Range mishap at Southborough Rod and Gun Club

[LoginName]

Gotta love the way the press places special emphasis on the type of firearm that was involved...

A 16-year-old girl narrowly escaped being shot last month when a bullet fired from a semiautomatic military rifle from a nearby shooting range shattered her bedroom window and landed in a pile of laundry.

Perri Meldon was at her desk in her Saddle Hill Road home April 14 when she heard a loud pop as the .30-caliber round blasted through a double-pane window next to her bed.

At first, the Meldons did not know what had happened. They called police, who blamed an errant golf ball. The family lives across the street from Hopkinton Country Club.

It was not until the next day that Perri and her mother, Robin, found the bullet, which was eventually traced back to the Southborough Rod and Gun Club on Fruit Street - roughly three-quarters of a mile away.

"It's freakish. That's what's so scary - how freakish it is," Robin Meldon said yesterday. "Every time I go out in my yard and hear the guns, I think, 'Oh, my God.' "

According to police, the bullet, a steel-core, full-metal-jacket round, was fired from an SKS rifle, a semiautomatic military weapon once used by the Soviet army.

The bullet bounced off an earthen berm at the gun club's firing range, crossed the golf course and hit the Meldon home, said Rich Fitzgerald, the president of the rod and gun club.

"We're very concerned with what happened. We're striving to make sure it doesn't happen again," he said.

The club has permanently banned the type of ammunition that hit the Meldon home. It is also doubling the size of the berms that sit behind the targets on the range and moving them closer to the targets to more effectively stop bullets.

The gun club's Web site says the club purchased 80 acres from a nearby farmer in 1946. At that time the acreage was in a remote area. Fitzgerald, who has been with the club for over a decade, said, "To his knowledge, nothing like this has ever happened before."

"If you're shooting lead (bullets), we don't feel we have a problem with skipping because it's going to impact and stay," Fitzgerald said.

The club will continue to allow the SKS to be fired at the range. In fact, Fitzgerald said some club members use rifles that are more powerful than the SKS.

Robin Meldon and her husband, Jerry, questioned why the club allows any high-powered, military weapons like the SKS. Robin said she hopes to meet with police and club officials to learn more about the issue. She wants assurances her neighborhood is safe.

"I don't know why they're doing high-powered rifles in a very populated area," she said. "Especially even if there's a chance this could happen. I don't think it's necessary."

Fitzgerald, however, insisted the problem is not the type of weapon, but the type of ammunition that was used. "If we ban this type of a gun, then what's the next one?" he said.

The town has no authority to control the gun club's actions, Police Chief Tom Irvin said. The club does not have a local permit and is not required to undergo safety inspections.

When asked if residents in the area should be worried, Irvin said: "I think it's safer in light of the changes the club has agreed to make, and I would not, if I lived on Saddle Hill Road - I wouldn't be worrying about continuing to live there because there's a gun club nearby."

http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/homepage/x176381018

 

[JonJ]

How long before the movement to close the club?

 

[ICZEOZN]

"I don't know why they're doing high-powered rifles in a very populated area," she said. "Especially even if there's a chance this could happen. I don't think it's necessary."

I can picture the moonbat now! Ahh! Make it stop!

Anyway, it sounds like the gun club was in the area long before the Meldon's. If they have a problem with it, then they can move.

These things happen. Oh well...

 

[tele_mark]

"I don't know why they're doing high-powered rifles in a very populated area," she said. "Especially even if there's a chance this could happen. I don't think it's necessary."

I don't know why they allowed houses to be built near a gun club that's existed since the area was undeveloped wilderness. Especially even if there's a chance this could happen. I don't think it's necessary to buy a house in that area.

 

[matt]

oh man... I was worried about this happening at my range...

There was a guy there who was shooting an AR that hadn't been sighted in yet, but he swore his friend had already sighted it in. He was aiming at a target at the bottom of a 25' birm and hitting the top of birm at 100yds...

Seeing the little puffs of sand up there left me with a sick feeling. It was hitting right at the top. I wouldn't be surprised if one went over. He didn't realize what was happening until he'd fired maybe 20 rounds....

 

[noelephant]

They built a school near the gun club I'm a member of. If something like this ever happens there they will freak out. I say move the school!

 

[Scrivener]

Why are they so quick to blame the bullet composition?

The far more likely source of the problem was the shooter aiming far too high.

 

[matt]

Why are they so quick to blame the bullet composition?

The far more likely source of the problem was the shooter aiming far too high.

