Outdoor gun ranges under fire for safety

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By Kirsti Marohn, USA TODAY ST. CLOUD, Minn. — Louise Neeser was doing yard work outside her home here last May when something struck her in the face. Dazed and bleeding, she crawled into the house, where a relative took her to the hospital. Doctors told her something had torn through the side of her face. She was left with permanent jaw and eye damage and debilitating headaches, and says she lives in fear of letting her three children play outdoors.

"It's changed every bit of our life," Neeser said.

Neeser and her husband, Mark, believe she was hit by a stray bullet from the Del-Tone/Luth Gun Club, an outdoor shooting range half a mile away. The incident sparked an investigation and legal action by Sherburne County, which ordered the gun club to make safety improvements before it can reopen for pistol shooting.

Outdoor shooting ranges across the nation face opposition because of concerns about safety, noise and the environmental effects of lead contamination. Some are embroiled in legal battles with neighboring residents or local governments. Others have had to close.

"Are they under threat? Absolutely they are," said Andrew Arulandandam, spokesman for the National Rifle Association. The NRA offers technical expertise and legal assistance to shooting ranges and has helped pass range protection laws in 47 states.

Del-Tone owner Randy Luth has made the required improvements but is frustrated that the range still can't allow pistol shooting until it passes a final certification, which he hopes will happen in the next few months. He says his club has lost tournaments and classes that boosted the local economy.

"Luckily, I can afford to fight for our rights," he said. "A lot of gun clubs can't, and they ultimately go bankrupt because they can't afford to fight allegations."

The Neesers are concerned the changes don't go far enough.

"I just want to live here and be safe," Mark Neeser said. "That should be the right everybody has on their property."

Elsewhere:

•In Idaho, the Farragut State Park shooting range shut down in 2007 after neighbors sued over noise and stray bullets. A judge ordered it to remain closed pending safety improvements. A review is expected this winter, said Dave Leptich of Idaho Fish and Game.

•In Garden Ridge, Texas, northeast of San Antonio, residents of a subdivision near the Bracken Rifle and Pistol Range have reported finding bullets on their roof, Mayor Jay Feibelman said. No legal action was taken, but the range has been cooperative and made safety improvements, he said.

Feibelman is sympathetic to residents' concerns, but says, to some degree, the conflict has to do with housing location.

"It's like building your house at the end of an airport runway but saying, 'I didn't know they fly airplanes out of there,' " he said.

Some gun clubs are drawing criticism because they've evolved from small, neighborhood ranges to big businesses hosting national tournaments and attracting larger weaponry.

The Kitsap County Rifle and Revolver Club near Bremerton, Wash., was established in the mid-1920s. Kitsap County sued the range in September for being a public nuisance and a safety hazard. The trial will be in March.

Deputy Prosecutor Neil Wachter said in recent years, the club has expanded its hours and allowed high-powered, automatic weapons. Close neighbor Terry Allison was a longtime club member. But in recent years, he said the amount of shooting has increased dramatically.

"The noise is so loud that you literally cannot hear a conversation next to you," he said.

Marcus Carter, the club's executive officer, acknowledged that the range's use has changed over time, but he said the range also has been made safer with higher beams, increased lighting and a safety orientation for new users.

Carter said his and other ranges are willing to move, but finding a location would be hard.

"Getting a new one established is virtually unheard of unless you have thousands of acres of property," he said.

Outdoor shooting ranges have also been scrutinized for the environmental impact of the lead in bullets and shell casings.

"There's a real possibility that lead could seep into the ground water," said Alex Formuzis, spokesman for the non-profit Environmental Working Group.

In October, the Marine Corps announced that a civilian shooting range on the Miramar military base in San Diego, which closed two years ago because of concern about lead contamination, will remain shut down.