LEO's make a mess at the range!

Maybe they close it because they dont want anyone to know how many trys it takes to "qualify".:)

My favorite LE uses closed range all of the time. They claim its for safety issues as well. Glad I dont shoot where they shoot. Based on some anecdotal evidence, I may be able to out shoot a few of them in terms of qualifying. I would like to try it once just for fun.
 
Two things Sierra,

First, is the range generally clean except right after the police use it? If it is then at some point things are being picked up.

Second, be glad of the policy because you'll be safer than being around some police with guns ablazing; quite a few officers don't know diddle about safe procedures and they don't take kindly to someone who looks like they object.

Before a bunch of LEOs start churning up responses to my last statement, remember I said "some police" and "quite a few," certainly not the vast majority. But it's up to the vast majority to put the brakes on their fellow officers, not a "civilian" visitor to the range.
 
public ranges

Public ranges are notorious for vandalism and litter. The LEO's may well have shot up the blocks....but is there an outside chance they didn't? At the public range (run by the state WMA ) near me, people haul all sorts of stuff in to shoot it up, furniture, TV's, glass, improvised target holders....you name it. The 3 guys that work the WMA cannot hardly keep up with the mess, and they are on the WMA daily.

The OP's comments about brass are interesting, 'cause that's far from my experience these days. I've always scavenged brass at the site I'm describing. Nowadays, finding any sort of reloadable brass at the benches/firing points is rare. Between more guys reloading, and others going out there and scrapping the brass, it doesn't last long. What does remain is steel cases, and having a layer of them on the points is common. Part of the staff drill is to sweep the pads.

The Parks and Recs Directors answer re "training" is so much lingo, he doesn't know anything about what the LEO's are doing...he just came up with some type of answer to try and appease the complaint. One county agency does not want to hassle another county agency....that's simply agency politics, country translation...don't rock the boat. I'd say the complaint went to the wrong (as in attitude) person. Been my experience in public service that reasonable complaints, presented reasonably, to the right administrator (as in good attitude) get acted on. I'd try again, politely, to somebody else, about a better arrangement. I'm sure in Nevada, as in around here, The county Sheriffs are elected....and very sensitive to how they and their agency is perceived. Noting shakes up an SO or Division than a memo from the Sheriff.

Part of what is going on here is that LEO's are typically (and right fully so) held to a higher public standard. Let the right person know, if their behavior is inappropriate, and something will be done, I feel pretty certain.

I am gonna look up a Nevada deputy's salary...what county are we talking about? Not because it bothers me or I care what they make, ...heck, good for them..there's lots of folks make/have more money than I do. But my experience with deputy pay is that the guys are underpaid, many work two, or side jobs, to make up the difference. Our SO can't keep a new deputy long, 'cause they bail for another agency that pays better. Heck, our Sheriff's don't make all that much comparatively speaking, much less a dirt road deputy.

Must be all that money in Vegas.
 
Our range was extremely clean! We made the shooters pick up their brass and every one had to be counted and turned in.

LEOs are only as good as the instruction they get. At the range it is only as good as the range safety staff.

I am fortunate in retirement that I can just go to the back yard and shoot clays and just about 4 miles away there is a safe place to shoot everything else!

I actually don't like having that many people around when I am shooting. Not that I am not good enough, but less chance of anything happening. When I go to the local indoor range I only shoot revolvers so I can keep my brass. When I go to the county range I like to shoot my 45-70 BFR. Makes the rifle guys stop and look to see what they heck is going on down the way.

But for serious practice, I prefer to be with few people at an unofficial range. All the people there must be people I know too.

As for messy LEOs I am so sorry you have this issue. You really should talk to the range staff. They should not leave a mess, period! They are getting paid to train and part of training at least where I was taught, is cleaning up after yourself.

Oh, pick up the brass so you can sell it and get the brass you need/use!

