Doin' my little part

[Ulmus]

I just wanted to give Michael a shout out and let him know that his podcast about practical shooting ranges inspired me to pass the idea along to a few of my polictical reps.  Gov. Charley Crist, Senator Bill Nelson, and County Commishioner Tricia Duffy.  Each letter I wrote was angled slightly differently to appeal to the perspectve poltical party and person involved. (I wrote Rep. Tom Rooney about the D.C. debacle as to owning and buying firearms.)  As I kinda expected, I only got a response from my County Commishioner.  Here's the letter and her reply.

Thanks Mr. Yagley!

I apologize for not responding last week.  I got really behind on my emails and I never did catch up fully.  I think utilizing old stores such as Publix is a fine idea for shooting ranges.  You're right, it could be a good source of revenue for the county and would create jobs.  I would think that the zoning that allows commercial/retail stores would probably be the same for a gun range that is indoors.  I will forward this suggestion to our growth management department.
Thanks again for the suggestion!
Tricia
 
Tricia Duffy, District #5
Charlotte County Commissioner
(941) 743-1300
www.charlottecountyfl.com
 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: EUGENE & CAROL YAGLEY [mailto:treka@embarqmail.com]
Sent: Sunday, May 09, 2010 11:00 PM
To: Duffy, Tricia
Subject: More shooting ranges needed.


Dear Commishioner Duffy,


   Hello.  First, I would like to thank you for all the hard work you have done for our county.  I know that economic times are tight right now and that hard decisions are being made every day to improve our couny when it comes to job creation and economic improvements while trying to keep the public services needed on a running basis.  Thank you for your efforts in this.  It is appreciated.

  With this in mind, I know it might seem a bit odd to talk about expendetures when it comes to shooting ranges in the county.  Especially when we have the ranges at Cecil Webb available to us.  And I want to say that I am gad whave them.  But I think that an expansion or an addition of indoor ranges through out the county might be a good idea.

   The National Shooting Sports Foundation recently completed a survey and found that more people are target shooting now than six months ago, and that “home and personal defense” were the main reasons they recently purchased firearms.  The poll also showed that 43 percent of respondents, which equates to nearly 98 million people, expressed some level of interest in participating in the shooting sports or hunting.

Here's the link for you to verify this.

http://nssf.org/newsroom/releases/show.cfm?PR=033110.cfm&path=2010

What I found most interesting was the following point.

"In response to a question about why Americans made their most recent firearm purchase, 40 percent of respondents said “home protection” followed by 36 percent citing “personal protection.” Target shooting (30 percent) and hunting (28 percent) came next."

To me that shows a real need for places to teach and practice practical defensive shooting skills.  The ranges at Cecil Webb are set up for the standard "Bulls-eye" target shooting which is usefull for still hunting or olympic style shooting, but not defenseive shooting.  Also the ranges at Cecil Webb are not user friendly when it comes to the new style of shooting sports such as cowboy action shooting, rimfire action shooting, or indoor defensive pistol association shooting.

All of these can bring in money to the county, and more importantly, give our people a place to learn and practive correct shooting skills safely in a controled environment if we have the places to do this.

Finding these places is not that hard.  With Publix building new stores,and other stores closing up, there are many large buildings that would be a great choice once correctly fitted with all the safety requirements needed.  The county doesn't even need to pay for it.  All the county needs to do is create a pathway for businesses to open up such businesses.  This means making sure that the zoning, insurance, and noise ordinances are in order for any given area.

With all the people in charlotte county who own firearms and,or concealed weapons permits, it would definitley help to have places to learn and practice safely.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Eugene R. Yagley III


What I think really sold her was the fact that making zoning regulations "gun range freindly" doesn't cost money.  given these economic times, that's helpfull.  And while it may seem like a little step, it does help create an atmosphere for new ranges to be created by outside parties.  If there is a code for ranges already on the papers, it makes it that much harder to block them.

Hopefully this will give other people ideas as well.

[Hazcat]

Good GREAT idea!  If'n ya don't mind can ya forward me the emails ya sent to all?   As you know I am in FL to (Pinellas County) and would like to do the same as you.  If enough emails get sent to state and local reps maybe we can get something done!

PM me if you don't have my email address.

[fightingquaker13]

Hope t works. Even in anti-counties like PB there are a lot of empty big box stores providing blight. Filling them with something profitable, that commissinors should like, politics aside Still, the problem I see isn't the antis, its the EPA. Lead cleanup and maintaince in an indoor range is high dollar. That said. There's a dead Albertson's and Circuit City very near me that could use a face lift.
FQ13

[ericire12]

Ulmus.... Ranger

[Ulmus]

Thanks guys. 

I was thinking that one of the big problems is going to be insurance with noise ordinances a potential hurdle.

I did get a e-mail from Ms. Duffy and she said this:

Gene,

Our Director of Growth Management is right here and he just told me this:

They would be permitted by special exception in the following zoning categories:

Agriculture
Agricultural Estates and
Commercial Intensive.

Also, they would be allowed in all industrial categories.

So therefore if would be allowed if a business wants to open up an indoor shooting range!  No problem!

Tricia

Interesting huh? 

 I plan on letting a few gun stores know about this and help them think about expanding. 

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