Gun Club "under fire"

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Now that we've had our night with the city council and our side of the story has come out, I thought I would post the info here, since some of you are in the area and have probably seen the stories in the Eagle Tribune.

I'll do my best to keep this short, sweet and to the point. however, be warned, it's long. It began last May when a fired round fell on to the porch of a woman who lives in a development approximately 1/4 mile from our range (Haverhill Hound Rod and Gun). The woman called the police who responded quickly. When they got to her home, they could hear gun fire coming from the range, so, they went to the range and found one of the many police departments who use our range for qualifications doing just that. The Haverhill PD called in the state police to have them run a ballistics test on the bullet, and the Lt. from the department that was qualifiying confiscated every single one of his PO's duty guns and handed them over to the state police to run their tests on.

We finally got the report back in July. The round came from one of the PD's hand guns. In August, a story wound up on the front page of the Trib, above the fold, about a man who found a "bullet in his house when the painters were working" - this "bullet" was found the year before the May 04 police round and was never reported to the police. This bullet was never produced - however - the gentleman did produce a round he found laying on his deck next to his gas grill. Tonight I found out that bullet had NEVER been fired. As the PO who gave the report tagged it - "it was a component of a cartrridge that had never been fired".

After this story came out, there were two other reports of holes in houses. Last Friday, the Chief of the HPD and another officer went to the two houses to retrieve these bullets to put them though a ballistics check (I'll add here that we have two outdoor ranges. One for hand guns and one for rifles that point towards the development). They wanted to see if they could tell which range the two rounds came from. Tonight, they reported that the holes in house #1 were caused by.....wood peckers. Seriously. The hole found in house #2 was caused by a nail that started to poke though the facia (sp?). Neither were caused by any stray round from the range.

Now - the reason the PO's round escaped the range was also discovered. Normally, the PO's bring their own stick in the ground target holders. On that day last May, they (for whatever reason) used out target holders. We have two types (that every member was told about when they joined) - one was wood and the other was metal. The metal ones were kept separate and only used for the .22 shoots. For the higher caliber rounds - you used the wooden target holders. The day the round escaped, the PO had used the metal holder and the round hit the metal and took off like a ....well, like a speeding bullet. AS SOON as they found that out (which was immediately after we received the report that the May round had come from the PO's gun) the metal holders were removed from the property.

We also began to enclose the range even more (I'm talking about going way above and beyond making this range safe. It was already safe, except for this freak accident.) This development has been there for 8 years (7 at the point of the PO's round) - there was never any reports of bullets being found, or police reports of bullets being found. We have fired at the hand gun range since last May and not one single round has escaped and not one report of bullets raining down. However, a couple of the folks in this development are most assuredly anti's. They sent an email to our secretary demanding that the outdoor ranges be closed until this problem is fixed, that the homeowners association had retained a lawyer, and we'd better comply, "or else".

A couple of the homeowners (including the Pres. of the assoc) came to the range and we showed them what we were doing. We explained how the bullet got out and that it was a freak accident, to which the Pres. said "I'm fine with that, but there are a couple homeowners who won't believe anything you tell them." (getting a whiff of where this is going?)

Two weeks ago, a few of these homeowners went before the city council demanding that something be done, that they close us down, etc. A number of very nasty things were said by the "gentleman" doing the presenation. He said that we lowered the age requirement for junior members and that we were "letting 12 year olds run through the woods with guns". Yup - he actually said that. He also accused the HPD of being in bed with us and not doing their job - which P'd the Chief off to no end.

Now, I must give credit where credit is due. I know the city council President. I called him to lambaste him about continuing that meeting where slander and lies were being spread about us without having anyone from the club OR the PD there to discuss or refute his claims. He told me that he had been innudated with phone calls from people who live in the development and they were appauled at the presenation this guy had given at the meeting. They told him that they didn't want to shut the gun club down. They knew it was there when they bought their houses, and that he didn't represent them at all.

