Building a new club range

G

Greyfox

Active member
After 54 years renting/leasing from TVA the Gallatin Gun Club has had it's agreement revoked due to the changing political climate. It's time for us to locate and buy a piece of ground for a new rifle, rimfire and pistol range. This appears to not be as easy as it may have been not so long ago. Although our part of the state of Tennessee has a fair amount of rural land, everything must be approved by a zoning board and this is in every county around us as far as we can determine. We have the NRA manual for such and a very competent attorney who specializes in 2nd amendment matters. He is also a club member. The activities chairmen are the primary search committee. I, with the club secretary visited one piece of property last Sunday and will look at another in the next few days.

What I am asking of you guys is what you may have run up against recently doing the same things? I know new clubs are being formed around the country and the current politics make such things difficult. I would appreciate know wing what you have dealt with as far as pitfalls as well as opportunities. You can post here as it will probably benefit more than the GGC or if you prefer you could email me directly tnmountainaire@bellsouth.net.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts,
Rick Fox
Gallatin Gun Club
 
Know your adjoining property owners.

Some problems I have seen: They will wait until you are finished building then bring a law suite. They will buy the adjoining property and bring a law suite. After they exhaust all other environmental stuff they will come after your minor use permit, looking for violations. There are some really hateful people out there and they are really afraid of us. The environmental document could take YEARS! That is why old military bases are great.

Get the NRA involved ASAP. You will most likely need their legal consul.

Yikes! This is going to be tuff. "After 54 years renting/leasing from TVA the Gallatin Gun Club has had it's agreement revoked due to the changing political climate."
 
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New Range

contact the NRA......... they have staffing that are experts....... also.....have your club buy an NRA Rangebook........also in CD`s......... a wealth of knowledge covered..........
bill
 
Make sure you can buy enough land behind the back stops

Towns have a way of taking rural property and rezoning property behind the back stops.

I'Ve see it happen

Also make sure it far enough away from towns. Local government has a habit of using unused land for Parks.

They can squeeze your range out.
 
GerryM speaks of a REAL concern here. Get a signed agreement with no end date from all the folks you can muster....city, county, state, etc... You'll need an attorney that can "see" what needs to be done and you can "see" whether the attorney is the right choice. Sure, this costs a lot of money but compared to losing the range in a couple of years...it's not at all stupid.
 
Thanks for the comments so far. These are all things that we are already aware of. As I said in the OP, we do have an attorney who already represents other gun clubs and who is active in 2nd amendment issues. We do have the NRA guidelines, manual and CD's. We are aware of the need for as much land as possible and are already looking at the largest parcels available. We will not be close to any municipalities as, for one thing, the land is much too expensive and the noise issues are just not possible to deal with. We are looking for things that are not immediately apparent that others have dealt with. One thing that was mentioned is buying land before it has been zoned for us. That absolutely will not happen.

Thanks again,
Rick
 
Although I know nothing about laws in the east, some food for thought with regards to how things work where I live in Colorado:

Make absolutely sure the land you are interested in is properly zoned.

Then get yourself a copy of the land use regulations asap and go thru them with a fine tooth comb. Once clearly understood, set up a meeting with the folks who administer them. Communicate with them open, honestly and often. They should be able to tell you in detail EXACTLY what requirements, studies, data, permissable areas etc. will be needed to comply with their regulations.

Generally with regards to land use regs, once you have complied with the requirements, the gov't staff should become your advocate at the public planning commission meetings and Commissioner meetings.

Specifically ask about any requirements with permissable noise limits at property lines or set distances from the lines.

Also ask them about any state or local protection laws/ordinances for your use should neighbors later complain about the noise/dangers, real or perceived as well as any nuisance laws.

Determine if there will be any adequacy requirements for roads and such, roads are not cheap to construct.
 
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