No no no!!! the problem is that it was a military rifle, and a russian one at that!! ugh... aiming too high... that couldn't POSSIBLY be the problem...

 

[EddieCoyle]

Why are they so quick to blame the bullet composition?

The far more likely source of the problem was the shooter aiming far too high.

I was thinking the same thing. All it would take is some idiot taking a pot shot at a bird or something and the situation could repeat itself regardless of the bullet.

Fortunately, the ranges at my club are situated so that there are three or so miles of woods and wetlands behind the berm before you'd come to any dwelling.

 

[JonJ]

oh man... I was worried about this happening at my range...

There was a guy there who was shooting an AR that hadn't been sighted in yet, but he swore his friend had already sighted it in. He was aiming at a target at the bottom of a 25' birm and hitting the top of birm at 100yds...

Seeing the little puffs of sand up there left me with a sick feeling. It was hitting right at the top. I wouldn't be surprised if one went over. He didn't realize what was happening until he'd fired maybe 20 rounds....

If he knew what he was doing, he should have been sighting it at 25 yds.

We had rounds over the berm at Plymouth. A no sky barrier has pretty much taken care of that. The barrier does have holes in it though

 

[SKS Ray]

I remember hearing about a woman nearby my area that took empty shell casings, hammered them into the side of her house, and tried telling cops they were bullets that hit her house.
I think that happened at the Woodcock range in Dartmouth. Things are so strict down there that you have to log into a book when you shoot what type of ammo you are using, bullet, weight, etc. When I headr of that and was shown the book, I knew right then and there I wasn't going to bother to join.

 

[rscalzo]

We are all kidding ourselves by saying that the residents of the houses should move because "we were there first". It isn't going to work that way. Nashua F&G is under pressure because of the surrounding commercial developements. Lone Pine has been shut down for over a year and to date has spent six figures fighting the lawsuit by the surrounding residential homeowner's group. M7y club in Barrington is concerned as a large farm ajacent to the club is for sale. If housing were to be built, we see nothing but problems ahead although the range orientation would prevent any stray bullets from hitting them.

We are also concerned that all high power shooters be aware of their muzzle when closing the bolt or their point of aim. One mistake can destroy a club quicker than anyone would believe.

 

[Prepper]

I remember hearing about a woman nearby my area that took empty shell casings, hammered them into the side of her house, and tried telling cops they were bullets that hit her house.

In addition to filing a false police report, she should get a mandatory 1 year in jail for possession of ammunition components without having a LTC. (As amazing as it seems, it's illegal in MA to have even a single casing without a LTC, even if all you did was find the casing in the woods and thought it'd make a cool whistle.)

 

[Marcus in the Darkus]

I'm a member there and this is serious stuff. I take it they are referring to a 7.62 x 39 round, which could've been from an AK as well. I fired up Google Earth and measured the distance from the firing line to one of three houses that are along Saddle Hill Road, pretty much directly in the line of fire. The distance measured out to be 1,300 yards. The elevation of the firing line is 269 feet, and that of the house is about 343 feet. Can anybody tell me, ballistically, what kind of an angle to the horizon would be needed to explain this?

 

[Ripach]

Originally Posted by Milsurps 4 Me
I remember hearing about a woman nearby my area that took empty shell casings, hammered them into the side of her house, and tried telling cops they were bullets that hit her house.

In addition to filing a false police report, she should get a mandatory 1 year in jail for possession of ammunition components without having a LTC. (As amazing as it seems, it's illegal in MA to have even a single casing without a LTC, even if all you did was find the casing in the woods and thought it'd make a cool whistle.)

+1 She should have been prosecuted. As for the incident at Southborough, at least the police chief isn't screaming about shutting it down, and hopefully quick action toward berm modifications will save the club. Good luck brothers.

 

[Len-2A Training]

Don't know, the news media reported (channel 4) tonight that the golf course says "it's time for the gun range to go"!

Looks like trouble brewing for the club, big time!

I can tell you that the laws don't do much to protect against a Town Meeting and Town Fathers taking actions against a gun club. I've been there before, and in fact I'm there again at another very large club now!

 

[AntiqueWeapons.org]

Thank god the girl nor anyone else was hit.
What kind of berm do they have there? Kind of difficult for a bullet to bounce off unless it's a hard flat surface.. If it's an earthen mound/hill, unlikely it bounced..(unless of course there's a big rock there.) I agree with Scrivener.. Shooter was probably aiming too high & maybe shot right over the berm.