Well, tonight we had our time in front of the city council. Our secretary gave a WONDERFUL presentation of the time line. What we did, when we did it, who we spoke to, etc. He refuted everything we had been accused of - including the reason why we lowered the age from 14 to 12. It seems that there's a group of girl scouts (called the Pony club, or something like that) that contacted the club to find a place to shoot their air guns. They were having problems finding a place, so they called us. We amended our rules so they could come and shoot.

However - the council being the council <snort>, they decided to suggest to the Mayor (I'll refrain from commenting on my opinion of him) that an expert in ballistics and ranges be brought in (to be paid for by us, of course) to look at the range and the improvements we've done to certify that it's safe. Two of the homeowners still demand that we close until such time that the range is certifed as "safe". They don't have the authority to shut us down, and they told the homeowners that. The CC Pres asked our Secretary what it would do to the club if we voluntarily shut down the outside range until the expert could verify it. He told them it would be impossible to do since a number of PD's have already been scheduled to use it, as well as scheduled shoots, as well as notifying the nearly 400 members. Since we don't know how long it's going to take to get this expert there, we can't just shut the range down until this is over. We have 4 PD's who use the range, as well as the Sheriff's department and the State Police. We can't shut down to screw up their qual's.

The reporter for the Tribune was there and he was speaking to one of the home owners after the meeting. I don't believe that he spoke to any of the club members, so it will be interesting to see what the story is in the paper tomorrow. I may need to take out my poison pen to refute his telling of the story. I do so enjoy using that poison pen when it's needed, and if he doesn't tell the truth, or bends it for knee jerk emotional reaction like he did in his other story, I'll just have to shred him.

This is a warning for other clubs (some of which already have run in to this type of problem, but mostly from noise) to watch out for development in their area. Oh yeah - almost forgot to mention.... There's a development of $500K + houses going up right next to our club (on the other side of the ranges). Last year after building began on them, one of our members went to look at them as a prospective buyer (keep in mind, we had already talked with the developer the year before and on a couple of occaisons). When he asked the builder about the gun range, he was told, "Don't worry about them. Next year I'll own it."
Are any of you beginning to smell something here???? I most certainly do.
 
"letting 12 year olds run through the woods with guns".

I received my first gun on my tenth birthday. A feather-weight single shot 20 gauge. I'd been hunting with my father (without carrying a gun) as early as I can remember. Certainly at least by age 5. About that time he let me fire the gun, too (more like look down the barrel and pull the trigger as it was on his shoulder).

By the time I had received that first gun, I'd been through 1 NRA course, 1 Boy Scout and attended Camp Jordan, which was a week long YMCA sponsored conservation camp that included hunting, fishing, and gun safety until the hippies got to it and removed the gun program. Can you imagine that? Removing the one aspect that familiarizes children from guns, when that is the one action most likely to save them should they come across one. That was all training beyond the normal day to day part of my life that guns were.

Anyway, sorry that out of your great post that is the one thing that set me off. 12 year olds are perfectly capable of safely carrying and using a gun. Gun safety starts with familiarity and education. Not fear and intrigue. You can't keep your children from guns. It's impossible in todays society. Protect your children through exposure. Immunize them through education. Only then will they know what to do when they come in contact with a gun for the first time.
 
Good luck with that. We've been fighting our own battle at one of the ranges I belong to. Mostly noise comlaints at the moment but there have been similar issues of found bullets.(also unfired) A range in Yarmouth, ME has also been in the paper with the issue of a round leaving the range.

CD
 
Story Update:

It's not in the online version (although I don't know why since it's in the paper - front page above the fold, however...) otherwise I would post it here. It's too long for me to retype it. The reporter did a fairly decent job reporting the story, although he did err on a couple points, but not major ones. He did mention that the holes in one house were due to wood peckers and that a neighbor told the Sgt. that they have problems with them all the time. However, he did not mention that the other bullet that was found had never been fired. I plan on writing a letter to the editor regarding that, but all in all, the story isn't bad and he got the majority of the main points correct and quoted our secretary correctly.
 
