My Range Was Ordered Closed Today

[Onward Allusion]

Heh, was there ANY forensic review performed? Something doesn't sound right.

 

[308win]

Based on the OP it sounds to me like the sheriff's investigation left a lot to be desired. If the investigation was inconclusive what basis would the hearing officer have to order the range to close unless the commissioners are anti-2A?

 

[12many]

It is also odd that you are hearing about it after the fact. Usually, you want the membership at the hearings and contacting the commissioners and sheriff, if someone knows the sherrif. Was this all done and decided in secret?

 

[Deer_Freak]

You really don't know what is causing a given range to close. The management might be ready to turn the range into a subdivision. I raise hay for racing stables. I do alright but I could make a small fortune by subdividing my property. The day I decide to sell off my land I will make more than I have all my life.

Ranges here in NC are facing the same issues. People are shooting their own house then they call 911 and complain about stray bullets. One idiot tried to claim his home was hit by birdshot from close to a mile away.

 

[B&C_C]

Kinda late - but Rondog - I've read a warning about ranges in NYC or suburbs there of. A year ago I was planning a visit & was checking the laws. LEO's were known to be snooping at the range. I believe one incident involved a confiscation that was disputed. Also, even on the NRA web site, are cases they were fighting on Pistols in Airline luggage being confiscated by port authority in NYC. Nixed that trip!

 

[B&C_C]

I've been to that range/club outside KC. Fenced, takes a code to open the gate. Mostly farm land around it and Flood berms for when the Missouri River backs up the Kansas River.
Doubt a developer would try to move in. A Nice shooting club though.

 

[SunnySlopes]

They have stated that it is possible that this shot originated from our range.

There's something fishy going on here. Maybe.

It's possible that the round came from the range? It's also possible the round came from inside the house.

Anything is possible. The range owners could easily fight this. JMO.

 

[vtail]

This same thing has been going on with small airports for years.

Airport has been "in the country" for years, subdivisions spring up all around the airport, suddenly, people complain about the noise and the "danger to the children", and all of a sudden, they want the airport shut down.

 

[Deltaboy1984]

My favorite range had a land owner behind him sell out and the built a subdivision so the new neighbors started complaining and now we can't shoot there before 9am. So I quit going cause I liked shooting at 7 am in June ,July,and August and being home by 9 am since it is an outdoor range. I still go to the gun shop.

 

[Hardtarget]

This sort of news is worrisome to say the least! The club I shoot with has been there since 1949. the last few years have seen more and more homes getting closer and closer...like most other ranges.

We get a news letter every month with an encouragement to "get to the range! Let the new neighbors hear us USE the range!" We want them to know we're active and remind them that shooting is loud.

Even in the best of times four range trips in a year are about all I can put together. Makes me sick to think of it being closed.

Mark

 

[kendak]

I feel for you folks that have to shoot on a "range or club" ...here in Miss. there are thousands of acres of frarmland & woods that we can shoot on all day anytime except when turnrows are muddy [don't want to rut them up & make owner mad] ...grudge & drainage ditches with plenty of snakes, turtles, coydogs & wild pigs...I also set up a 1000yrd. range on the edge of a friends rice field with benches to test loads...cost me $1 per year rent...5mi from nearest road or home so no one evan knows you're there...good luck & take care...Hardtarget "4 trips a year!!!" man I shoot 5 or 6 days a week come visit me in the MS. delta !!!!!!!!!!

 

[Powder burn]

I used to belong to the Project 2000 shooting range in El Cajon CA. it was built in the back of a rock quarry. They blasted rock every day at around 4:30 the rock crushers made quite the racket. The range had been established for years when some ding dongs with more money than sense built custom homes at the top of the cliffs about 150 yards up. Due to claims that shots were fired at the house and we were too noisy we has to end all outdoor rifle shooting except black powder. and fully enclose the rifle and pistol range.
I swear the words stupid and liberal are synonymous. It seems to run rampant in CA. i used to be a RO there but working the indoor range was too stressful. I was supposed to police the ceiling and look for new bullet holes in the steel plates angled from the ceiling, and exposed drywall, and assess a fine to the shooter on that lane. I am not asking a bad shot with a gun to cough up cash. It always amazed me how someone could be such a bad shot as to hit the ceiling.Anyway I saw which way the winds were blowing and left CA almost 9 years ago. I can have a CC and fun toys now I hope it falls into the sea.

