A good example of "some are more equal than others".
The fine hand of the Democrats at work again. Jesu, who votes for these people? Check out the statements "There was never any legal commitment that it be open to the public. That was just the plan for it." (We just want them to pay for it.) and
"... and maybe, eventually, officials will consider including the public." ("Consider"?, Oh, THANK YOU, my leige.) North Carolinians ought to show up at the Councilmen's office with pitchforks and blazing torches. A little petroleum byproduct and pillow contents wouldn't be out of order, either. IMHO.
http://search.news-observer.com/plweb-cgi/fastweb?getdoc+nao_public_archive+nao-today+10731+0++Rifle%20Range
For now, public has no shot
Cost-shy Wake limits new range to officers
By BONNIE ROCHMAN, Staff Writer
Wake County taxpayers spent $3.3 million on a shooting range where they could hone their hobby, but when it opens soon, only those with badges and uniforms will get in.
That has gun lovers all fired up over what they call the county's backpedaling -- from a firearms "recreation center" open to the public to a much simpler practice range for law officers alone.
In a state where some think the right to bear firearms is as sacrosanct as the right to draw breath, Rex Wheatley is one frustrated marksman.
"I think the county has pulled the rug out from under a lot of people," he said. "Now the public has paid for it, but the public can't use it."
He'll get no argument from assistant county manager David Cooke. "He's right," Cooke said. "It was built with public money and built with the idea that the public would use it."
Budget woes mean that the Wake County Firearms Training Center in Holly Springs is vastly different from what its proponents imagined 15 years ago.
It was supposed to draw skeet shooters, rifle experts and handgun novices alike. Law-enforcement officers, county commissioners figured, could use it as well.
But the issue of noise limits came up. And when Holly Springs residents recoiled at the plan, fearing stray bullets and the cacophony of gunfire, the Republican-led board decided in 1997 to build just an indoor range. That, however, sliced into potential profits.
Then a new batch of commissioners -- this one led by Democrats -- banned the sale of guns at the range, a move that siphoned more potential revenue.
Then the public was banned from the range.
Budget director Raymond Boutwell told the board last year that it would take $200,000 a year to run the range just for law officers. Serving the public, however, would entail hiring full-time employees and would cost an additional $275,000.
County administrators recommended against it. The board concurred -- but not without some misgivings.
"It's a sad predicament we're in," said commissioner Yevonne Brannon, a Democrat who voted against building the range in the first place. "But $275,000 is a lot of money at a time when we're scrambling to pay for libraries and schools and parks."
That logic rankles former commissioner Gary Pendleton, a Republican and a vocal supporter of the range once he came on the board in 1992. "What is the difference in having a park for people that want to shoot or having a soccer field or playground at school?" he asked.
"It's a matter of public safety that people need a place to shoot high-powered rifles," he said. "People have the guns, and they're going to shoot the guns."
Wheatley, who alerted Pendleton to the changes at the range, said he fields two or three queries a day at the Raleigh sporting goods store where he works from newcomers looking for places to shoot their rifles. Wake County has at least two private indoor shooting ranges, but only one has a rifle range.
That's about Wheatley's only option. Anticipating the public shooting range -- and before he knew the public was banned -- he canceled his membership in an elite local gun club.
The county is entitled to change its mind, said County Attorney Michael Ferrell: "There was never any legal commitment that it be open to the public. That was just the plan for it."
The range is nearly complete and is expected to open by June. Tim Lanier, the county's interim public safety director, said that at first, the sheriff's department will be its primary user. After a while, Lanier said, other law-enforcement agencies will be allowed access, and maybe, eventually, officials will consider including the public.
Until further notice, the deputies alone will have the run of the range.
Clarence Mayo, who oversees firearms training for the department, is jubilant about the new digs. He is especially pleased with the new center's bathrooms -- a substantial improvement over the Porta-Johns the officers used at their old range outdoors.
"We now have flush toilets," he said. "It's long overdue."
He also thinks the training will improve. Deputies can take aim in the two 50-meter pistol ranges or the 50-meter or 100-meter rifle ranges, or test their mettle shooting lasers at a computer-generated video game that splashes life-size scenarios onto a screen.
They'll also pass through the lobby, with the sales counter at which the public was supposed to be able to buy targets and ammunition.
At least for now, its shelves are bare.
Staff writer Bonnie Rochman can be reached at 829-4871 or brochman@nando.com
------------------
The New World Order has a Third Reich odor.
