(CO) Shooting range under fire

J

jimpeel

New member
Once again, people move out of the city to get away from the city noises and then start complaining about the country noises.

http://www.longmontfyi.com/region-story.asp?ID=8929

Publish Date: 7/24/2006

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Times-Call graphic

Residents take aim at shooting range


By Brad Turner
The Daily Times-Call

RAYMOND — Residents living near a popular but unofficial shooting range on U.S. Forest Service property want government officials to ban high-powered weapons at the site or close it altogether.

Neighbors of the range, near the intersection of Colo. Highway 7 and the Peak to Peak Highway, claim they hear constant gunfire from the site on summer days and recently endured a 2-acre wildfire sparked by a high-
powered rifle bullet July 1.

“No day goes by without shooting,” said Alice Osborne, one of 22 residents from the Glacier View Neighbors Association, which is pushing to close the site. “It sounds like there’s a war going on down there.”

Osborne and her husband bought their mountain home 12 years ago for a change of pace from the barking dogs, traffic and other city sounds, she said. But the house they bought sits about 2,000 feet over a ridge from the shooting range, which has grown in popularity over the past decade, she said.

“It’s annoying having the shooting start at 6:30 in the morning and continuing until dark, and sometimes into the night,” Osborne said.

Forest Service rules permit target shooting at least 150 yards from homes, roads and trails, Boulder Ranger District spokeswoman Maribeth Pecotte said.

Shooters may not destroy trees or litter the ground, she said. The Glacier View shooting range shows evidence of both violations.

Forest Service workers received a recent letter from the Glacier View group but also speak regularly with shooting enthusiasts who want the range to stay open, Pecotte said.

The Glacier View site is actually preferable to other unofficial ranges around the county, such as a ravished shooting site just off Lefthand Canyon Drive, she said.

Officials plan to consider the problem but have no plan to close the site.

In some forest districts, officials ban shooting on most of the forest land but build official ranges to keep shooting concentrated, Pecotte said.

Deputies occasionally respond to complaints at the site but also field similar calls from other mountain areas, Sheriff Joe Pelle said.

“I hate to pick on one place, because these conflicts go on all over the county,” Pelle said.

Ultimately, shooters may be forced to find a new place for target practice if a proposal to turn the site into a waste-transfer station for the Allenspark area moves forward.

Boulder County waste officials are mulling whether to purchase the site to replace the current Allenspark waste site, which is set to close in 2007.

Brad Turner can be reached at 720-494-5420, or by e-mail at bturner@times-call.com.
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This is the standard operating procedure that closes most "unofficial" and many "official" ranges throughout the country. It's unfortunate, but a fact of life.
Shooters may not destroy trees or litter the ground, she said. The Glacier View shooting range shows evidence of both violations
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This we bring on ourselves and will just speed up the process.

The plan to turn the range into a transfer station might actually help keep the range open if the locals decide they would rather have the noise than the smell. A local private suburban range in Seattle was saved when the neighbors decided that they didn't want a sewage treatment plant that was planned for the land the range was on. (Even though the county assured them that it wouldn't smell. Yeah, sure:D )

Dean
 
Shooting Range's

Back in the 80's I was very much involved with the local Gun Club.

We were always taking flak from some group or another People who moved in after they knew it was there were the worst of the lot. I moved from the area in the late 80's.

They are still up and running improved and quite a bit more people involved than when I was President. They have fought tooth and nail for all these years and are still there. The best thing they did was allowed the Sheriffs to use it for their official location to bang away.:)

HQ
 
Just because we all like guns doesn't mean the homeowners are wrong to complain.

There is such a thing as noise pollution. If you don't think so, then buy the house next door to me and allow me to turn up both of my speaker systems (totaling about 2500 watts) and aim them at your house at 2am.

The article says the shooters were starting at 6:30 am. If you started shooting NEAR me at 6:30am, I might start shooting AT you at 6:31am.

And if there are 40 guys going full blast with AR15s, that might be cause for complaint as well due to sheer volume of noise.

Not to mention if the wildfire happened to burn part of the homeowner's property.

I think we need to be a little more discerning before attacking people who just want calm and quiet. They aren't anti-gun, they are pro-property rights.

Anything such as this requires a modicum of consideration on both sides. I shoot outside at my home all the time. I've never had anyone complain, but if someone did, I would be considerate. I would ask what times were more acceptable to shoot. I would try to work with the person. I would try to have a level of DECENCY that some of you don't seem to think these shooters should have. On the other hand, if I thought the neighbor was being unreasonable, I would probably continue anyway.

Don't just assume someone who doesn't like noise is the enemy.
 
Weighing in on this....

K, I know that area rather well. I go up to that area to shoot at targets, plastic water jugs and the like. I'm not on the site these Nimby-ninnies are whining about, but on the other side of Highway 7, North of 72. I also camp up there on occasion. Yes, these fools are Nimbyists through and through. From Boulder's Daily Camera of 14 July 2006...
Careless gunplay is endangering us

We are a group of neighbors living near the junction of Colorado Highway 7 and 72 in Boulder County. We have formed the Glacier View Neighbors Association to close a dangerous shooting range on national forest land near our homes. Several years ago, authorities closed a similar range a few miles east on Highway 7. Shooters are now using a former dump site on national forest land in our neighborhood.

