Groton MA neighbors fired up about shooting range

I too live in this community. I would not call this a club or a "range". It is a pit and it is not open to members.

There is some history with the Groton police and the community. There have been issues in the past. It was years ago (but not too far) but people still talk about the harassment some towns folks experienced by the hands of the Groton police including leaving a staked pigs head with bullets in it on the lawn of a towns person. There were other incidents. Most of the force was turned over after the Feds got involved.

Recently, Chief Palma has done a good job integrating with the community. However there is some lingering resentment that is fading with time.
 
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HooVooLoo said:
Did I know you lived in that neighborhood? No. So how could I wish it to happen in yours?

As I stated above, I don't wish for violence upon anyone. I said domestic crime. There's a whole lot of non-violent domestic crime that can occur once the sounds of a gun range are muted by people who think the "sound of gunfire at a gun range" is "dangerous."

I know that anybody here who is involved with firearms would welcome the sound of gunfire at a range, because it would deter criminal activity. I hope that people who whine about "noise pollution" have the petty domestic stuff happen so they realize that having a gun range in the vicinity, especially one used by lots of LEOs, actually can deter those crimes from happening. This way, they will then realize that their local range is a blessing and a deterent to crime, so they can then rethink their attitudes about how bad a gun range really is, and plead to get it back once it is gone.

That was my whole gist. Since there shall be other people here who will intend to twist what I have typed to mean something other, there is no point in trying to justify my position on this any longer, and retire from this thread. Oi vey.
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Your OP was a retarded comment to start with, and your defense of it is becoming more comical by the post. The first rule of holes is that when you find yourself in one, stop digging.

Do you really think (you already said you "hope" it) that there's any chance, even a one millionth of 1% chance that criminals are going to think, "Hey! Those cops stopped shooting in that sandpit near the dump. Now that there's no sound of gunfire, let's go out and commit 'domestic' crimes on the nearby residents. It'll be easy now!"

Jesus. Just stop. OK?
 
Couldn't a lot of this problem be solved if people used silencers on their guns when shooting at "sensitive" ranges?

Oh yeah, sorry - I forgot. Illegal in MA.
 
calsdad said:
Couldn't a lot of this problem be solved if people used silencers on their guns when shooting at "sensitive" ranges?

Oh yeah, sorry - I forgot. Illegal in MA.
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Not for LE it's not. Just not practical (holsters for handguns with silencers would be quite a sight to behold [laugh]) and I don't know of any PDs that use them.
 
massaiga said:
Murdock's petition has all of 60 signatures on it? I am planning on showing up to the hearing with a petition of my own. Anyone who lives in Groton that wants to sign it PM me.
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Sent. I wasn't even aware of this happening and I live in Groton.
 
Personally, I wouldn't mind the "noise" of a gun range nearby.
It beats having a parking lot nearby where every damn Saturday all damn day the schools or some organization has a car wash.
All you hear all day long is people screaming "CAR WASH"! ALL... DAMN.... DAY...
Cripes, hold your damn sign up and STFU all ready!

(Rant Over)
 
LenS said:
Not for LE it's not. Just not practical (holsters for handguns with silencers would be quite a sight to behold [laugh]) and I don't know of any PDs that use them.
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If the LE's used silencers (at least in some situations) - they would still be there "training" without pissing off the neighbors quite as badly as they are apparently doing now.

Would it be "optimal" ? No. Is something better than nothing - yes.


I bet there is a lot of "eff you " going on - on both sides of this debate.
 
calsdad said:
I bet there is a lot of "eff you " going on - on both sides of this debate.
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Not really.

Like Ward said above, a previous regime of the Groton PD was out of control. Everything he said happened, happened, and more.

The current group under Chief Palma is great. Because of the previous problems, they're also probably more sensitive wrt their image within the community than many other departments.

This 'range' is a big sandpit near the town dump, with a huge natural berm. The nearest house is more than 1/2 mile away, in the opposite direction from where they're aiming. The residents' complaint about lead getting in the groundwater is unbelievably laughable: Halfway between the sandpit and the houses is a friggin capped landfill!

I bet the only reason the residents are even being given lip service is because of the residue from the previous police situation here.
 
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EddieCoyle said:
Not really.

Like Ward said above, a previous regime of the Groton PD was out of control. Everything he said happened, happened, and more.

The current group under Chief Palma is great. Because of the previous problems, they're also probably more sensitive wrt their image within the community than many other departments.

This 'range' is a big sandpit near the town dump, with a huge natural berm. The nearest house is more than 1/2 mile away, in the opposite direction from where they're aiming. The residents' complaint about lead getting in the groundwater is unbelievably laughable: Halfway between the sandpit and the houses is a friggin capped landfill!

I bet the only reason the residents are even being given lip service is because of the residue from the previous police situation here.
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I have a friend who lives in Groton - who, when he went to get his LTC said the dept. was great to work with. From your description it sounds like the "eff you" rests more on the side of the complaining residents than in the police dept.
 
If you live in Groton please consider attending the public hearing:

SELECTMEN'S MEETING ROOM
1ST FLOOR
GROTON TOWN HALL
Monday Oct 4 @ 7:00 pm

I'm working on getting a copy of Murdock's petition for review.
 
