romma
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Here we go!! 
http://www.theday.com/re.aspx?re=ec5bd7cb-afba-44a6-9926-572fdd1ef156
Ledyard — Luanne Hespeler has instructed her three children to immediately head inside and to the basement anytime they hear gunfire while playing in the back yard.
Gunshots are not uncommon where Hespeler lives, in the Wolf Ridge Gap subdivision, a couple of miles north of the Ledyard Sportsmen's Club at 10 Whipple Road. Hespeler said she fears for the safety of her family and neighbors, not because of their proximity to a firing range but because of what she says are a lack of safety measures at the private gun club.
Several houses and businesses in Ledyard Center, where the 10 single-family homes on Wolf Ridge Gap are located, have in recent years been hit with bullets that have purportedly strayed from the club.
Now Hespeler, her husband, John, and 11 neighbors have filed a federal lawsuit against both the town and the club. Their attorney, John R. Williams, could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
Joe Trudelle, chairman of the club's board of directors, referred all questions to the club's Milford attorney, Brian W. Smith. Smith could not be reached for comment.
The residents' goal, Hespeler said, is not to shut the club down, but to make it safe.
“I don't think it's unreasonable,” Hespeler said. “Shoot whatever you want. Just be sure the bullets aren't going to land in our houses.”
Hespeler said she and others have brought their concerns to town officials and club representatives, to no avail.
“They're not going to acknowledge that there's a problem,” she said. “So therefore you're not going to get a resolution to the problem. And you know, the bottom line is, someone is going to get killed.”
Mayor Susan Mendenhall said the town is, in fact, taking the issue seriously and is reviewing it. The club, she added, is taking “an extremely proactive position” by revamping its rifle range with safety in mind.
Hespeler said the town has a responsibility to make sure residents are safe from stray bullets.
The gun club opened in 1969. The Wolf Ridge Gap subdivision was approved in December 1994.
The town's director of planning and economic development, Brian Palaia, said that when the town approved Sablewoods and Cedar Ridge, two subdivisions that sit on either side of the club, the developers were required to notify potential buyers, through postings on their site plans, of the subdivisions' proximity to the club.
Hespeler said the prevalence of bullets in her neighborhood has devalued her home.
In one incident on May 31, 2006, a bullet struck a window at Thomas Lewis' dental office at 10 Fairway Drive, causing no injuries but prompting Lewis to sue the club. A state police ballistic report was unable to determine the origin of the bullet. Bullets have also reportedly hit an oil company building nearby.
Hespeler said she is certain the bullets are all coming from the club.
The lawsuit argues that “high-power rifles” used on the membership-only firing range “have converted the plaintiffs' homes and yards into a virtual free-fire zone.” It also states that gunfire is routinely heard in homes on Wolf Ridge Gap and Colonel Ledyard Highway and that bullets from the club have struck four of the plaintiffs' homes or accessory structures.
“Plaintiffs and their children, attempting to carry on the ordinary activities of life in their yards, have experienced bullets whizzing overhead,” it states.
Hespeler said club members shoot into a mound of dirt without enclosures to prevent stray bullets from leaving the property, which assessment records lists as being 188 acres.
“You can have a very safe outside range and kept it safe,” Hespeler said. “But they have nothing down there. It's just an open field.”
http://www.theday.com/re.aspx?re=ec5bd7cb-afba-44a6-9926-572fdd1ef156
Ledyard — Luanne Hespeler has instructed her three children to immediately head inside and to the basement anytime they hear gunfire while playing in the back yard.
Gunshots are not uncommon where Hespeler lives, in the Wolf Ridge Gap subdivision, a couple of miles north of the Ledyard Sportsmen's Club at 10 Whipple Road. Hespeler said she fears for the safety of her family and neighbors, not because of their proximity to a firing range but because of what she says are a lack of safety measures at the private gun club.
Several houses and businesses in Ledyard Center, where the 10 single-family homes on Wolf Ridge Gap are located, have in recent years been hit with bullets that have purportedly strayed from the club.
Now Hespeler, her husband, John, and 11 neighbors have filed a federal lawsuit against both the town and the club. Their attorney, John R. Williams, could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
Joe Trudelle, chairman of the club's board of directors, referred all questions to the club's Milford attorney, Brian W. Smith. Smith could not be reached for comment.
The residents' goal, Hespeler said, is not to shut the club down, but to make it safe.
“I don't think it's unreasonable,” Hespeler said. “Shoot whatever you want. Just be sure the bullets aren't going to land in our houses.”
Hespeler said she and others have brought their concerns to town officials and club representatives, to no avail.
“They're not going to acknowledge that there's a problem,” she said. “So therefore you're not going to get a resolution to the problem. And you know, the bottom line is, someone is going to get killed.”
Mayor Susan Mendenhall said the town is, in fact, taking the issue seriously and is reviewing it. The club, she added, is taking “an extremely proactive position” by revamping its rifle range with safety in mind.
Hespeler said the town has a responsibility to make sure residents are safe from stray bullets.
The gun club opened in 1969. The Wolf Ridge Gap subdivision was approved in December 1994.
The town's director of planning and economic development, Brian Palaia, said that when the town approved Sablewoods and Cedar Ridge, two subdivisions that sit on either side of the club, the developers were required to notify potential buyers, through postings on their site plans, of the subdivisions' proximity to the club.
Hespeler said the prevalence of bullets in her neighborhood has devalued her home.
In one incident on May 31, 2006, a bullet struck a window at Thomas Lewis' dental office at 10 Fairway Drive, causing no injuries but prompting Lewis to sue the club. A state police ballistic report was unable to determine the origin of the bullet. Bullets have also reportedly hit an oil company building nearby.
Hespeler said she is certain the bullets are all coming from the club.
The lawsuit argues that “high-power rifles” used on the membership-only firing range “have converted the plaintiffs' homes and yards into a virtual free-fire zone.” It also states that gunfire is routinely heard in homes on Wolf Ridge Gap and Colonel Ledyard Highway and that bullets from the club have struck four of the plaintiffs' homes or accessory structures.
“Plaintiffs and their children, attempting to carry on the ordinary activities of life in their yards, have experienced bullets whizzing overhead,” it states.
Hespeler said club members shoot into a mound of dirt without enclosures to prevent stray bullets from leaving the property, which assessment records lists as being 188 acres.
“You can have a very safe outside range and kept it safe,” Hespeler said. “But they have nothing down there. It's just an open field.”
