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"Shoot into the berm, dammit."
That is just not good enough any more. If there is any way a bullet can escape from the range, the range may not be permitted.. Even if a shooter has to stand on his head and point the rifle straight up to create a danger, if it can be done, it will be a strike against the range plans.
But your biggest problem will not be technical. As soon as the antis hear of a proposal for a new or expanded range, they send in teams of "experts" to plant newspaper articles about the extreme danger, millions of bullets slaughtering innocent babies, etc. Opposing Letters to the Editor, churned out in DC, will appear in the local press, and envelopes bulging with anti-gun cash may mysteriously turn up in the mail boxes of local officials who would have to approve the range. To counter that, your PR effort will be enormous, even in what you might think of as "gun friendly" country.
And don't be deceived by conditions at existing ranges. Many have been there for years and have been grandfathered; to build the same range in the same place today would be impossible. Further, many club ranges, especially shotgun ranges, have older and wealthy members who are politically influential. You need to ask how many of your potential customers will work for you - attend council hearings, write letters countering the anti propaganda effort, contribute to court costs, etc.
I have been at some newer ranges built to conform to current guidelines. Shooters fire from a fixed bench, with the gun in a fixed rest, into a dark tunnel, with only the target lit. A really depressing, to me, environment.
Jim
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