IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED!!!!

With the current makeup of the CT Legislature, it is absolutely ESSENTIAL you meet with Legislators who have constituents as members in your clubs!  It is a well known fact that many clubs have NO contact with their legislators and therefore have no input as to the future of the club's existence or activities. THAT HAS TO CHANGE - NOW! 

Of IMMEDIATE concern is the bill An Act Concerning Firing Ranges (ATTORNEY GENERAL bill). REF. PUBLIC SAFETY AND SECURITY. RAISED 1/24. No bill number assigned as yet. Many legislators don't know this bill exists since it hasn't been assigned a number and printed.

All-Out Attack Waged on Shooting Ranges!  First-in-the-nation proposed legislation that has the potential to shut down shooting ranges in the state of Connecticut. The proposal seeks to require registration for owner/operators with the Department of Public Safety (DPS) and would allow the Commissioner to promulgate new regulations and regardless of any new regulations, the Commissioner could shut down a facility without cause simply by deeming it “unsafe.”  If the future implications of this proposal aren’t bad enough, it would also put almost every range out of business immediately for non-compliance under the noise standards set forth by this proposal.  As you know, shooting ranges provide a valuable community service by providing gun owners, including local police, with a place to train with firearms and a safe place to shoot recreationally.  Under this proposal, ranges used exclusively by law enforcement would be exempt from the regulations. If this is truly about safety, why should the standards for law enforcement and civilians be any different? This is an extremely dangerous bill to range operation and essentially the survival of many clubs!

IMMEDIATE ACTION YOU NEED TO TAKE!

Invite all Legislators (CT State Representatives & Senators) representing the district in which your club is located and who have constituents who are club members to hear your views and discuss this issue. Stress importance of the issue to your club & members.

Do this for the next scheduled club meeting or call a special meeting. Get as many members present as possible.

Do not schedule according to legislators availability. If they come, they're concerned about constituent issues. If they don't come, you've developed information on their interest.

A Public Hearing on this bill will be held in the next few weeks.

Take ACTION NOW!

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Talking Points:

Member Comments EDITED: Many critical observations of the AG. This bill was undoubtedly not written but was undoubtedly approved by him. The following succinct statement by a member is undoubtedly the most valid: “I doubt there is anyone on the State’s payroll who is technically qualified to pass judgment on range matters”.

 

Why registration? What cost/benefit? Are State Police assets available? Do they have requisite knowledge to withstand court challenges?

 

(1) Why are ranges used solely by "peace officers" exempt? So it’s OK for cops to make noise and threaten public safety (as defined), but not civilians? Are the few police ranges more safety conscious than sportsmen’s ranges? (2)  "threat to public safety" shall include but not be limited to a bullet discharged from a firearm at the firing range landing outside the property on which the firing range is located. ” How about digging into the safety record of municipal and State law enforcement and National Guard ranges, before holding civilians to a higher standard?  “Threat to public safety” as determined by whom?  The next door neighbors? People in the next county? A stray bullet is a stray bullet, whether it’s fired from a police weapon or a civilian weapon.  The “not be limited to” language is, guess what, excessively vague.

 

“shall not include any facility that is operating solely for use by sworn peace officers as training in their official capacity as peace officers.”   Many sportsmen’s ranges are used by police at no cost to include SWAT & night firing. Should police activity be curtailed solely to protect the club?

 

(1) 60 db is the level of sound of the last croak of a dying bullfrog.  This is a small number designed to shut down all ranges; it looks like we have a pattern here.  At what level does harm to hearing occur?  “60 dB” (generically) is the Sound Pressure Level (SPL) attributed to a normal speaking voice measured at 1 meter.  That is an extremely low number which nearly guarantees that the firing range could not even host shooting adult air guns. If passed, this bill will enable the AG to shut down most, if not all outdoor firing ranges in the State. 

 

This law would also 'trump' the existing statutory provision protecting ranges from civil liability for noise pollution for the following reasons:

1.  It is enacted after the range protection statute, and therefore, it is presumed that the legislature has knowledge of the existing statute, and intends this one to be enforceable even though the earlier statute exists.

2.  This statute creates, and authorizes the revocation of state issued license/registration, which is a different type of action from those addressed by the range protection statute. What this statue basically does is says: you have to have a license, we'll give you one, and then, since you are louder than 60 decibels, we'll revoke it, and shut you down.

If this is passed, we can kiss Blue Trails, and most if not all of, the private gun clubs with outdoor ranges "good-bye."
Ref:  DEP Noise regs. http://www.ct.gov/dep/lib/dep/regulations/22a/22a-69-1through7.pdf  Which provides 100db at the property line (recreational activity) and 10 extra db for activities established before 1960.

 

“such other information as the commissioner deems necessary”.  Unnecessarily vague. Would the Commissioner need to know the operator’s Social Security number, how many children he has, his health records, and whether he’s been divorced?

(1) Fines are ridiculous!!!! (2) Seems unusually harsh compared to something like General Electric polluting the Housatonic for a few generations, or Pratt & Whitney testing jet engines in East Hartford and Middletown. 

If this sort of legislation is passed, it will affect every legal firearms owner in the state.   Casual and competitive target shooters, permit holders and hunters just wanting to sight in their rifles. 

How can you?: fulfill the requirements to get a carry permit if there is no range to shoot at? sight in that new hunting rifle? pistol owner practice to safely handle that pistol he or she carries? a competitive target shooter get in the needed practice he or she needs?

This proposed legislation may end up being the final straw for many ranges we still have. The closing of many ranges will actually raise a safety issue greater than any safety issue the legislation is trying to address. Shooters will not be able to get in the needed practice to safely handle their firearms. Will prohibit firearms ownership simply because people will not be able to fulfill the requirements to own a firearm.

What a bunch of bilge.  This is just an excuse to extort a registration fee, impose some arbitrary rules to make it easier for the "new neighbors" to close down existing clubs or ranges so their property values will increase. How many range accidents have there been in this state? 

Visit the CCS website for other items of interest www.ctsportsmen.com You can find your legislators at this link http://www.cga.ct.gov/maps/townlist.asp  Check for more info at the NRA/ILA site http://www.nraila.org/GrassrootsAlerts/read.aspx