[Brian Pfleuger]

Although it doesn't involve automatic weapons, I recently experienced a similar situation and my reaction to your situation would have been the same...

3 of us were at my uncles house on a Sunday afternoon, shooting a variety of guns. Long story short, state police show up and said someone was complaining that we shouldn't be shooting on a Sunday night.

The officer was clearly not interested in being there at all. He even looked at his watch, made a slight smirk and said "I wouldn't exactly call it night..." He was totally on our side, clearly only there because he couldn't ignore a complaint.

My uncle gave him his name and phone number and asked the officer to tell the complainer that he'd be happy to talk to them and if they prefer he shoot on some other night all they need do is ask... but if he didn't hear from them he was going to make it a POINT to shoot more often on Sunday.

I would respond the exact same way to this complainer. Is there a rational compromise?

Is it a "We have Boy Scouts on Wednesday and we'd rather you didn't shoot your autos that night." Ok, no problem.

If it's "I don't like your guns and want you to go away because you're evil."

Well, guess what? I'd be at THAT range, every chance I got. Kiss my grits.