Inland Range to close

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patgarity

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Got some sad news from Millie Berman at Inland Fish and Game. Due to liability that the range incurred in a lawsuit filed by a neighboring property owner the association is being forced to file for bankrupcy. Millie and Tom have run the ARA matches there and hosted the state championship there for the last few years. Inland was a great place to shoot, the 2 day club/state championship was a great event that was put together by the late Mike Desaire and Bill Fay. The hospitality was great, Bill Fays enchiladas made the drive worthwhile. I'm gonna miss the "scoring queens" and the oppourtunity to meet the greats of ARA that traveled to Inland to grab the last big points shoot of the year. Millie said they are not giving up and hope to find another range to keep ARA shoots going in the L.A. area. Thanks to Tom, Millie and the Fay family for all the great times at Inland.
 
This really chaps my hide!!!
To make a long story short, this range has been in existense for over 60 years. Some guy buys the land next to the range and claims he has lead shot on his land. Inland closed down the clay shooting, and the court then awards him 1.5 million to clean it up. Then the same neighbor claims bullets are flying through the neighborhoods with absolutely no proof. The court then requires Inland to raise the back berm, but they do not specify how high. Just high enough. Inland has insurance for this kind of thing, but not enough to cover everything.

Common sense no longer exists in the U.S. A new land owner can move in and basically shut down a range that has been in existence for over 60 years. It just is not right. Thank God I live in a place that is gun friendly. I decided to build a range behind my house, so I did. No permits, no approval from anyone. I do not bother my neighbors and they do not bother me. That is the way it should be.

I really enjoyed my trip last year to shoot at Inland and finish out the year. Tom and Millie ran a great match and had wonderful hospitality. Bill Fay's enchiladas were great. I hope they find another range.
 
Dan,

Couldn't have said it better. When I first read the posting I was wondering about the history of the range etc.... It doesn't make a damn difference for you get someone with the money they can just move in and run you out. We live in the greatest country on this planet, but get money and liberals together and that's a dangerous combination.

Hope they can find a new place.

Les
 
This situation chaps my hide too. We have seen the future for gun ranges and it doesn't look all that good.

Today in many areas, the courts are stacked against shooters. I think an injunction could easily be issued against many gun ranges for many reasons. We need to be aware of this and keep our ranges as clean as possible.

There are two ways to look at the situation. I choose is to look at the ways we can be good neighbors.

Dan, I have seen your range and I notice it is situated in such a way that you shoot away from your house. A neighbor who owns land would surely have a case asking you to stop if he wanted to build a house in an area that could get a stray bullet every now and then.

We need keep our bullets on our ranges or we will lose our ranges one by one.

I wonder if large bullet traps for 22 ranges would be a help. For a cost of less than $500 each, bullet traps could be made large enough for two targets that would catch and contain 22 rimfire bullets. It may be time, on many ranges, to look at expensive measures such as overhead bullet restrictors to keep bullets from going over the berms.

I am sure that others have good ideas.

Concho Bill
 
Bill,

I did not have to get permits or permission from anyone to build my range, but I did not do anything stupid. There is not another road or house for at least another mile over my back berm. My range is also private, so I control the people that come on my range.
 
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Stump's range

Middle Georgia Gun Owners Assn., built bullet traps to stay alive. The monster berm didn't work for rimfire as the bullets hit the ground early and ricocheted over it.

Very sorry to hear of the loss of another range.
 
What they may try at Inland is to.............

capture the "new landowner/developer" some night before a match, and stake him out on the berm next day to "catch" any strays. Then, before they let him go, have a hypnotist convince him he was out for a stroll at the range for lunch. :rolleyes::D:D;)
 
They should turn it into a trailer park and move in every illigal and drug dealer they can find for free. See what that does for the turds property value.
 
Donws2 said:
They should turn it into a trailer park and move in every illigal and drug dealer they can find for free. See what that does for property value.
Click to expand...

In this real world, they should consider selling the land to the highest bidder. They can either retire or buy new acreage further out.

Concho Bill
 
dankillough said:
Bill,

Do you know what you call a boat load of Lawyers at the bottom of the ocean???


A good start:D
I say we begin there.

But on a more serious note, you are right. I did not have to get permits or permission from anyone to build my range, but I did not do anything stupid. There is not another road or house for at least another mile over my back berm. My range is also private, so I control the people that come on my range.
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Dan isn't kidding when he says that he controls the folks that come on his place. He makes us work the fields, chop cotton, herd cattle, paint the barn and all them other ranch chores before he let's us even use the range :D
 
Our ranges are all started with the premiss to provide a safe place to shoot guns. The berms are established and shooting is in a direction where there are no houses, roads, or people.