 

[JRH6856]

Is it just me or does that chain link fence seem really high

It might be just a bit high, but 4 miles of chain-link fence is not cheap at any price.

 

[Field Tester]

Powder Burn,

The even funnier thing about P2K is that the deer in the mountain backstop don't seem to mind the noise yet the residents do. I've shot trap there a few times and have seen as many as 8 deer a few hundred yards up not caring about the noise from the shotguns. Made me chuckle.

 

[PavePusher]

We had a problem with bullets finding their way from Tulsa Gun Club onto the tarmac at the Air National Guard's runway. There was a huge fuss made about it and the pistol range was closed down temporarily. The Tulsa County Sheriffs dept leased the pistol range and had their own private area where they trained right beside ours. Their portion didn't get shutdown b/c they had to train and they are law enforcement so they are more safe when it comes to handling firearms than regular citizens.

To say the least we were furious at whoever was shooting over the berm that is only 50 yds from the line. The pistol range was closed for a couple of months and lo and behold the National Guard found more projectiles on their tarmac. Upon further inspection there were many holes shot in the metal roof above the firing line. Also its not like the roofline hangs out more than 2 or 3 ft past the front of the line so someone had to be deliberately shooting holes in it. So we carried our findings and complaints to club management and the pistol range was re opened. We also wrote several nasty letters to TCSO regarding their unsafe shooting habits and lack of respect for private property.

As sad as it is the Sheriffs had access to the range when it was closed to the public as well as the Boy Scouts. The only time we have had snacks and drinks stolen from the snack bar (which is honor system regulated) was when the sheriffs were there unsupervised. Never when the regular members were there and never when the boy scouts were there.

Time to set up some security cameras (and don't tell the LEO's).

 

[PavePusher]

I'm so pissed I could pee fire!

I think shooting sports are beginning to die a slow death in this country, for a variety of reasons. One of these reasons is the fact that more and more shooting locations are disappearing, often due to increased legal/political pressure. I've watched this trend develop for the past couple of decades, and adjusted my shooting habits as required: one public range closes, move to another public range. When that range closes, move to national forest land, then move again when that area gets subjected to a closure order... and so on

But, I felt that I'd finally solved that problem a few years ago after I joined a well-established private shooting club out in the sticks, not too far from the Denver metro area. For the past few years I've been a member of the Wildlife Hunters Association of Colorado, and enjoyed shooting out to 600 yards on a regular basis... until today.

Now, thanks to an unproven accusation from a person who lives a couple of miles from the range, the range is no more. I received this sad e-mail from one of the range directors tonight (this is just a portion of it for public viewing):





Once again I find myself without a place that I can count on for shooting. I hope this situation somehow resolves itself, but the range owners are already planning to disperse the dues that have been collected from members for the remainder of the year. It kind of sounds like this one is a done deal.

How do we possibly keep shooting in the future if county regulations make it damn near impossible to operate a range? My friend looked through some Adams County regulations on ranges tonight, and said that they are requiring: 6 ft perimeter fences, signs every 100 yards, a ten foot berm "encircling" the property, and an on-site NRA certified instructor whenever the range is in operation. Yeah, all of that's real possible... especially for a 600 yard rifle range. Essentially, counties are regulating ranges out of business, and the problem found its way to my range today.

"a couple miles away"? Sounds like your org. needs to have the evidence produced, determine the caliber, and see if it's even physically possible for it to get that far. Proceed from that data point.

 

[coloradokevin]

Thanks for the words of support, everyone. As for the "back story" on this one, I simply don't know what it is. I didn't know anything was even in the works until I received the "closure" e-mail last night. I shot there on Monday with a couple of friends, and about ten other folks were at the range that day. If there was any hint that the club was going to be closed 3 days later, no one there knew anything about it.

I sent an e-mail to the club owner trying to get some additional information. I was aware of the allegation of a shot leaving the range and striking a house 2 miles away, but that allegation originated about a year ago (as far as I knew the whole thing was a done deal -- and it sounded as if that was the case when I talked to the club owners/organizers since that time).

Also, it sounds like the range wasn't directly shut down due to that allegation. Rather, it sounds like that someone complained (whether or not it was our fault), and then the county shut the range down on the basis of the fact that it doesn't have the OBVIOUSLY unaffordable perimeter fencing installed. Granted, fences don't stop bullets, and the only thing I ever saw downrange that was at risk was a horse that managed to get over the berm from an adjacent property -- at which time all shooting was immediately stopped, and the horse was directed home by the members who were shooting that day.

