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Gun Club closure megathread

dwarven1 said:
Jeez... I've been missing MA gun clubs since I moved up here (nearest club is 45 minutes away, and there are no action pistol pits there). Now I'm glad I can shoot on my property. Can't shut THAT down.
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Some officer out there just shouted "CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!"
 
I joined the pistol team and the trap team at one of my clubs to force me to shoot because I wasn't making enough time to do it on my own.

because of that I was basically scheduled to shoot almost every week of the year. And you know how trap people are....always looking to get out and shoot so I took advantage of those opportunities as well. So I was getting out quite a bit.

Now with this whole thing I am off it cold turkey.

I had an easier time when I quit smoking.

Plus my daughters and I had plans to go shooting on Father's Day. We go other times but that's like a day we schedule to go. Who knows what's going to happen this year.
 
I totally get why club *buildings* are closed. There's a lot of doorknobs and handrails and confined spaces with shit airflow and toilets and sink levers and stuff.

But closing *outdoor* ranges that don't require touching anything that anyone else touches (with the exception of shooting benches) is just absurd.
 
Some Harvard backstory

Late this morning one of the dealers at The Mill was shooting at Harvard. When he pulled out he was lit up and pulled over by the police. As you may know, the HSC entrance is in Harvard on Littleton County Rd. Much of the club is in Boxborough and some is in Littleton. The police officer pulling over the shooter (alleged shooter?) was a Boxborough cop. He proceeded to tell the person that the club is closed, he can't shoot there or go back.

So let's summarize the problems here
  1. Boxborough PD pulling someone over in Harvard. I checked and Boxborough does NOT have a mutual aid agreement with Harvard that would have permitted this
  2. Pulling someone over for the "crime" of pulling out of a driveway from private property. What was the reason for pulling them over as enumerated in MGL? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?
  3. Declaring the private club "closed". Private club. Private property. No access by the public.

Someone this officer then gained access to the club and proceeded to go around harassing members telling them to leave.

We have now all seen the email that HSC is closed "in the best interest of the Community".

Who made the decision and why? Did the board vote on this? Do the clubs bylaws allow for this type of closure?

If we as a community don't stick together and buckle the moment a petty tyrant (Boxborough Chief of Police) abuses his authority, then we are screwed
 
milktree said:
I totally get why club *buildings* are closed. There's a lot of doorknobs and handrails and confined spaces with shit airflow and toilets and sink levers and stuff.

But closing *outdoor* ranges that don't require touching anything that anyone else touches (with the exception of shooting benches) is just absurd.
Click to expand...

Maura already gave us a completely sane and logical answer to that question. It's to save domestic violence victims. Allowing ranges to be open, even outdoor ones, hurts those people somehow. Don't worry about the specifics of the scenario. Just trust her that it makes complete sense.
 
CrackPot said:
So let's summarize the problems here
  1. Boxborough PD pulling someone over in Harvard. I checked and Boxborough does NOT have a mutual aid agreement with Harvard that would have permitted this
  2. Pulling someone over for the "crime" of pulling out of a driveway from private property. What was the reason for pulling them over as enumerated in MGL? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?
  3. Declaring the private club "closed". Private club. Private property. No access by the public.

Someone this officer then gained access to the club and proceeded to go around harassing members telling them to leave.

We have now all seen the email that HSC is closed "in the best interest of the Community".
Click to expand...


I believe Boxborough is the designated first responder (EMS, PD, etc) to HSC. And I can never remember exactly which town the front gate is in, but I think it may in fact be Boxborough (could be wrong, there are like 3-4 towns HSC touches). But while you could be incorrect about point #1 in the sense that the gate area might be Boxborough, you are 100% right that there's no PC or RAS to detain someone for this as far as I can imagine. And the club is private property...while we have plenty of LEO members and strong relationships with multiple PDs, they do not dictate whether the club is open or closed. We, the members, own it.

I sent a response to Dan that I could understand closing the indoor range and clubhouse, but I hope that outdoor ranges remain in use for all purposes including shooting. His email to members indicated that they would be asking local authorities to allow hiking/walking at the club even if the ranges are closed. That's not good enough for me. If it's safe to walk around, it's safe to shoot. Heck, let's say everyone stands X feet apart when sharing ranges. But going with whatever a random officer says without question is not what our club leadership should be doing.
 