Fifty years pass and things change. Developers buy the land downrange. It is a good location for a subdivision with one exception, the rifle range next door.

We must be ever aware and considerate of our neighbor's rights around our rifle ranges and make provisions to keep the bullets on our range or we will be looking for another safe place to shoot our guns.

Dan, I sure like that new paint job on your barn.:)

Concho Bill
 
One real problem we are facing, and I don't know what to do to fix it, is the fact that some people seem to lose all common sense when they have a firearm in their hands.

We have an indoor range for rifles with 50 and 100 yard backstops. The ceiling is at least 10', and the sidemost lanes are a good 3' off the walls. But every day there are more bullet holes in the ceiling, and bullet marks on the walls. Some of these are as close as 10' to the benches.

How could anyone shoot that badly? And there are hundreds of marks and holes. I have to believe that most are done purposely.

Now that is indoors, and my guess is that outdoors these same type of people do the same kind of thing only on a greater scale.

You can talk till you're blue in the face, post rules explaining what is not allowed and why, and what the consequenses are. But next day there are more bullet holes, more broken equipment, and no doubt more lead projectiles beyond the Range property lines.

When I catch shooters doing this kind of stuff, they are booted off the range and depending on what they were doing may be banned permanently. But that does not stop others from taking their place and doing the same dumb ass stuff.

All I can do is shake my head and mutter "what the hell is wrong with these people".

John Harris
 
People in General

gordon gauge said:
One real problem we are facing, and I don't know what to do to fix it, is the fact that some people seem to lose all common sense when they have a firearm in their hands.

We have an indoor range for rifles with 50 and 100 yard backstops. The ceiling is at least 10', and the sidemost lanes are a good 3' off the walls. But every day there are more bullet holes in the ceiling, and bullet marks on the walls. Some of these are as close as 10' to the benches.

How could anyone shoot that badly? And there are hundreds of marks and holes. I have to believe that most are done purposely.

Now that is indoors, and my guess is that outdoors these same type of people do the same kind of thing only on a greater scale.

You can talk till you're blue in the face, post rules explaining what is not allowed and why, and what the consequenses are. But next day there are more bullet holes, more broken equipment, and no doubt more lead projectiles beyond the Range property lines.

When I catch shooters doing this kind of stuff, they are booted off the range and depending on what they were doing may be banned permanently. But that does not stop others from taking their place and doing the same dumb ass stuff.

All I can do is shake my head and mutter "what the hell is wrong with these people".

John Harris
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John,

Let's face it it doesn't matter what's involved. Driving on our streets, boating on the lake, it's that very small percentage that ruins it and makes it dangerous for all of us.

Les
 
If any bullets or shot is going off club property and landing on someone else's property, they have a legit claim. If you bought property next door to a business and found they had contaminated the property you just bought, which lowered the value of your property, you'd sue them too. Now if it was just a noise complaint, I'd feel differently, but if shot or bullets were leaving this range's property, the club should have either bought that land as a buffer or set-up their operation to keep all spent ammo on club property.
 
I think that we all know that it isn't the attorneys or the courts or the judges who actually cause our ranges to be shut down in most cases. We must not allow bullets leave our ranges and land on the property that we do not own. It is as simple as that. Put yourself in the shoes of your neighbors. How many bullets a year would be too many if it was your property?

We must keep our ranges safe if we are to keep our ranges.

Concho Bill
 
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A very similiar story that happen to HUBCITY RIFLE CLUB in lafayette,la. The club has been there since 1956 and a school was built one mile on the west side of the range. The range shoots in a east direction, but enough politics got the range to shut down,, the school district knew of the range and proceeded forward with the intent to shut the range down and they did it with the help of some crooked politics ...... sad sad world we live in......
Tom i was looking forward to going back to inland and shoot with you guys this year ,, keep me informed of what you all gonna do about the double tournaments in november,,,, good luck buddy ...........Scotty Hebert
 
Our Match Director here at P2k Range, Pat Garity, has expressed some willingness to host the Match here. But he is going to need some gentle persuation. :D
 
If any bullets or shot is going off club property and landing on someone else's property,


Who decides?? Just cause some lead is present, dont mean it came from the range..
 
langenc said:
If any bullets or shot is going off club property and landing on someone else's property,

Who decides?? Just cause some lead is present, dont mean it came from the range..
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Are you suggesting that lead found in the form of many varied types and calibers of bullets next to a gun range was deposited by nature? That sounds like something to say while you are looking for a new place to shoot.

These cases should be a wake up call for us to examine everything about our ranges and make them as safe as we possibly can.

Concho Bill
 
Certainly the club would be suspect. How much lead are we talking about.

A couple bullets could have come from hunters. Lead by its nature will lay in the soil for years and not decompose as it is one of the least active elements.
 
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