Mel
 
Not to worry, lol, I'm working on fixing the problem. My biggest issue is the lack of equal dual use on a tax payer funded range. At the next County Commission meeting, I will be presenting a public commentary on the [lack of] equal dual use for a county parks funded range. My proposed solution is simple: the LEO's continue to use the range for training on the days they want, all they have to do is alternate morning and afternoon use=just as the public will have to do when they are using the [tax payer funded] range. If this is unacceptable, then the local county Sherrif's office should have to pay the same fee as anyone else that reserves public parks [as the range is according to the county!] for private use. I have a time to make a public commentary on Apr. 3 and (hopefully) have it on the county commission agenda for the meeting Apr 17. The largest problem with this reg. is that it means that any govt agency (including the cops) could, by law, close any public park to the public [for free] if they so much as wanted to have a BBQ. I was not aware of such regulations until my trouble at the local range (considered a 'park' by the county). Plus, the local shooting clubs and enthusiasts have been the largest purchasers of my book, so I plan on packing the room for the meeting!!

On a side note, I did talk to the LEO in charge of training scheduling (presenting my case for those of us who need the range to test loads and sight ins (I didn't dare say DOPE, but I do try to get good DOPE) he agreed that the mornings (sunrise to 11am) were the best times to shoot, that's why they use the range then. I pointed out that 'god forbid you ever have to use your weapons on duty, but if you do, will it really be in nearly optimal conditions between sunrise and noon?' His answer was 'well, probably not'

BTW, I live in Douglas County NV. I call it 'Minderville' I used to live in Minden, then I moved a few miles and now I live in Gardnerville. There is actually a sign in the middle town that says 'Welcome to Minden' on one side 'Welcome to Gardnerville' on the other side, lol. Funny, I don't really mind revealing personal info on a forum where everyone clearly knows I'm armed, lol.
 
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The reason the range is closed while LEO’s shoot is because said LEO’s don’t want the public to know how bad a shot the average LEO is. Or something like that….. ;)
 
There is a shooting club/range three miles from my home. I don't belong -- their waiting list is several years long -- but I've talked to people who are members. They allow a couple of police departments to use it, in order to try to have better relations with local LEOs. Same problems -- the cops come, use the place, and don't clean up after themselves. Don't even make an effort.
 
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According to their website, the range isn't closed "Tues-Thurs", it's closed Tues and Thurs and only until noon. http://douglasconvsheriff.com/userpages/faq.aspx#13

That makes me much happier to know that myself and every tax payer who enjoys using the county range, is paying for the LEO's ridiculous salaries (transparent Nevada, check it out) range maintenance fees as well as for all their training and ammo.
Click to expand...

Regarding this, the only thing surprising about that is that it's surprising.
 
Some ranges have police access written into their bylaws and zoning rules.
It can help keep the range going, even when development encroaches upon the range property.
So, it's not always a bad thing.
And, as others have mentioned, the police leave a lot of free brass just laying there.
Cleaning up after them, in exchange for a bucket full, always seemed like a fair exchange.
 
And, why is it closed to the public? IT IS A PUBLIC SHOOTING RANGE!! LEO tactics and training are not secrets, in fact it's available public knowledge, in 2min on my iPhone,
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Really? So what is this Sheriff Department's course of fire?

Find me that and I can probably tell you why they don't want other people on the range.
 
^^everything I've seen for police training is done at 7yds with the sidearm (IDPA target) 7, 15, 25yds with the patrol rifle (NRA bull). So, in fact, they don't even need to be at the rifle range at all!! All there courses of fire could be done on the pistol range, leaving the rifles range completely available. Please correct me if this is wrong, but it really just helps my argument.
 
I think you have alot of arguments. Sounds like you need to buy some land in the country and you'll have your very own gun range.
Or better yet, yes take your arguments to the sheriff and commissioners court and watch the changes happen. They may not work in your favor. Sad thing is it may be worse on others who use that range too.
Hope it does work out for you though
 
Threads like this make me feel pretty happy to live somewhere I can walk outside my house and shoot as I please. No range fees, never busy, no cops to have to worry about taking up space. The only time a cop has been to my range was when my neighbor threatened to call them because of the noise. I volunteered to call them, they showed up told me I was breaking no laws and could shoot as I desire with no regards to their opinions about the noise.

