Shooting Clubs

[kchamp]

I live in a county in South Alabama and we have a hard time finding a place to shoot without traveling more than an hour to a pay range. A few friends and I have discussed trying to start a shooting club and buying or maybe leasing some land to build a small range. Is there anyone that has gone through a similar process and is there an association that might help out? I know that insurance can be a problem. I was in a bowhunter association years ago and I think we were able to get insurance and help through the association. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[FITASC]

The NRA can help.
There are Federal funds from the Pittman-Robertson Act.
Your main concern (besides safety and noise) will be liability insurance

[Pahoo]

The NRA can help.
There are Federal funds from the Pittman-Robertson Act.
Your main concern (besides safety and noise) will be liability insurance

I have helped set up a few private clubs and the process can get rather involved. As replied, the NRA is a good place to start. Might add that one club range started getting new homes built and that gave us a few challenges that we eventually worked through. I know they still don't want us there ……..

Be Safe !!!

[DaleA]

Good for you! We NEED more places to shoot.

I hope the NRA and folk with real life experience can help you out.

All I've got is stories I've heard about liability insurance in case one of your members hurts themselves or hurts someone in the surrounding area. Zoning issues.

(I am CONSTANTLY amazed at how intrusive zoning laws are...a rural friend lives on a farm in Nowheresville Minnesota, far from any town and he STILL had to get a building permit to put another building on his own farm.)

Are there any neighbors that are going to object to the range? Don't think just because you're totally legal and within the law that a determined anti-gun neighbor can't make this more trouble than it's worth.

What local law enforcement think about this? Again just because you're legal doesn't mean they can't make your life miserable.

Lastly, slob shooters are the bane of every range. What's your plan to keep them out? Realize that membership rules and 'no trespassing' signs won't keep them away from your range.

Good luck and I hope it works out for you.

[FITASC]

What local law enforcement think about this? Again just because you're legal doesn't mean they can't make your life miserable.

You let them train there for free; they leave you alone.

[DaleA]

You let them train there for free; they leave you alone.

That sound eminently reasonable. Kind of like the "common sense" stuff that really is "common sense."

I cannot find the video link to this so disregard it if you want but I remember the neighbors of a gun range calling LE and showing reporters the bullets that they claimed have hit their house since the range opened. Trouble was, for them, that what they showed to the cameras were cartridges. Yup. Unfired cartridges---primer, case and bullet. They claimed these had hit their house from the gun range. Again, since I can't find the link and only "remember" this video you can disregard it if you want to.

[Nathan]

IME, you almost need a lawyer to get it right. That will have some negative consequences too.

We were a rural social club with some shooting. Literally 4 farmers went in on some professional grade trap throwers....drafted up an agreement. Then somehow somebody donated land or they bought it.

Next came a wave of shooters who really wanted to shoot....they had a lawyer too. With that, we quit some bad behaviors, worked with the nra on a range layout, paid a local guy to push dirt, redid our liability policy(I think), made rules and got a real fence. Even as a group of locals, you have to get serious about liability and reducing it. This involves insurance, corporate structure, safety rules, fencing, working with the community, range layout, etc. It is really a lot to work through. I cannot thank those guys enough for there efforts.

The fence wasn’t as much to push people away as it was to make sure people weren’t wandering in to shoot for free and getting hurt.

Yes, local police shoot and eat for free.

slob shooters are the bane of every range. What's your plan to keep them out? Realize that membership rules and 'no trespassing' signs won't keep them away from your range.

I’ve been at ranges where this include members. You have to make sure about 10 rules are always followed. This is critical.

[jgrns]

Having just read over the Pittman-Robertson Act, I find nothing that even suggests that there are funds available for the creation of ranges or the like.
The act exists for the acquisition and creation of habitat.

[FITASC]

PR places a 11% surcharge on sporting goods which is to be used for developing shooting ranges (among other things). My local club out West when I lived there, got several grants from them to devleop a 5-stand and sporting clays facility to go with the trap and sleet fields.

[TXAZ]

Originally Posted by jgrns

Having just read over the Pittman-Robertson Act, I find nothing that even suggests that there are funds available for the creation of ranges or the like.
The act exists for the acquisition and creation of habitat.

From Wikipedia:
Pittman Robertson Federal Aid act

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pittma...estoration_Act)

..."In the 1970s, amendments created a 10% tax on handguns and their ammunition and accessories as well as an 11% tax on archery equipment.[1][2][3][8][10] It was also mandated for half of the money from each of the new taxes to be used to educate and train hunters by the creation and maintenance of hunter safety classes and shooting/target ranges.[1][2][3][10]"

[riffraff]

That's great and good luck! Even in nh, the one public local range to me was forced to shutdown after a handgun round was found lodged in a business like a mile away, freakin in the direction behind the range (ie no proof of any sort just a claim someone was shooting a .40 cal backwards? A mile? Really?).. fortunately I have a couple private land shooting spots but it's a real bummer things are colored that way.

[Aguila Blanca]

Originally Posted by DaleA

(I am CONSTANTLY amazed at how intrusive zoning laws are...a rural friend lives on a farm in Nowheresville Minnesota, far from any town and he STILL had to get a building permit to put another building on his own farm.)

Building permits are not zoning permits. Building permits are to ensure that the construction is inspected for proper construction, so that (hopefully) it won't fall and injure or kill someone. Building permits are issued by the building department, not the zoning department.

[FITASC]

And also act as another form of tax

[Aguila Blanca]

Originally Posted by DaleA

I cannot find the video link to this so disregard it if you want but I remember the neighbors of a gun range calling LE and showing reporters the bullets that they claimed have hit their house since the range opened. Trouble was, for them, that what they showed to the cameras were cartridges. Yup. Unfired cartridges---primer, case and bullet. They claimed these had hit their house from the gun range. Again, since I can't find the link and only "remember" this video you can disregard it if you want to.

There may have been more than one such incident, but that happened to a very old, established range in Connecticut called Blue Trails. I know a lawyer in Connecticut who is adamant that the homeowner showed unfired cartridges and claimed they were "bullets" fired from the range.

https://www.skinnymoose.com/hooksand...ge-under-fire/

On the other hand, I recently met a retired home builder from Connecticut who claims that he built the house in question, and that when he went back to do some repairs he found the bullet holes in the house.

I don't know who to believe.

[FITASC]

If there were bullet holes, there would be bullets. Otherwise, the holes could be easily drilled by a cordless drill