Target shooting at the dump site is unsafe, and numerous complaints have been made. Hikers on trails uphill from the site have been forced to take cover, and those of us nearest the site are exposed to danger while hiking on our own land. Most ominously, on July 1, a shot from a high-powered rifle at the dump site started a forest fire. Several of our homes, 2,300 feet directly downwind of the flames, were threatened. A shift in the wind would also have threatened the historic Kelley House and Bunce School.

Fire trucks and emergency vehicles responded, and a plane and helicopter dropped loads of retardant. Speedy action by firefighters and cooperative weather extinguished the fire. However, at 6:30 a.m. the next day, the shooting began again. We feel that enough is enough! The U.S. Forest Service needs to end target shooting in our neighborhood. Not all shooters are careful, and the government lacks the resources to police them. There is no way to collect from shooters the staggering costs of extinguishing just this fire, let alone similar ones. There have been several fires at other shooting ranges in Boulder County. We strongly support the forest service's Urban Front Country Initiative and urge a ban on target shooting in Roosevelt National Forest. We also urge Sheriff Joe Pelle to prohibit firearm discharge during fire bans.

DAVE and ALICE OSBORNE and 18 others for Glacier View Neighbors Association
Allenspark, Riverside and the surrounding area

Source: http://www.dailycamera.com/bdc/cda/...BDC_2491_4842774_ARTICLE-DETAIL-PRINT,00.html
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Note how the National Forest is now THEIR neighborhood and no longer a commons area that all may use if respectful. Also note how these fools want to ban target shooting in the ENTIRE FREAKING FOREST.

Are inconsiderate shooters in evidence there? Yes, on occasion there may indeed be other fools who don't take care of their backstops. There have also been those who shoot and don't clean up after themselves. I've pulled several trash bags of garbage out of the area when shooting, camping or paintballing up there. But preventing ALL recreational shooting due to the misdeeds of a few idiots is overkill.

What did these bozos expect when they bought up there? A manicured park?
 
Move suppressors to Title I!
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Find me a suppressor that:
1. Doesn't unbalance my target pistols.
2. Doesn't adversely affect the accuracy, and
3. Is allowed in Bullseye, Free Pistol and other similar sports

and I would join up.:D

Dean
 
Just because we all like guns doesn't mean the homeowners are wrong to complain.
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Well my question is did the shooting range exist before the homeowners moved in? If it did, they shouldn't complain. If they don't like that they shouldn't have moved there. If the shooters came after, then that's another matter.
 
What did these bozos expect when they bought up there? A manicured park?
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Yes, with plenty of adorable animals roaming around. Many of the ex-cityfolk who go to the countryside have an idyllic view of what they are buying - with peace and quiet high on the want list.
 
I'm still trying to figure out what miracle of forensic science was used to determine that a "high-powered rifle bullet" caused a two-acre fire :confused: :confused: :confused:
 
There is such a thing as noise pollution. If you don't think so, then buy the house next door to me and allow me to turn up both of my speaker systems (totaling about 2500 watts) and aim them at your house at 2am.
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A valid comparison only if the proposed buyer was looking at the house at 2AM while you were playing your stereo into distortion and bought it anyway.

However ........ these people looked at the house in broad daylight while the gunfire was going on and they bought it anyway. Then they bitched and moaned that they didn't like the sounds of the country which is where most gunfire occurs. It would have been no different than their moving into a house next to an airport. It's pretty obvious it is there when you are looky-looing.

ALSO ....
The article says the shooters were starting at 6:30 am. If you started shooting NEAR me at 6:30am, I might start shooting AT you at 6:31am.
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Noise abatement laws are usually valid between 10PM and 6AM so shooting after 6:30AM would fall within the guidelines set forth in law. Shooting AT people at ANY hour of the day would fall outside of the law regardless of who is doing the shooting.
 
They are building $500,000+ home right on the border of Camp Pendleton. The new owners then complain about the shooting and low flying noisy aircraft. One woman wrote the paper to ask if the Marine pilots were buzzing their houses on purpose, just to be annoying. Never mind she lives right under the landing approach.

The complaints mentioned above shouldn't suprise anyone, especially in the Peoples' Republic of Boulder.


Well my question is did the shooting range exist before the homeowners moved in? If it did, they shouldn't complain. If they don't like that they shouldn't have moved there. If the shooters came after, then that's another matter.
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"One woman wrote the paper to ask if the Marine pilots were buzzing their houses on purpose, just to be annoying."

Since my uncle (ex AF full bird) has told me about how they used to do that for fun, it wouldn't surprise me.
 
Luke AFB outside of Phoenix used to be out of town.
Now there is stuff all over.
it wasn't very long ago people were complaining about the sound of jets.
Hey atleast they are our jets.

I wish I lived so close to a shooting range (official or not).
These idiots don't know how lucky they are :p
 
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