why aren't they arresting these dweebs for filing false reports?

[GlowinPontiac]

The backstops at the blue trail range seem more than adequate but if you look up at the courrigated roof above the firing line you can clearly see large holes shot through it. some holes even going through the thick steel support beams. so it seems a few jerks that dont understand or ignore gun safety are causing this trouble.

when you go to shoot they assign you a firing position and IIRC they take your id. they should just put in a few CCTV cameras and when they see bubba at position 10 horsing around shooting at a 45 degree angle or purposely putting rounds through the roof they should call the police and have these morons arrested.

on several occasions ive also seen people wildly bump firing AR's ignoring commands over the PA system to cease fire and not stopping until the range officer came storming over and escorted them to their cars and off the property.

there has been a lot of high-dollar housing being built in that area and tons of people moving in and they think that the range should operate around them even though it was there
before they were even born.

Some of my fondest memories are of going to blue trail with my father and learning how to shoot. I would hate to see them shut down they are a great group of people who own and operate the range.

[RPCVYemen]

there has been a lot of high-dollar housing being built in that area and tons of people moving in and they think that the range should operate around them even though it was there
before they were even born.

If rounds are in fact escaping from the range, then what difference does it make who got there first? If my great grandfather hunted on the land that your house is built on, does that give me the right to come over and shoot up your house?

I don't have any sympathy for people who object to sounds/smells/appearance of pre-exsiting businesses, but if the article is correct, rounds are escaping from the range.

Homeowners in nearby Durham have complained after finding bullets embedded in homes. In the most recent incident a bullet shattered a window and a bullet was found on the floor.

If rounds are escaping from the range, homeowners have every right to object and or sue the range. If rounds are not escaping from the range, then I think their complaints lack merit. But "who was there first" doesn't make any difference to my way of thinking.

To my mind, my property rights preclude you from using my property as down range bullet catch because you it's inconvenient/expensive for your to arrange to keep your bullets on your property! :)

Mike

[rodregier]

In an ideal situation a range owns/controls the full downrange possible shotfall zone, which is around 3-5 miles deep, depending on the rifle round being fired. If it does not, their only likely long-term hope is to retrofit as a "baffle" range. In a non-baffle/short template range configuration, sooner or later some expletive-deleted will launch a round over the backstop into a neighbor's property. Seen stuff like that close ranges locally that didn't have a full-depth shotfall template.

[MT GUNNY]

On Cam and Company the other day,
the owner was on the show and said the person that started the lawsuit is a developer on the other side of the mountain in front of the range.
The mountain in question is between the range and the developers house, Ranges backstop, developers backyard.
The developer said he has found bullet holes in his house and therefore
jeopardizing his soon to be developed land. according to the range owner the bullet holes in question are in the side of the developers house not the rear (Bullets don't turn corners)
The range owner said that their are areas where people go to shoot that are to sides of the developers house.

The owner of the range is in progress of building more barriers. they are also looking for support via donations through the website previously posted.
I have already sent them a few bucks.

[Logan5]

The backstops at the blue trail range seem more than adequate but if you look up at the courrigated roof above the firing line you can clearly see large holes shot through it. some holes even going through the thick steel support beams. so it seems a few jerks that dont understand or ignore gun safety are causing this trouble.

I've been shooting there for twenty years, and there were holes in the roof when I started. AD's happen, and the range has been there a long, long time.

The range has a proper berm of adequate height, and shooters are physically prevented from elevating rifles enough to clear it, because last time the management nailed up sheets of plywood between the roof of the covered firing line and a little above waist height. The firing line itself is at approximately 300 feet above sea level. Down range, there is about a kilometer of resevoir, then the terrain rises very steeply in what is basically a 700 foot cliff. The nearest road is about a mile beyond the crest, back down around 350 feet elevation.

Having seen the view downrange, it's not clear to me how rounds would be landing where they supposedly are. It is very evident, however, that houses on top of the ridge, looking down over the resevoir, without any annoying sound of rifle fire, might be worth a lot of money.

[Aguila Blanca]

With any luck, this link will take you to a Mapquest view of the range location. After you look at the map, you can switch over to an aerial photo view to see the terrain.

http://www.mapquest.com/maps/Blue+Trail+Range:Durham+CT/#a/search/l:::Durham:CT::US:41.481701:-72.681702:city:/m::10:41.468781:-72.715043:0:0:/so:Blue+Trail+Range:::d::25:::::/e

[Blaster3094]

Blue Trail Range Update.

Numerous improvements have been implemented at the range. A shooting range designer and Professional Engineer who is considered the industry leader has designed and overseen this project. For the record the P.E. does not believe that any of the alleged errant shots originated at Blue Trail Range. This opinion is also shared by the former head of the CT State Police's Forensic Unit.