What's next, they're going to want to ban all 7mm rounds.. a 7mm round can travel a little over 5 miles.. even a 30.06 can go over 4 miles.

Hell, using Marcus' calculations, that house could be hit with a 22 lhv, or even a 22 short for that matter.

 

[Rob Boudrie]

40B

 

[Weerd Beard]

since when is an SKS a "High-Powered Rifle"?

Pretty sure its an "itermediate Powered" one

Like Scriv, I fail to see how the steel-core makes much of a difference...

-Weer'd Beard

 

[MaverickNH]

When my parents moved to Brooksville, FL - out in the boonies - my Dad was wondering about what insects were eating holes in the house. Noting they had vinyl siding, I pulled off some siding and found some lead embedded in the wood. As it turned out, a neighbor way down the road had a habit of sitting on the porch and shooting down trees. We just went down, introduced ourselves and mentioned he might not shoot toward the new house down the road. Then we all had some sweet tea and shot down some trees. The big ones take a lot of lead and the small ones are hard to hit.

But up in the Northeast, it's all a bit more serious. No club can afford to buy 5 miles downrange, no developer will halt building downrange and no realtor will disclose what they are not legally required to disclose. So new home buyers will always be an issue.

I'd guess you could keep the odds of overshoot low with a minimal effort at range improvements (knowing that even minimal efforts cost $1000s for heavy machinery and fill). Reducing the odds further is very hard and very, very costly.

At least at NFGA, the issue was used to force out the Practical shooting disciplines, as the premise was that, since you can't move, draw and fire down a series concrete sewerpipes leading toward targets, the practice was inherently unsafe and should be prohibited. Very sad.

 

[win308]

We are all kidding ourselves by saying that the residents of the houses should move because "we were there first". It isn't going to work that way. Nashua F&G is under pressure because of the surrounding commercial developements. Lone Pine has been shut down for over a year and to date has spent six figures fighting the lawsuit by the surrounding residential homeowner's group. M7y club in Barrington is concerned as a large farm ajacent to the club is for sale. If housing were to be built, we see nothing but problems ahead although the range orientation would prevent any stray bullets from hitting them.

We are also concerned that all high power shooters be aware of their muzzle when closing the bolt or their point of aim. One mistake can destroy a club quicker than anyone would believe.

We are all victims of the economic pressure of commercial and residential developments in the Eastern part of the state. A long time ago (~20 years) we used to hunt for deers in Sudbury. Today farm lands and nurseries have been replaced by million dollars houses and there is no more room to hunt. Rail-trails are being built so that the occupants of the million dollars houses can take walks in the nature ... on asphalt. You don't want to get dirt on your shoes when you live a a million dollar house! Gun clubs that used to be in the middle of nowhere are now surrounded by houses and will eventually fold under the pressure.

 

[Erebus]

In addition to filing a false police report, she should get a mandatory 1 year in jail for possession of ammunition components without having a LTC. (As amazing as it seems, it's illegal in MA to have even a single casing without a LTC, even if all you did was find the casing in the woods and thought it'd make a cool whistle.)

That's funny because at the Fitchburg Air Show every year the Air Force was always represented and they would give out empty casings from the A-10 's gun. I had one on my desk for years with pens and pencils in it.

This incident was talked about on Mike Barnicle's radio show this morning on 96.9 and they went on and on how no one should have semi-autos and basically hammered the club. THey didn't even realize it was from a range, they thought it was from someone hunting. One of the most ignorant diatribes I have heard in a long time.

 

[Transporter]

The news story that ran on Ch 7 last night made it sound like the incident just happened, not happened a month ago. They also said the round traveled for a mile before hitting the house. And no, I don't believe anything the media says.

So why is this all of a sudden a major news story a month after it happened?

 

[dwarven1]

Slow news day?

 

[Rob Boudrie]

But up in the Northeast, it's all a bit more serious. No club can afford to buy 5 miles downrange, no developer will halt building downrange and no realtor will disclose what they are not legally required to disclose. So new home buyers will always be an issue.

I'd guess you could keep the odds of overshoot low with a minimal effort at range improvements (knowing that even minimal efforts cost $1000s for heavy machinery and fill). Reducing the odds further is very hard and very, very costly.

If a development is going up near your range, it's a good idea to send a certified letter to the sales agent stating that you exist; you are exempt from noise regulations; you plan on continuing your lawful activities; and that you request all potential purchasers be notified of this as they may consider it relevant to their purchase decision. It then becomes very difficult for the agent to pretend you don't exist.

