How we lose our ranges (with pictures)
- Thread starter coloradokevin
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DMK
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I agree. 100% The Off Road community is a great example.
We should pick up other peoples mess. They aren't going to do it and they aren't there to talk to about it. Not that you can convince lowlife pigs to be anything else.
If you only pick up your own garbage, you haren't really helping the problem. It's like you were never there. If you pick up the other trash too, you made things better by being there.
If you shoot there, it's your range. You are partly responsible for it. Would you leave trash somebody dumped on your front lawn just because you didn't do it?
It's not fair. But life isn't fair. Put a little extra effort in, leave the place in better shape than when you arrived and part of the solution to the problem.
SSN Vet
Member
What your showing us, so graphically, is that our society is plagued with more irresponsible, disrespectful, non-contributing, resource consuming, completely selfish losers than ever before.
And based on some of the posts I've read on THR, we have our fair share of them right here.
It's anecdotes such as this that convince me more and more every day that our culture in the U.S. is swirling down the toilet bowel, perhaps on it's last few times around before it all goes to hell.
What to do about it and still preserve some semblence of a free society, I do not know. Raise your kids the right way, try to impact others one person at a time.
or...
Whine to the government to solve our societal ills and make everything from shooting on public land to blowing your nose illegal.
There goes the free society part.
And based on some of the posts I've read on THR, we have our fair share of them right here.
It's anecdotes such as this that convince me more and more every day that our culture in the U.S. is swirling down the toilet bowel, perhaps on it's last few times around before it all goes to hell.
What to do about it and still preserve some semblence of a free society, I do not know. Raise your kids the right way, try to impact others one person at a time.
or...
Whine to the government to solve our societal ills and make everything from shooting on public land to blowing your nose illegal.
There goes the free society part.
Trisha
Member
That nobody was seriously injured at Slaughterhouse Gulch when it was open was a continual source of amazement. PCSO pulled 18 with a keg of beer and asst'd firearms late one evening not all that long ago out of there. A couple of adjacent homes have bullet holes in them from folks who still head back there and try to shoot anyway!
Whatever the mindset for those who litter, we have to set an example and gut it out at every opportunity, and clean it up. A few folks in my corner of the woods are setting up camoflaged critter-cams in public shooting areas and turning the prints over to the authorities - who are gleefully receptive to pictures that have date/time stamps and catch vehicles and individuals in the act!
Once a week three rolls of film are run through Wally-World, or KS. It's only a little dent, but every little bit helps. . .
Cleaning it up, packing it out and being an example is its own reward - even when your work is erased almost as soon as you turn your back. It comes with the territory.
How do you eat en elephant?
One bite at a time.
Whatever the mindset for those who litter, we have to set an example and gut it out at every opportunity, and clean it up. A few folks in my corner of the woods are setting up camoflaged critter-cams in public shooting areas and turning the prints over to the authorities - who are gleefully receptive to pictures that have date/time stamps and catch vehicles and individuals in the act!
Once a week three rolls of film are run through Wally-World, or KS. It's only a little dent, but every little bit helps. . .
Cleaning it up, packing it out and being an example is its own reward - even when your work is erased almost as soon as you turn your back. It comes with the territory.
How do you eat en elephant?
One bite at a time.
Good post. I agree we need to be proactive about protecting ranges. The clean-up and pics were very good.
Just a side story. There is a local range in PA here, where for decades it was surrounded by deep woods. By the 90's, housing developments with mcmansions started to creep in. And oddly, despite these people knowing they were moving in or building homes near a range- began to complain about noise. Some of them were so offended by rifle cracks in the distance they called 911 to complain, the same way you call the cops on a loud party.
Now the local residents are pushing to restrict shooting hours more and more. And everything hinges on who has more influence with the local politicians.
Another tactic they used was a local allegedly found a bullet(s) on his property (which was behind the back stops). They claimed people were shooting in the air or over the backstop... so the land owner (with the eager backing of the other locals) filed a suit, and part of the suit was a temporary restraining order. So while things were pending with the case, half of the range was closed down. And this went on for months, I think over a year before it was resolved.
So there are all types of tricks locals can use to try to shut down a range, even one that existed there for 50 years before the houses came in.
Just a side story. There is a local range in PA here, where for decades it was surrounded by deep woods. By the 90's, housing developments with mcmansions started to creep in. And oddly, despite these people knowing they were moving in or building homes near a range- began to complain about noise. Some of them were so offended by rifle cracks in the distance they called 911 to complain, the same way you call the cops on a loud party.
Now the local residents are pushing to restrict shooting hours more and more. And everything hinges on who has more influence with the local politicians.
Another tactic they used was a local allegedly found a bullet(s) on his property (which was behind the back stops). They claimed people were shooting in the air or over the backstop... so the land owner (with the eager backing of the other locals) filed a suit, and part of the suit was a temporary restraining order. So while things were pending with the case, half of the range was closed down. And this went on for months, I think over a year before it was resolved.
So there are all types of tricks locals can use to try to shut down a range, even one that existed there for 50 years before the houses came in.
OP
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coloradokevin
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buck00 said:
Sadly, this whole "not in my backyard" attitude encompasses much more than shooting sports these days.
I double majored in aviation when I was in college, and flew out of an airport that had been in continuous operation since prior to WWII. At the time that the airport was built, it was surrounded by farm land. Aerial photos of the airport from back in the 1940's-50's show that there is really nothing around it.
In the 1990's a lot of new homes were built in the area, and the residents started to complain: "It's too loud", "It isn't safe to have aircraft flying over our homes", "It is destroying our property value". But, why should they have any right to complain when they knew where they were building their home in the first place?
A similar situation existed near an outdoor concert venue in my old town... New residents show up, and then want to change the place to suit their desires (as opposed to moving somewhere that isn't next to a concert hall to begin with).
Anyway, shooting sports are not beyond the reach of new residents either, as Bullet pointed out. And, politicians are willing to listen because of the alleged "danger".
Trash is a big issue, but the same unsavory folks who trash the ranges seem to add to the problems with drunken late-night irresponsible shooting.
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coloradokevin
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Jlbraun, thanks for adding the link to your post.
As I may have mentioned, your post was one of the ones that inspired me to repeat this material for the benefit of everyone.
As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words.
As I may have mentioned, your post was one of the ones that inspired me to repeat this material for the benefit of everyone.
As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words.
blackcash88
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That reminds me of when they (probably kommiepornia liberals) tried this on an outdoor range in Prescott, AZ. They were so ignorant regarding firearms that they threw around UNFIRED rounds in their yards and were claiming they were being shot at. Needless to say, they didn't get very far with their protest. Effin' *****...
Trisha
Member
We grin whenever new folks move up here - and then show up at the door, looking nervous/concerned (it's common knowledge I'm always home and listening in; just a hop, skip and jump from Sta #4), asking about the periods of gunfire fron the north side of the valley.
"Lovely sound, isn't it!? Do you enjoy shooting too?"
More often than not, and with various reasons, they're out in a year or so.
"Lovely sound, isn't it!? Do you enjoy shooting too?"
More often than not, and with various reasons, they're out in a year or so.
Dave Pendleton
Member
Good for you, and I think you make a very VALID POINT.
My range doesn't allow such trash to accumulate. I realize not every range is "my range", but why would you not want to clean things up?
My range doesn't allow such trash to accumulate. I realize not every range is "my range", but why would you not want to clean things up?
orienteeer
Member
here's more about just doing nothing:
scroll down for photos of what used to be ...
http://www.tnbottlebill.org/index.html
scroll down for photos of what used to be ...
http://www.tnbottlebill.org/index.html
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