Improvements include a significant increase in the elevation of all berms (now 24 feet). Design and construction of a baffle system that prevents both seeing over any berm and prevention of any round that impacts the baffles from leaving the range property. Access to the range is now controled by 900+ feet of chain link fencing and gates along North Branford Road.


There is public hearing scheduled for Tuesday July 22nd @ 6PM at the Durham Town Hall. Attorneys for the range will be present and are expected to announce the re-opening of the covered outdoor range.

At this time the 200 yard uncovered range has been assigned a lower priority and will be addressed at a later date. Currently no improvements have been implemented on this range.

As expected the local liberal anti-gun media has been on this story like flies on crap. The bias has been pathetic and even has resorted to the Hartford Courant's editorial board writing pure fiction and presenting it as fact.


http://www.courant.com/news/opinion/editorials/hc-bluetrail.artjul08,0,101649.story

Mickey Mouse Antics

July 8, 2008

Some startling news: Mickey Mouse showed up at the Blue Trail Range & Gun Store in Wallingford on Memorial Day weekend for a little target practice. We know this because Mickey's name appears in Blue Trail's sign-in book.

Pretty goofy, huh?

It might even be funny. Unless you happen to live within 1 1/2 miles of the shooting range and a stray bullet — probably one from the Blue Trail range — shattered your kitchen window that weekend.

Which is exactly what happened.

In the wake of the Memorial Day incident, Blue Trail owner David Lyman voluntarily agreed to shut down its 100- and 200-yard shooting ranges, which back up against the state park and, beyond, Tri-Mountain Road. During a meeting last month with The Courant's editorial board, Mr. Lyman's lawyers said he is also installing safety enhancements at Blue Trail, including a bigger backdrop berm, better baffles and some chain-link fencing.

These improvements are long overdue. But even the best physical improvements will mean little if the culture of safety at Blue Trails is inadequate.

State police have been investigating the bullet incident for more than a month. Perhaps because of Blue Trail's poor record-keeping, troopers may never be able to identify "Mickey Mouse" or the gun that sent a bullet through a kitchen window in Durham.

Yet the fact that shooters at Blue Trail used such an outrageously fictional name suggests Mr. Lyman and his staff weren't taking the sign-in requirement seriously or weren't paying attention. It also indicates that customers at Blue Trail were reasonably sure they wouldn't be held accountable.

Such slipshod management practices at a shooting range pose a clear and serious danger to the safety of Durham residents and people using Tri-Mountain State Park. Attorney General Richard Blumenthal should pursue a civil action shutting down Blue Trail's 100- and 200-yard ranges and setting strict limits for its future operation.

For the Record Blue Trail Range does not have a log book, they use range tickets. There is no record of any Mickey Mouse purchasing range time on Memorial Day or any other day for that matter. The Courant is the country's oldest newspaper in continuous publication. No wonder the print media is dying when they print bovine excrement like this.

There are other gun clubs and ranges in the area as well as documented insistences of illegal shooting in the adjoining wooded areas. However the media has seen fit to assign all blame to BTR and has had them in their sights since this fiasco surfaced.

All this has been driven by one unscrupulous resident who happens to be a land developer who lives on the other side of the ridge behind that range. He was pictured on WTNH TV holding what he claimed was a recovered round that came from the range and said, "I would like to see the hunter that fired this round".

http://img111.imageshack.us/img111/1267/cannonroundrangeli2.th.jpg

One last point. The range was not shut down by any State agency or any authority. Dave Lyman closed the outdoor ranges himself in a purely defensive move as advised by attorneys. That decision was made to prevent being slapped with an injunction and to implement the improvements.

http://www.savebluetrailrange.org/

[Logan5]

I'm amazed to read such nasty press coverage. Amazed and angered at that kind of absurdly ignorant attack... The Courant does itself no favors with this kind of stuff, the article reminds me of the way I did long division before anyone knew I was dyslexic.
At any rate, I would hope that CT shooters continue to stay up to date on this one. I started out in the Blue Trail Range Jr. rifle program, and it makes me want to vomit, thinking that my children might not have the same opportunities because some real estate developer wants to get tricky. I'm donating all the money I can spare and buying t-shirts. Blue Trail is a great range with a fantastic Jr. marksmanship program that does more than anyplace else I can think of to introduce young people to the shooting sports. It deserves our support.

[KiltedClaymore]

counter sue for libel.

[KiltedClaymore]

and he's holding a freaking cannon shell!!! i saw one like it fired from a old afgahn field gun the other day.