The fine hand of the Democrats at work again. Jesu, who votes for these people? Check out the statements "There was never any legal commitment that it be open to the public. That was just the plan for it." (We just want them to pay for it.) and
"... and maybe, eventually, officials will consider including the public." ("Consider"?, Oh, THANK YOU, my leige.) North Carolinians ought to show up at the Councilmen's office with pitchforks and blazing torches. A little petroleum byproduct and pillow contents wouldn't be out of order, either. IMHO.
http://search.news-observer.com/plweb-cgi/fastweb?getdoc+nao_public_archive+nao-today+10731+0++Rifle%20Range
For now, public has no shot
Cost-shy Wake limits new range to officers
By BONNIE ROCHMAN, Staff Writer
Wake County taxpayers spent $3.3 million on a shooting range where they could hone their hobby, but when it opens soon, only those with badges and uniforms will get in.
That has gun lovers all fired up over what they call the county's backpedaling -- from a firearms "recreation center" open to the public to a much simpler practice range for law officers alone.
In a state where some think the right to bear firearms is as sacrosanct as the right to draw breath, Rex Wheatley is one frustrated marksman.
"I think the county has pulled the rug out from under a lot of people," he said. "Now the public has paid for it, but the public can't use it."
He'll get no argument from assistant county manager David Cooke. "He's right," Cooke said. "It was built with public money and built with the idea that the public would use it."
Budget woes mean that the Wake County Firearms Training Center in Holly Springs is vastly different from what its proponents imagined 15 years ago.
It was supposed to draw skeet shooters, rifle experts and handgun novices alike. Law-enforcement officers, county commissioners figured, could use it as well.
But the issue of noise limits came up. And when Holly Springs residents recoiled at the plan, fearing stray bullets and the cacophony of gunfire, the Republican-led board decided in 1997 to build just an indoor range. That, however, sliced into potential profits.
Then a new batch of commissioners -- this one led by Democrats -- banned the sale of guns at the range, a move that siphoned more potential revenue.
Then the public was banned from the range.
Budget director Raymond Boutwell told the board last year that it would take $200,000 a year to run the range just for law officers. Serving the public, however, would entail hiring full-time employees and would cost an additional $275,000.
County administrators recommended against it. The board concurred -- but not without some misgivings.
"It's a sad predicament we're in," said commissioner Yevonne Brannon, a Democrat who voted against building the range in the first place. "But $275,000 is a lot of money at a time when we're scrambling to pay for libraries and schools and parks."
That logic rankles former commissioner Gary Pendleton, a Republican and a vocal supporter of the range once he came on the board in 1992. "What is the difference in having a park for people that want to shoot or having a soccer field or playground at school?" he asked.
"It's a matter of public safety that people need a place to shoot high-powered rifles," he said. "People have the guns, and they're going to shoot the guns."
Wheatley, who alerted Pendleton to the changes at the range, said he fields two or three queries a day at the Raleigh sporting goods store where he works from newcomers looking for places to shoot their rifles. Wake County has at least two private indoor shooting ranges, but only one has a rifle range.
That's about Wheatley's only option. Anticipating the public shooting range -- and before he knew the public was banned -- he canceled his membership in an elite local gun club.
The county is entitled to change its mind, said County Attorney Michael Ferrell: "There was never any legal commitment that it be open to the public. That was just the plan for it."
The range is nearly complete and is expected to open by June. Tim Lanier, the county's interim public safety director, said that at first, the sheriff's department will be its primary user. After a while, Lanier said, other law-enforcement agencies will be allowed access, and maybe, eventually, officials will consider including the public.
Until further notice, the deputies alone will have the run of the range.
Clarence Mayo, who oversees firearms training for the department, is jubilant about the new digs. He is especially pleased with the new center's bathrooms -- a substantial improvement over the Porta-Johns the officers used at their old range outdoors.
"We now have flush toilets," he said. "It's long overdue."
He also thinks the training will improve. Deputies can take aim in the two 50-meter pistol ranges or the 50-meter or 100-meter rifle ranges, or test their mettle shooting lasers at a computer-generated video game that splashes life-size scenarios onto a screen.
They'll also pass through the lobby, with the sales counter at which the public was supposed to be able to buy targets and ammunition.
At least for now, its shelves are bare.
Staff writer Bonnie Rochman can be reached at 829-4871 or brochman@nando.com
------------------
The New World Order has a Third Reich odor.