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Gun club in crosshairs
PUC plans for Lake Merced that could close facility have set off hot debate between members, neighbors
Marisa Lagos, Chronicle Staff Writer
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday, the shots start ringing out at 11 a.m. from the 80-year-old Pacific Rod and Gun Club on the shores of San Francisco's Lake Merced, sending loud booms across the western half of the city.
Club members and other shooters trickle in all afternoon, unloading their shotguns and dogs, donning their hunting vests and making their way up a set of rickety stairs to the clubhouse. There, they plunk down their fees - $8 per 25-shot round for nonmembers and $4 for members - and head out to the trap and skeet fields. In between rounds, they sip coffee and smoke stogies in the clubhouse, which is lined with pictures and awards dating back to 1934 when the club moved into the 13-acre city-owned facility. The clubhouse hasn't changed much over the last seven decades, and neither have some of its members.
"Hardly anyone ever quits the club - they just die," said Murray Baxter, 76, who has been shooting there for 37 years. "It's a social event. I've come out here many times before and not shot at all."
Baxter, a Pacifica resident, is one of about 300 members worried about losing access to their favorite pastime as the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission develops a plan aimed at improving the health of the Lake Merced watershed and increasing recreational opportunities at the long-neglected lake. The gun club is the only recreational activity at risk of being closed as part of the possible changes.
Other issues are being considered as part of the plan for the site at Lake Merced, which is actually a series of four lakes. There's the decrepit old boathouse and rotting piers; the question of boating and fishing access; the need to protect birds and other wildlife; and the health of the lake, which had been in decline until the PUC started a series of programs to raise water levels a few years ago.
But the prospect of shutting the gun club has some people steaming mad and others celebrating. In a city that voted three years ago to ban handguns entirely, many residents may be surprised that a gun club exists - and some of its critics are hoping to seize on the anti-firearm sentiment.
Relic of different time
Felicia Zeiger, who lives in Merced Heights, has made the club a crusade for years. She says she can't garden on weekends because of the noise, and is often forced to drive to the other side of the city to walk her dog, who is terrified by the cacophony.
"When the club was originally built ... there was nothing but a couple of farms and sand dunes, and now there are residents all around," she said. "There are maybe 500 people who go out there and shoot and thousands who have to suffer the noise. It doesn't make sense anymore."
Club members disagree, pointing out that the nearest skeet shooting is in Martinez, and arguing that they have been good neighbors. The club rents out its facilities to community groups - there are several other buildings in addition to the clubhouse. It also offers its parking lots for use when there are golf tournaments nearby, keeps its restrooms open to the public at all times, and hosts public activities such as an Easter egg hunt.
They aren't the only people firing off guns in the area, either: the San Francisco Police Department has a shooting range just down the street that will be staying put regardless of what the PUC decides.
The Pacific Rod and Gun Club is a relic of a San Francisco that has all but disappeared. It's not really a rod club at all - the fishing aspect died long ago - and it's admittedly an old boys club, although women shoot there, too, and have since its inception. Many of the members grew up there and have stayed regulars for decades. Black-and-white photos on the walls dating back to the '30s show women in culottes taking aim at clay targets as crowds of men look on, and many club members still bring in their kids, both boys and girls, to learn how to shoot.
"We're proud of the club. ... There's a lot going on here besides shooting," said Gene Bugatto, 48, who's been coming to the club since he was 6 years old. "We'd like to stay. There's good camaraderie. We've attended meetings and tried to voice our case, but they pretty much have their mind set about what they want to do."
Gun safety classes
City officials insist, however, that the gun club's demise is not a foregone conclusion.
"We're not doing this in order to grind one ax or another, the question is what does the community want in terms of the highest and best purposes for this priceless resource," said David Behar, the PUC's Lake Merced program manager. "Everyone agrees the lake (in general) has been underutilized and neglected, the facilities are in terrible condition, and it's a little bit of an embarrassment to the city."
Behar points out that the gun club has been paying very little in rent - $4,000 a month since 1998. Before that, it was only $300 a month, and Behar estimated the fair market value at closer to $8,000 a month.
Club members say they do a public service, offering inexpensive hunter safety courses and other gun training. Last month they were honored by state Assemblywoman Fiona Ma with a certificate of recognition "for outstanding community service and exemplary leadership in providing gun safety training."
More than that, though, members say that shooting skeet is their sport, their hobby. And they're not ready to lose it.
"It's just like golf, only we use guns instead of golf clubs," Baxter said. "I don't know what I'd do if I lost this place - and that goes for most of these guys."
Get involved
There is a community meeting on April 22 at the Sunset Recreation Center, 2201 Lawton St. (at 28th Avenue), at 6 p.m.
For more information, visit www.lmtf.org or e-mail [email protected].
E-mail Marisa Lagos at [email protected].
