Historical Range Under Attack

[Hip's Ax]

I found this on the net and made a donation. I've shot Blue Trail and shopped in their gun store and I do not like the idea of the Lymans being treated in such a manner one bit.

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Historical Range Under Attack-- You Can Help!

Historic Blue Trail Range in Wallingford, CT, is currently fighting for its very existence. Battling biased reporting, half-assed investigating, and a law suit from a greedy developer, they need YOUR help if they are to take a stand.

In operation since the 1940's, there is a good chance that this range will be bankrupted by its efforts to fight to stay open. NOW is the time for action. Now is when you can make a difference. Don't wait to lament the closing of another range-- Do something!

The following sites will give you more information on the situation and what you can do. Please, help save this beautiful facility. The Lyman family has contributed to the shooting sports for decades. Now, we can give back. Click on the websites below, and do what you can!

www.savebluetrailrange.org

http://brrange2008.blogspot.com

www.MyRecordJournal.com
www.nhrigister.com
www.hartfordcourant.com

[Buckshot]

...............Okay, I sent a PayPal donation for the same amount I did to our local range, which is fighting the same battle. In our case the range is located on BLM land and the rifle and pistol ranges face east. They extend to 200 meters. The shotgun range faces north. A developer is wanting to develope property to our north and north east.

Since the range has been there since the 1930's, and is the only shooting range in the east valley we had beat one attack by a lady living to the north in an association subdivision. I don't recall if she'd recruited any others, but she did raise a big stink. She said she'd found spent bullets in her front yard.

Naturally it recieved newspaper coverage. Arrangements were made and a reporter came by and viewed the range while it was in operation. Plus they got a rundown on the ranges history, number of members, and the number of users and the area it supported. The reporter and the off duty rangemaster (we have 2 full time paid rangemasters) had made arrangements to meet with the gal that had gas over the range.

She could produce no spent bullets (possibly they had evaporated in the meantime?) plus her property was such that any bullets that could have landed in her yard would have had to have made a radical direction change while in flight. Out of this the paper published a VERY positive and supportive editorial as to the utility of the range. That was the last we heard of this issue.

The developer on the other hand is probably well aware of how long the range has been there, in addition to all the other details. He has taken the tack that his suit is being brought to have the range shut down due to it's being unsafe. We ARE without doubt in close proximity to a highly developed area. His real concern as a developer is probably the noise as the shotgun line does face north. Plus a high powered rifle, or pistol going off does create a relatively loud noise.

I think part of his attack has spent bullets being also an issue which could be very real. The range is located in the flood plain of the Santa Anna Riverbed and as a consequense is rocky. The Board of Directors had taken steps to mitigate this viewing the development sprawl, and have developed new rules for shooting out to the 200 yard line. The BLM is pretty much on our side as the range has been a trouble free leessee for over 70 years, yet they also have to view the evidence and apparently cannot openly support the range other then testifying it has been toruble free etc, & etc. The fight goes on.

.................Buckshot

[bullshot]

Just made my donation to save Blue Trail Range. I started my shooting experience at the Blue Trail Range 47 years ago. Although I don't shoot there very much(belong to a couple clubs closer to home) the range needs to be saved. It is the only public range in Ct. We all should be concerned as with all shooting sports activities , when something happens to one it sets a precedence. If you can find it in your heart and of course your wallet any donation will be appreciated. And no I have no affiliation with Blue Trail Range although I am a customer of the gun shop.

[Morgan Astorbilt]

Folks,
I hope you all have better luck than we did trying to save the Wolf Creek Olympic Shooting Facility. This was the 1996 Olympic shooting venue. A state of the art facility, with millions of dollars worth of electronic targets(Sius Ascor), indoor big TV screens, grandstands, projection scoring systems, and everything else that was available that year. Almost all the target equiptment. was donated by the manufacturer or other shooting sports organizations. Since the Olympics, we (Members of USA Shooting) Had been using the facility for our monthly PTO's(Preliminary try outs) for a position on the US Shooting Team, and other local shooters, including school teams used the facility, the major use was the trap and skeet ranges, by local clubs. To make a long story short, the local Fulton County(Atlanta) politicians managed to take the facility away from us, refusing any purchase or leasing agreements we offered. They put the electronic target equiptment., which included sophisticated computers, out in the weather to rot. Our organizing the Save Wolf Creek action committee, was unsuccessful in thwarting this travesty. The property is now used as a storage facility, and to train Atlanta PD and Fire. I used to drive to Atlanta, from my home in western North Carolina every month, to attend these PTO's, and one year actually scored high enough to make the Nationals. No small feat for an old fart over sixty! The absence of any facilities within an hour or two, has caused me to drop out of International-Style Pistol Shooting.

Morgan

[IcerUSA]

I made my donation today .

Keith

[Dave Berryhill]

Wasn't there a federal law passed a few years ago protecting ranges from this type of attack? You might want to check with the NRA and see if they can offer any resources.

[MtGun44]

This can be a wakeup call for other shooters. I am a founding member of
the Kansas Sportsmen's Alliance, a registered PAC and we have spent the last
15 or so years working on gun issues with the KS legislature. It took us a LONG
time to get concealed carry, but on the way, one of our victories was the KS
Range Protection Act. This prevents any 'taking' by the state or local govt for
'any other recreational purpose' and prevents any new noise laws being applied
to an existing range, among other protections.

We had our lawyer work out some basic protective wording and I assisted
in polishing this to make it as protective as we could get passed in the legislature.

KSA also got firearms law pre-emption (only the state can make firearms laws so
they are consistent), castle doctrine and CCW very much due to our member's
efforts. No big issues right now but we are orgainzed, known in the legislature,
and ready to work.

Best possible luck keeping your range. Any state that does not have a range
protection law should seriously start working on it. Developers and new
neighbors are extremely common in trying to shut down ranges, you need some
protection and it needs to be law far in advance of the conflict.

Bill

[bullshot]

The NRA is involved. They had a team that specializes in problems of this sort there last week. Not privileged to the outcome.