Range

I'd seriously suggest you get someone from JPL development in from Texas and put togther a plan for putting Chapter 40B affordable housing on the land, so the city council knows they have a choice.
 
Developers

This is a warning for other clubs (some of which already have run in to this type of problem, but mostly from noise) to watch out for development in their area. Oh yeah - almost forgot to mention.... There's a development of $500K + houses going up right next to our club (on the other side of the ranges). Last year after building began on them, one of our members went to look at them as a prospective buyer (keep in mind, we had already talked with the developer the year before and on a couple of occaisons). When he asked the builder about the gun range, he was told, "Don't worry about them. Next year I'll own it."
Are any of you beginning to smell something here???? I most certainly do.
Send the developer and the developer's sales agent a certified letter w/return reciept requested stating that:

  • 1. The club has been operating for X years, and plans on continuing to do so.

    2. MGL exempts you from noise ordinances enacted after the club was put into operation.

    3. Your current range rules permit shooting between XX:XXand YY:YY on outdoor ranges, however, nothing in this letter shall be construed as an agreement to any limitations on club activity not mandated by law.

    4. You request that they inform all prospective purchasers of this as some buyers may consider it a relevant issue in their purchase decision. Also request that they inform buyers that the club has no plans sell the property and has not entered into any negotiations for sale.

    5. You will be providing a copy of this letter and the certified receipt to any home buyer who the club learns is "surprised" that their new house is near a gun club.
Real estate agents are required to disclose known defects to prospecitve buyers. While a gun range is not a "defect", an agent is probably going to think twice before forgetting to mention it or lying to a prospecitve buyer if they have been put on notice in a documentable and confirmable way.
 
I have to say, suggesting Chapter 40B housing is the most
clever thing I have heard of yet. That would send them
running scared (if they beleived you were serious).

F
 
40B

My local gun club is 186 acres which does not place any burden on the school system, needs almost no police patrols, and pays taxes in excess of the services we use from the town. Where else is the town going to get someone to keep a 186 acres of land bordering 495 and within 3 miles of the Mass Pike completely undeveloped? The road to the club can barely handle the traffic to the new developments as it is ... I'd guess that most people would rather drive by a lot of empty land with some occasional shooting than by a fully populated subdivision.

If you are going to play the 40B card, you need a profesisonal developer with a track record of ramming these projects down the throats of towns that don't want them. A town will understand that once you have contracted with JPL or a similar firm to do a 40B, that they *will* do it, and that you cannot back out once a contract is signed. If you claim you'll do it youself, they'll just laugh.

It's a doomsday weapon, but a powerful one. It is also appropriate karma, since a 40B would give the liberals the scoioeconomic diversity they crave, and they will not have to bear the burden of having their children associate only with other kids whose parents work for a living.
 
Re: 40B

Rob Boudrie said:
If you are going to play the 40B card, you need a profesisonal developer with a track record of ramming these projects down the throats of towns that don't want them. A town will understand that once you have contracted with JPL or a similar firm to do a 40B, that they *will* do it, and that you cannot back out once a contract is signed. If you claim you'll do it youself, they'll just laugh.

It's a doomsday weapon, but a powerful one. It is also appropriate karma, since a 40B would give the liberals the scoioeconomic diversity they crave, and they will not have to bear the burden of having their children associate only with other kids whose parents work for a living.

Stockard Engler Brigham has done more than half of the 40B projects in Mass. If you're seriously considering 40B, their name would carry a lot of weight.
 
It's been pretty good so far. After the pistol range was updated, we had an expert come in and certify that the range was safe (they, the neighbors, picked the expert, btw), and then we had an open house for the neighbors to come and see the range and all the improvements that were made to it. They seemed happy. Oh yeah - we also got two of them to apply for membership. :D

There are still 1 or 2 (not in the neighborhood I might add) that would like to see us shut down, but tough cookies to them.
 
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