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/20/BA5MVK63E.DTL
PUC plans for Lake Merced that could close facility have set off hot debate between members, neighbors
Marisa Lagos, Chronicle Staff Writer
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday, the shots start ringing out at 11 a.m. from the 80-year-old Pacific Rod and Gun Club on the shores of San Francisco's Lake Merced, sending loud booms across the western half of the city.
Club members and other shooters trickle in all afternoon, unloading their shotguns and dogs, donning their hunting vests and making their way up a set of rickety stairs to the clubhouse. There, they plunk down their fees - $8 per 25-shot round for nonmembers and $4 for members - and head out to the trap and skeet fields. In between rounds, they sip coffee and smoke stogies in the clubhouse, which is lined with pictures and awards dating back to 1934 when the club moved into the 13-acre city-owned facility. The clubhouse hasn't changed much over the last seven decades, and neither have some of its members.
"Hardly anyone ever quits the club - they just die," said Murray Baxter, 76, who has been shooting there for 37 years. "It's a social event. I've come out here many times before and not shot at all."
Baxter, a Pacifica resident, is one of about 300 members worried about losing access to their favorite pastime as the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission develops a plan aimed at improving the health of the Lake Merced watershed and increasing recreational opportunities at the long-neglected lake. The gun club is the only recreational activity at risk of being closed as part of the possible changes.
Other issues are being considered as part of the plan for the site at Lake Merced, which is actually a series of four lakes. There's the decrepit old boathouse and rotting piers; the question of boating and fishing access; the need to protect birds and other wildlife; and the health of the lake, which had been in decline until the PUC started a series of programs to raise water levels a few years ago.
But the prospect of shutting the gun club has some people steaming mad and others celebrating. In a city that voted three years ago to ban handguns entirely, many residents may be surprised that a gun club exists - and some of its critics are hoping to seize on the anti-firearm sentiment.
Relic of different time
Felicia Zeiger, who lives in Merced Heights, has made the club a crusade for years. She says she can't garden on weekends because of the noise, and is often forced to drive to the other side of the city to walk her dog, who is terrified by the cacophony.
"When the club was originally built ... there was nothing but a couple of farms and sand dunes, and now there are residents all around," she said. "There are maybe 500 people who go out there and shoot and thousands who have to suffer the noise. It doesn't make sense anymore."
Club members disagree, pointing out that the nearest skeet shooting is in Martinez, and arguing that they have been good neighbors. The club rents out its facilities to community groups - there are several other buildings in addition to the clubhouse. It also offers its parking lots for use when there are golf tournaments nearby, keeps its restrooms open to the public at all times, and hosts public activities such as an Easter egg hunt.
They aren't the only people firing off guns in the area, either: the San Francisco Police Department has a shooting range just down the street that will be staying put regardless of what the PUC decides.
The Pacific Rod and Gun Club is a relic of a San Francisco that has all but disappeared. It's not really a rod club at all - the fishing aspect died long ago - and it's admittedly an old boys club, although women shoot there, too, and have since its inception. Many of the members grew up there and have stayed regulars for decades. Black-and-white photos on the walls dating back to the '30s show women in culottes taking aim at clay targets as crowds of men look on, and many club members still bring in their kids, both boys and girls, to learn how to shoot.
"We're proud of the club. ... There's a lot going on here besides shooting," said Gene Bugatto, 48, who's been coming to the club since he was 6 years old. "We'd like to stay. There's good camaraderie. We've attended meetings and tried to voice our case, but they pretty much have their mind set about what they want to do."
Gun safety classes
City officials insist, however, that the gun club's demise is not a foregone conclusion.
"We're not doing this in order to grind one ax or another, the question is what does the community want in terms of the highest and best purposes for this priceless resource," said David Behar, the PUC's Lake Merced program manager. "Everyone agrees the lake (in general) has been underutilized and neglected, the facilities are in terrible condition, and it's a little bit of an embarrassment to the city."
Behar points out that the gun club has been paying very little in rent - $4,000 a month since 1998. Before that, it was only $300 a month, and Behar estimated the fair market value at closer to $8,000 a month.
Club members say they do a public service, offering inexpensive hunter safety courses and other gun training. Last month they were honored by state Assemblywoman Fiona Ma with a certificate of recognition "for outstanding community service and exemplary leadership in providing gun safety training."
More than that, though, members say that shooting skeet is their sport, their hobby. And they're not ready to lose it.
"It's just like golf, only we use guns instead of golf clubs," Baxter said. "I don't know what I'd do if I lost this place - and that goes for most of these guys."
Get involved
There is a community meeting on April 22 at the Sunset Recreation Center, 2201 Lawton St. (at 28th Avenue), at 6 p.m.
For more information, visit www.lmtf.org or e-mail [email protected].
E-mail Marisa Lagos at [email protected].
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/20/BA5MVK63E.DTL