The current Groton P.D. is nothing like what was there in the past. There is no comparing the two there not even close. Groton PD has good people working there
 
The club I belong to closes the range for the town cops to qualify a couple days a year, usually for only 4 hours a day and always early on a weekday. The club members can be at the range as we are considered part owners. It is our duty to make sure everyone that uses the range follows club rules and that includes the cops. I stopped them from shooting buckshot and M16s at the posts holding up the target boards. They didn't like it but the club president followed it up with a call to the chief reminding him of the range rules. Next day a lumberyard truck with 8 new pressure treated 4x4s showed up.

radioman said:
I was a member of a club once that allowed the cops to use it. Two sometimes three days a month the range was CLOSED to all but the cops! We pay the dues and we can't use our range up to three days a month? When they closed the range that meant the club was closed to all. We could not even go to our club to watch!! I find when the cops get involved in a privet club nothing good happens.
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I grew up right down the street from both the Westford Sprotsman's Club and the dump/sand pit area that those residents are complaining about. Remembering the topology of the sand pit area, I can't imagine how any resident of Hoyt's Wharf could be inundated with noise from the police range at the sand pit. I am guessing that they are firing into the berm towards Millstone Hill, and not by the soccer fields on the Hoyt's Wharf side.
 
You are correct that it is into the berm towards Haystack. I can see what the neighbor's complaints are about. I can hear it from the Westford Sportsmen's Club (1.5Miles) and from my house (2.8 Miles). It is far enough away that it is noticeable, but not bothersome. Volleys of more than 20 pistols firing full mags, automatic fire and high caliber rifle fire - most every day of the week. The noise can be constant some days. Think of living within 0.5 miles of the range at the South Post of Devens or a large scale outdoor training facility. It is the sheriff's dept and a lot of regional towns showing up, not the few when it started.

The WSC has allowed the Westford PD and the NEMLEC SWAT to shoot there. Recently there was an issue with the gate being mangled in the time frame that a police agency was there. The club is considering more cameras for the surveillance system to determine how these things happen. There is a difference between being a guest and trespassing.
 
Tweed said:
Think of living within 0.5 miles of the range at the South Post of Devens
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The people that live that close to Devens have already done their best to have the vast majority of the range closed or severely limited, such as the demo range.

Nothing like living next to an impact area and acting surprised when its loud. Homo's.
 
massaiga said:
If you live in Groton please consider attending the public hearing:

SELECTMEN'S MEETING ROOM
1ST FLOOR
GROTON TOWN HALL
Monday Oct 4 @ 7:00 pm

I'm working on getting a copy of Murdock's petition for review.
Click to expand...

Correction:

BOARD OF SELECTMEN
MEETING
MONDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2010
AGENDA
2ND FLOOR MEETING ROOM
GROTON TOWN HALL
7:00 P.M. Announcements and Review Agenda for the Public
7:05 P.M. Town Manager’s Report
7:15 P.M. Police Shooting Range – Cow Pond Brook Road
7:45 P.M. Planning Board – Master Plan Update
 
Murdock's petition reads as follows:

Murdock's petition said:
We, the undersigned, do hereby request that the Board of Selectmen of the
Town of Groton, MA, issue a cease and desist order and immediately close the
gun shooting range on the Groton DPW grounds and to enjoin the participants
from firing weapons at this location anytime in the future. Noise from this activity
is seriously interfering with reasonable enjoyment of our homes.
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At the time it was presented to the board of selectmen it had 68 Signatures on it.
 
I have seen some of the local cops shoot, and am amazed to find out that their yearly qualify is the only time they shoot their weapons.. you would think that if you have on your hip something that could and very well would save your life, you would be more than proficient using it..
 
Stee said:
I have seen some of the local cops shoot, and am amazed to find out that their yearly qualify is the only time they shoot their weapons.. you would think that if you have on your hip something that could and very well would save your life, you would be more than proficient using it..
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Which is why I want to ensure that my local PD continues to have easy access to a range.
 
The idiots that bought homes close to the range that were not told by the realtor there was a range nearby need to shut up, move or sue the realtor. I live in a direct flight path for aircraft landing at Newark airport. You think I have a chance getting the airport shut down because of noise. I don't think so!
 
As a society, we have become far too intolerant. We whine about someone else smoking, even outdoors! We complain when someone uses rude language, even if it wasn't directed at us! We moan if the river or sewage plant smells too much. We protest when the local factory makes some noise. We can't stand the rumble of trucks making deliveries, or the smell of their exhaust. We move in near the airport (or, in this case, the shooting range) and then we think that they should be quieter or change their habits.(Just ask some pilots about the dangerous flight plans they are forced to follow in an effort at noise-abatement!)
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This was part of my comment on the site... and there have been numerous complaints over the years by commercial pilots about what they consider to be dangerous maneuvers on take-off required by noise-abatement agreements.
 
RichM said:
This was part of my comment on the site... and there have been numerous complaints over the years by commercial pilots about what they consider to be dangerous maneuvers on take-off required by noise-abatement agreements.
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What's the word that pilots sometimes use when speaking to controllers? Ah, yes, I remember now. "Unable."
 
REMINDER: Public hearing to review the petition to close this range is TONIGHT @ 7:00pm

If you live in Groton please consider attending.
 
sig2009 said:
The idiots that bought homes close to the range that were not told by the realtor there was a range nearby need to shut up, move or sue the realtor.
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I remember when the Meadow Lane development was built across the street from Westford SC and the people that bought complained about the noise from the weekend clays matches.

Any time I visit my dad, it is just weird if I can't hear the shooting.
 

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