This same thing has been going on with small airports for years.

Airport has been "in the country" for years, subdivisions spring up all around the airport, suddenly, people complain about the noise and the "danger to the children", and all of a sudden, they want the airport shut down.

Don't remind me! I'm also a pilot, and get heartburn thinking about the death of general aviation as well. That's a topic I discuss on some other forums when I'm not crying about the death of recreational shooting around here! I take it you're a Bonanza guy?

 

[Roadkill]

I'm the maintenance guy at a small local rock quarry range. Hours are from 0900 until dark. Summertime I go to the range early to cut grass, weedeat, ect before it heats up. Several times I've arrived at 0700 and shooters would be set up and going. Also several times I've sent them home after being less than polite about why. Alabama has a range protection law but you cannot shoot before 0900. Yes it gets hot, and yes you have stuff to do later, and yes its stupid, and yes whatever but you knew it when you became a member (which won't be for long by the way) and go home. So my point is members can be stupid. Some even seem to work at it.

 

[Pilot]

Is this range near Watkins? I used to keep my plane at Front Range airport, and used to see signs for it out that way. I may be thinking of the Aurora club though. I hope things work out for you. Colorado is seeing dark days for gun rights at this time, but I believe ultimately gun rights will prevail.

 

[x_wrench]

that burns my backside. people move into an area, knowing full well there is a shooting range that has been there for decades. they KNOW they are DOWNRANGE from it, and then are totally surprised when a round, that MAY OR MAY NOT have even come from the range, hits their home. i certainly understand the possible implications of this. but realistically, in my opinion, the ZONING BOARD is clearly at fault here. they should not have allowed any homes to be built downrange from the club! and that goes for every established club in the country. firearms, WERE KEY in this countries founding. to throw shooting sports out the window so people can have a fancy house downrange (that will result in extra tax income for the county, which is the real issue here), is not right. why is the presumption of innocence NOT given to the range in a case like this. if the home owner wants to close the range, should not the burden of proof be on his shoulders?

 

[SunnySlopes]

on the basis of the fact that it doesn't have the OBVIOUSLY unaffordable perimeter fencing installed

Ok. That's different. A complaint was filed. The complaint was investigated. The above violation was discovered.

Sorry dude. You guys are out of luck unless the membership wants to fork over the money for a fence that meets local codes.

 

[Ed Ames]

Doesn't that depend on which came first? (The range or the code.)

 

[MErl]

Ok. That's different. A complaint was filed. The complaint was investigated. The above violation was discovered.

Sorry dude. You guys are out of luck unless the membership wants to fork over the money for a fence that meets local codes.

If you spend the money to meet this insane code they'll add another requirement. Even if existing ranges got grandfathered eventually you'll need to upgrade something. A new building, some earthwork, something will require a permit eventually and at that time you'll have to meet current codes.

 

[buck460XVR]

Seems to me there was little effort made by the club to inform the members of a problem. My question would be why? Why weren't the club members informed of the hearings so they could attend? Why weren't the members informed earlier about the possibility of closure due to the process? This statement also seems to be quite contradictory.....

If it did in fact come from our range, it would have been caused by someone who had an accidental discharge or miscalculated his/her aim, sending a projectile over the back berm. We all know the safety rules and helped each other enforce them; unfortunately our neighbor’s misconception of ballistic trajectories had negative implications on the life of our club

In one sentence it states how it could have been a round that escaped the berm and in the next sentence blames the neighbor. Even tho the Sheriff's Dept claims it is a distinct possibility the round came from the club grounds.

We as shooters need to worry about how our shooting affects the safety of others. Unfortunately, not everyone that shoots makes this their priority....we read about it all the time on this forum.....and accidents happen. With the increase of new and inexperienced shooters and the increase in rounds shot by experienced shooters at ranges nowadays, the incidence of something like this has multiplied, and not just because of the anti's.


How many members does the organization have? Seeing as how they own a whole section of land containing 640 acres with improvements, the investment of $500,000 to make the range legal and to continue does not seem outrageous unless there are already other financial problems or there are bigger financial gains if the place closes.

 

[jcwit]

One of the local private ranges I belong to recently installed overhead berms, thus making it impossible for any rounds going over the berm from the firing line. Fairly simple solution and not overly expensive.