Knew it was coming, but pissed off now.
voidoid said:
I believe Boxborough is the designated first responder (EMS, PD, etc) to HSC. And I can never remember exactly which town the front gate is in, but I think it may in fact be Boxborough (could be wrong, there are like 3-4 towns HSC touches). But while you could be incorrect about point #1 in the sense that the gate area might be Boxborough, you are 100% right that there's no PC or RAS to detain someone for this as far as I can imagine. And the club is private property...while we have plenty of LEO members and strong relationships with multiple PDs, they do not dictate whether the club is open or closed. We, the members, own it.

I sent a response to Dan that I could understand closing the indoor range and clubhouse, but I hope that outdoor ranges remain in use for all purposes including shooting. His email to members indicated that they would be asking local authorities to allow hiking/walking at the club even if the ranges are closed. That's not good enough for me. If it's safe to walk around, it's safe to shoot. Heck, let's say everyone stands X feet apart when sharing ranges. But going with whatever a random officer says without question is not what our club leadership should be doing.
Click to expand...
Getting permission for other activities but not shooting could actually be a good thing if a law suit were to be filed, couldn’t it?
 
franktc said:
I believe many local LEO are members. Gets around the gate.
Click to expand...
Yes. It was a bad joke. I knew I should have got out yesterday.

I’m lost on the fact it’s a private club. I was returning from Swanson GMC this morning and a Concord cruiser is parked in the middle of the West Concord athletic field yet tennis playing was allowed.
 
Last edited:
Mr. Brownstone said:
Use of any ranges (Harvard specifically) that did not voluntarily shut down should be off limits to police training going forward.

The rest of my thoughts on this matter have to be kept to myself.
Click to expand...

If the club is CLOSED it should be closed to ALL, even the friggen hikers, it's a shooting club.

And I think maybe allowing all these LEO depts to use MY club while they don't support us should be re-thought.
(and I'm sure that's been suggested a number of times)

And ditto on the thoughts part, I'm so pissed I'm day drinking !!:mad:
 
dwarven1 said:
Jeez... I've been missing MA gun clubs since I moved up here (nearest club is 45 minutes away, and there are no action pistol pits there). Now I'm glad I can shoot on my property. Can't shut THAT down.
Click to expand...

You mean the governments property. They own everything, you pay them rent every quarter.
 
I'm going to go out on a limb and ask a question. Do you think this might have anything to do with the fact it could be possible that a member of Harvard has tested positive and that member had been on the premises recently?
 
10mmdave said:
If the club is CLOSED it should be closed to ALL, even the friggen hikers, it's a shooting club
Click to expand...

I know. But if the authority who ordered the club shut, under the guise of public health, then allowed only “non shooting” activities to take place, it could be effectively argued that they were violating our rights. Either way, they are. But this would help to prove it, if such a law suit were to happen.
 
CrackPot said:
Some Harvard backstory

Late this morning one of the dealers at The Mill was shooting at Harvard. When he pulled out he was lit up and pulled over by the police. As you may know, the HSC entrance is in Harvard on Littleton County Rd. Much of the club is in Boxborough and some is in Littleton. The police officer pulling over the shooter (alleged shooter?) was a Boxborough cop. He proceeded to tell the person that the club is closed, he can't shoot there or go back.

So let's summarize the problems here
  1. Boxborough PD pulling someone over in Harvard. I checked and Boxborough does NOT have a mutual aid agreement with Harvard that would have permitted this
  2. Pulling someone over for the "crime" of pulling out of a driveway from private property. What was the reason for pulling them over as enumerated in MGL? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?
  3. Declaring the private club "closed". Private club. Private property. No access by the public.

Someone this officer then gained access to the club and proceeded to go around harassing members telling them to leave.

We have now all seen the email that HSC is closed "in the best interest of the Community".

Who made the decision and why? Did the board vote on this? Do the clubs bylaws allow for this type of closure?

If we as a community don't stick together and buckle the moment a petty tyrant (Boxborough Chief of Police) abuses his authority, then we are screwed
Click to expand...

Im just as upset at the spineless people who just go "ok" and listened to them. YOU'RE ALLOWED TO STAND UP TO THE POLICE.

QUESTION AUTHORITY!
 
ddraper said:
I'm going to go out on a limb and ask a question. Do you think this might have anything to do with the fact it could be possible that a member of Harvard has tested positive and that member had been on the premises recently?
Click to expand...

Have the grocery stores shut down? Grocery workers have been sick and died yet they still rake in the cash
 

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