Acckkk!!! My one other gun club might be in trouble!! Arggh!!

[Pathfinder]

Is there an instance of houses "hit" every year? Seems the range is open a lot more than hits on a few houses. But the anti's will always blame the range first. Not some hunter who takes a bad shot.

Or a resident who wants the range shut down who sneaks over and lets off a few.

The trap range is pointing directly at a house, maybe 200 yards away? can't tell about the others.

Berms, berms and more berms - good idea. The contour lines on a map are dependent on the scale. Googlemaps up close they may be only 5' increments, but it doesn't say and I wasn't able to figure it out from the contours.

Any way to control ricochets would be good too. Sad situation.

[billt]

In the 12 years I've lived where I'm at, 2 large gun clubs have been closed down by housing encroachment. The Phoenix Trap & Skeet Club was there since the early 60's, and hosted the Spring Grand for years. It is the second largest ATA Trap Shoot in the country. They had a trap line one mile long. More recently the Peoria Sportsmans Club was shut down for much the same, housing owners complaining to the city.

The home owners will win, every time, all the time. First they'll come at you with noise. If that doesn't work they'll come after you with safety. If that doesn't work, they'll come back with lead contamination. They'll produce all kinds of lawyers and experts. If that doesn't work, they'll produce whining mothers and housewives, complaining how their children can't sleep because of all the noise, and how it is effecting their school work. On the other side of the isle you guys will be sitting in your tactical pants, and camo tee shirts from Cabela's. The media will be there! I don't need to tell you what the outcome will be. I've seen it too many times, and it stinks on ice!  Bill T.

[Timothy]

Or a resident who wants the range shut down who sneaks over and lets off a few.

Whiney yuppies DO NOT like to be ignored.  I'll have to agree with this one....

They're in the process of shutting down a range in Sterling, MA and it's a range that the MA SP use for qualifing....BillT has a point, they will not stop..

[fullautovalmet76]

My club had a similar situation last year. The club has been in the location for over 40 years. The club is now looking for property in another county. The neighbors haven't gone to the city council yet, but we're not waiting for that next shoe to drop....

[m25operator]

Been down this road a few times, and it is rough, you can spend all kinds of money raising berms and installing baffles, but in the end the NEW townsfolk, can whine and bitch, and show something that looks like bullet holes and you will lose. Have the Board of directors if you have one, talk to the city attorneys and the mayor if possible and get their spin on things, allow the local law enforcement to practice on your range, ( that go's a long ways ) My home range has mobile home park 1200 yards down range, that was not a problem, but they put in a new elevated highway, that can be seen to the east of us, within 500 yards, they wanted to actually put it right over us, but in the end would not buy us out. Now we have gone into hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt and erected 22' tilt up concrete walls with another 6' of eyebrowes angled in with conveyer belt material to stop ricochets from when you hit other bullets in the berm and they bank off from the impact zone. Our longer ranges now have baffles made from the same conveyer belt material and you have less latitude about shooting positions. Plus these need to be rebuilt from time to time.

Best of luck Tyler, getting the local constabulary and city council on your side early really helps. Just know that spending the nest egg in an attempt to prove your safety, may not work at all, and the money that could have been spent on a new location is lost.

[Sponsor]

[Tyler Durden]

billT wrote:

The home owners will win, every time, all the time. First they'll come at you with noise. If that doesn't work they'll come after you with safety. If that doesn't work, they'll come back with lead contamination. They'll produce all kinds of lawyers and experts. If that doesn't work, they'll produce whining mothers and housewives, complaining how their children can't sleep because of all the noise, and how it is effecting their school work. On the other side of the isle you guys will be sitting in your tactical pants, and camo tee shirts from Cabela's. The media will be there! I don't need to tell you what the outcome will be. I've seen it too many times, and it stinks on ice!  Bill T.

Thanks Bill.  That helps to know what their modus operandi will be.

And like another poster already said, we do let the local po-po train out there already.  So that helps.   

[Rastus]

Give law enforcement free membership.  Non-voting membership unless they want to pay dues.

Tell everyone the police use the range.  Get government funds to buy them out or move further out to cheaper and more plentiful land. 

Truth is...if you impact someone else's land then you are infringing.  Lots of LEO involvment can help with the news people...as in you don't want the police to have to do without this range to practice on. 

[billt]

When I was a member of the Peoria Sportsmans Club, we had the Maricopa County Sheriff use our range for practice all of the time. This is the county you may have heard on the news from time to time. They are led by the now famous, (or infamous, depending who you ask), Sheriff Joe Arpaio. It didn't matter in the least. When the home owners started bitching about the noise and safety issues, we were shut down permanently in a matter of weeks. The Peroia Sportsmans Club had been at the same location for close to 30 years.

"Sheriff Joe" wasted not a minute on this opportunity to get a brand spanking new range built to help boost his image. This is what we ended up with 4 years later.

http://www.joefossshootingcomplex.com/webapp/

So, YES as m25operator and Rastus have said, it helps to get law enforcement on your side. I now shoot here.

http://www.phoenixrodandgun.org/

It has been there for many years as well. The beauty is two fold. The area behind the range has been developed for years, and the area in front is right up against South Mountain. And to frost the cake and light the candles, the Phoenix Police Academy and Firing Range is right next door to us! Between all of that, I think we're safe for a good long time.  Bill T.

[jaybet]

I agree with this. Our little sportsmans club closes down twice a month for our county SWAT team to train there. They love us and I think it will go far toward keeping people off our backs as long as possible.

[Timothy]

Give law enforcement free membership.  Non-voting membership unless they want to pay dues.

We do this for the town...and they can use the range anytime, 24/7.....365...