On the brass, I would be sweeping it up by the bucket full, even if it is calibers I do not have guns for. They can be traded for brass of guns I do shoot.
 
If the county owns the range, training for the county sheriffs department was probably part of the justification for the county to build it. The LEOS qualify at 3 to 4 different firing points under timed fire with one or more reloads using both strong and weak hand. I can assure that they don't want to be at the 7 or 15 yard line with some cowboy firing from the 25 or 50 yard bench behind them. I can assure you when there is training going on they have a range officer on hand and he doesn't need a bunch of cowboys that don't feel that they have to listen to him. I was range officer for my department for 12 years and trained over a 1000 police officers in the 30 academy's that I taught. There were never civilians on the range during training. I would say if you push too hard they may totally close the range to the public.
 
My first thought would be that the department that offends you to such great extent may be required by their attorneys and/or union to conduct training on a closed range for liability reasons.

Not to be snobs. Not because apparently every man, woman, child, and innerweb fanboy shoots better than every cop there ever was. But probably just because their legal gurus say so.

Yessir Sierra- you could probably make a lot of changes- and I hope you do. Or you could go on cop bashing.

Edit to add: Before you go to any of the meetings- you might want to fix the holes in your story. You were on the range when they showed up to close it and run you out? No? You don't know if the block debris was there before they showed up then? What's your final answer- is the range closed Tuesday - Thursday, or Tuesday and Thursday? When you scoop up all that brass- can you positively identify each piece of brass they shot? How does it look different than any other brass in the world? Just because the folks at those meetings are more gracious than I and probably wouldn't say those things directly to you- whatcha gonna do to keep them from thinking those lil mean and hurtful things?
 
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Personally I look forward to our local police leaving all that pretty brass all over the place JUST FOR ME;)

At our range it's a lot of people not picking up their crap, first thing I do is clean up the brass :):):) then pick up their trash. No big deal, there's always going to be the takers and the givers.
 
Our ranges are "lost brass" ranges. No picking it up.

The out in the country maintained by the shooters are OK to pick up your brass. Not much there though. People pick it up.

After much thought, be careful what you wish for. You may be surprised what happens.

Mel
 
presenting my case for those of us who need the range to test loads and sight ins
Click to expand...

Why is it more important for you to sight in your rifle, than to have the SO use the range to train? Seems like the range needs a schedule that shows public days and LEO days.
 
I'll tell you how it works with our qualification:

rifle:
100yards
25
15
7
Pistol:
1.5
3
7
15
25
Shotgun:
25
Submachine gun
50
25
15
7


Once the turning target stands are set up, they don't move forward/aft, necessitating the individuals to move to various yard lines.

That means that the whole range is dedicated to just those individuals engaged in qualification.
 
Wow, I thought my proposed solution was actually pretty reasonable: the SO closes the range for training, until noon. Environmental conditions here basically prevent any load testing or sighting in during the afternoons. All the SO would have to do is alternate their training, AM on Tues, PM on Thurs, or vice versa. This makes it fair to all, and also gives them practice in more realistic environmental conditions. If this is unacceptable, then clearly we need a push to change the county regs on the goverment use of public parks (thats what our range technically is).

I want to be clear I'm not cop bashing, given the large number of gun enthusiasts in our community, I'm only trying to help. I don't have the time to start cop bashing, I've had my rights violated repeatedly, harrassed, intimidated, and even pulled out of my vehicle in full felony stop procedure (during which all of the above happened again, and I was let go without so much as a traffic citation). I have never committed any crime worse than traffic infractions (speeding)!!!

If the way small town cops behave is a mystery to anyone here I'm very surprised.
 
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