[Shooter1234]

Apparently the rifle range is opening tomorrow!

http://www.ct.gov/dep/cwp/view.asp?Q=421222&A=2711
www.bluetrailrange.com

Woohoo!

See you there!

[scrat]

not good not good at all need to make a stand

[statelineblues]

Great news!

Hope the 200-yard range will be open soon!

[LKB3rd]

I shoot at Blue Trail, and haven't been there since it re-opened. I may take a ride out there this weekend with my Dad.

Following the news on this, there has been a lot of total BS in the local papers, including the previously mentioned accounts from people like the woman holding unfired rounds claiming they hit her house over a mile away. The "Mickey Mouse" sign in thing is a blatant lie to anyone who has been there. They require driver's license, and they take down your license id number, and give you a range ticket with this number on that too. No sign in. The Mickey Mouse story is a lie fed to a newspaper all too willing to lap up anything negative about the range and print it without fact checking.

The way the range is set up, you can't sit at a bench and fire over the berm. You can barely sit up and fire offhand, because they have pieces of plywood that force you to duck down to fire under. The most comfortable option is to fire off of one of the carpet covered wooden rests, which are at every table.

There is one guy who claims that his house was hit more than once, and he is "sure" ( I personally think he is either lying or someone hates him and has been shooting his house from the woods adjacent to his house) that they came from Blue Trail. How he is so sure, and how the media picks this up and treats it like fact is beyond me.

One article that I read in the New Haven Register about it started out like this, paraphrased from memory:
"Ah yes, the beautiful scenery in Durham near the North Branford line. Mr. so and so lives next to the state land. When he steps outside does he hear the birds, and the wind in the trees? NO! He hears gunfire from the Blue Trail Range."
That was the opening paragraph, on the front page, with the rest continued on another page. Right there, anyone with a brain should be asking, "so is this about safety, or is it about noise?" Later in the article they talked about taking a walk in the woods, and said that no one does it because anyone who did (and I ***** you not they said this) "will surely come out dead." First of all, dead people don't come out of anywhere they were walking, and secondly, ... well I don't think I have to explain to you all why that is ridiculous. It is clearly an article from start to finish intending to bias the reader against the "evil gun range."

My feeling is that it is about noise, and greedy developers who want to shut down a legal business who has been there for many years more than they have been wanting to up the price of the homes within earshot. Do people move near an airport, then sue to shut down the airport because of noise? No, because the newspapers and average citizens haven't been convinced that airplanes are evil scary things that will cause toddlers to die and the streets to run with blood.

[Aguila Blanca]

My feeling is that it is about noise, and greedy developers who want to shut down a legal business who has been there for many years more than they have been wanting to up the price of the homes within earshot. Do people move near an airport, then sue to shut down the airport because of noise? No, because the newspapers and average citizens haven't been convinced that airplanes are evil scary things that will cause toddlers to die and the streets to run with blood.
Obviously, you don't read newspaper articles about airports like you do articles about shooting ranges. People are notorious for buying new homes directly under the glide path for long-existing airports, and then suing to shut down the airport because they don't want to hear airplanes, and they're afraid a plane might hit the house.

Hint: If you don't want a plane to hit your house, don't buy a house on the end of the runway.

[BullpupBen]

Well I was just there a few weeks ago and the place seems to be doing alright.

They arent allowing any rifles, not even at the "outdoor pistol range" which is like 25 feet or so. They wouldnt even let me use my .22!

However, the trap range is fine and I did have a good time busting clays that day.

[LKB3rd]

Obviously, you don't read newspaper articles about airports like you do articles about shooting ranges. People are notorious for buying new homes directly under the glide path for long-existing airports, and then suing to shut down the airport because they don't want to hear airplanes, and they're afraid a plane might hit the house.
I stand corrected on that point. The local airport here has never had such lawsuits that I am aware of. Didn't realize that it happened elsewhere.
I'd imagine they didn't take un-flown airplanes and pose with them on tv, claiming they had crashed in their front yard though! :P Or claim that anyone taking a walk near their house would surely arrive back home dead, after their walk, from an airplane hitting them.
They arent allowing any rifles, not even at the "outdoor pistol range" which is like 25 feet or so. They wouldnt even let me use my .22!
I thought they had opened back up the 100 yard rifle range.

[Logan5]

It's been a whilke since I took property law, but I'd think that the way it would work would be that you would have a cause of action against the seller of the house for failing to disclose that you could hear shooting at the range from the house, or else you'd be out of luck because you knew all about it when you bought there.
Projectiles actually (or maybe not really) hitting your house is a horse of a different color however. Hence all these people finding cannon balls and toilets, and junk cars, and parts of battleships that done been shotted all over their property by that awful range...