Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins
I hear you. That is exactly the kind of thing we will not tolerate. Number one, all shots must remain on target or they will be asked to move it closer until they do. Number two, no rapid fire - two seconds between shots.
We get criticism for the latter from the folks who claim they cannot run realistic defensive drills. To make matters "worse" for this crowd, we do not allow anyone to draw from the holster to shoot, nor do we allow anyone to reholster any gun after having fired it on our range. It is here where far too many people shoot themselves in the leg, or the concrete floor right next to them, and so forth.
We do recognize a need for that kind of practice. Unfortunately, we are not set up to accommodate them. We are accused of being "fuddy duddy" set in our ways old farts but - see above. No injuries. Ever. We simply cannot afford a single "accident" of any kind. See below...
Yup. We have been the victims of "suburban encroachment". Even when I joined, some 35 years ago, we were still well out in the woods. We are now surrounded on three sides by housing developments, with a gravel pit across the road being the fourth side. We are situated mere blocks outside of the most notoriously anti-gun county in our state (King County, home of Seattle) in probably the third most anti-gun county in our state, Snohomish County.
Many years ago King County found itself in need of a new sewage treatment plant (aka "turd farm"). Their County Executive placed our site on his final list of three candidates, even though it lies outside of King County. The only things that saved us were the fact that we are the only site in a multi-county area that provides a location for the firearms training of law enforcement personnel, for one, and secondly, our neighbors. They actually love us. We have been fantastic neighbors. Much, much better in their estimation than a new turd farm - for the neighboring county. What an insult.
We have developed an outstanding relationship with the law enforcement communities in our area. We are all they have. They come to us or they do not shoot. What a horrible, untenable situation for their various counties and municipalities to have placed them. Alas, such is the anti-gun fervor in this area (but please, I don't want to get into that). We could actually really "bend them over" through usage fees and the like, since we are the only game in town. But we don't. They shoot for free, even to the point of us shutting down our members' only range and hours to accommodate them. We bend over backwards to help them. That relationship paid off in a big, big way.
Much of our good relationship with our neighbors is attributable to how we run our ranges. The fact that they do not see emergency responders showing up with sirens on, the fact that they have never read about an "accident" (most really aren't) at our club. Our rifle and pistol ranges are sufficiently baffled so as to keep the neighbors from complaining about the noise. It is audible outside of our property, of course, but we keep very "neighbor friendly" hours. What they don't need to hear is some "rat a tat tat" nonsense emanating from our range.
So, yeah, in spite of dramatic encroachment, we're hanging in there. Growing, even. I attribute our success to our absolutely diligent adherence to our own rules, and a rule set that takes into account just where we are located.
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