It's like when the agent says "I am required to disclose all defects I know about to the buyer. Have you ever had termites or water in the basement?" Once you say "yes", they are professionally and legally obligated to volunteer the info.

------------------------

One virtual berm that I have seen at a range near a development was a cinder block wall in front of the shooting benches that contained holes giving a clear view to the targets. The wall was high enough that even someone "coming down on to the target" would point at the wall, rather than over the berm. If the wall is located 15 ft from the shooter and the top edge extends 4 feet above the horizontal from the muzzle, this is the equivalent of a 80 ft berm. Make the wall higher or move it closer and you have a much taller virtual berm.

 

[pdm]

Great. I joined SRG just this year and it isn't exactly cheap. If they get shut down because the local newsies have it in for shooters, I'm gonna be pissed.

 

[Cabinetman]

It's up to all of us to combat this problem!

This type of event is a problem that should be discussed at every single club's next meeting. And, there should be a permanent poster mounted at every club's shooting range warning shooters about aiming over the berm .

I've seen this addressed at other clubs I've visited. What some clubs have done is to erect a "barrier" overhead of each shooting lane. It's nothing more than a 3/4" piece of pressure treated ply on two pylons. When the shooter is at the shooting position or table, he has a clear sight of the target down range between the legs of the overhead barrier. However, if he were to raise the muzzle of his rifle, it would point at the barrier overhead before it was able to shoot over the berm behind the target. It's just a matter of geometry. If, for some reason, that rifle were to go off when it was aiming over the target and berm, the bullet would strike the overhead barrier first at least slowing it down if not tearing it a part. I clearly recall seeing some holes in one of the barriers which means that was one bullet that didn't get away. That's a cheap fix for some clubs. Other clubs, like mine, have a covered shooting position which has an overhang that would act in much the same way as an erected barrier.

In southwestern NH where my buddy shoots, an event similar to this one happened but in his case, a 7.62 round from either an SKS or AK traveled about 2 miles and punctured a tire on a tractor. The farmer was standing right next to it! From what they can tell the shooter was not a member of the club but was able to get into the club’s property. So, there's a case where it wasn't even a club member at fault but a trespasser. Still, there were many feathers to be smoothed after that incident.

With all the pressure from encroaching developments around club fields, it would behoove each and every one of us to do what we can to ensure that bullets don’t fly away. But this doesn’t mean draconian measures but some simple planning so you can show outsiders that you’re doing something proactively.

Rome

 

[Patriot]

But up in the Northeast, it's all a bit more serious. No club can afford to buy 5 miles downrange, no developer will halt building downrange and no realtor will disclose what they are not legally required to disclose. So new home buyers will always be an issue.

In Massachusetts that is a legally acceptable reason to sue a real estate agency.
Disclosure is mandatory and the location of a gun range would, in my
book, be a mandatory disclosure. I would think the the owners of the house
would have a real good case for recourse within the court system if bullets
are hitting their house because they are located downrange of the gun club
and that wasn't disclosed to them when buying.

 

[hminsky]

Could be worse, did you read about the big fire in New Jersey at a military bombing range. Well, the news article dropped this reference

With the dry conditions, strong wind gusts quickly fanned the blaze through the Warren Grove Gunnery Range about 25 miles north of Atlantic City.

No deaths or injuries had been attributed to the fire, but it forced the evacuation of about 2,500 homes along the border between Ocean and Burlington counties. Lt. Col. James Garcia, a spokesman for the New Jersey Air National Guard, said the fire was believed to have been started Tuesday afternoon with a flare dropped from an F-16 fighter jet.

The same range was involved when a National Guard jet accidentally strafed an elementary school with large-caliber rounds in 2004 during a training exercise.

 

[Len-2A Training]

TBP, it is usually a "he said, she said" scenario and thus hard to prove.

Sharon F&G learned that real estate agents were telling abutting home buyers that "the club would be closed down within 6 months" and not to worry. Told to a BOD member by a new neighbor. [This was in the 1980s.]

Braintree R&P made Messina put it in the deed documents for his condos (nobody reads them). Recently a BR&P member "took a tour" of the condos and was told that the club's ranges aren't "active"!

I knew and still know a lot of real estate agents. Most will lie thru their teeth to make a sale in the residential market. Going after their licenses for misrepresentation is very unlikely to happen and they know it. In CT I had just cause to do that to the owner of a listing RE agency, instead I deep-sixed the deal, told off the listing broker and just let it go (this was 1972-3).