SBRGA - South Berwick Rod & Gun Association ALERT

[Jofaba]

I just got an email from the SBRGA. Anyone here a member? Here's what the email said:

SBRGA Notice to members - URGENT

SBRGA Rifle and Pistol Ranges are closed until further notice, effective immediately. This matter will be discussed at the next regular meeting of the club.

Thank you,
SBRGA
--

So according to this email, the gun range is no longer a gun range. It's very strange. You'd think something this huge would warrant a bit more explanation. It's not following any legislation that I know of, or in response to any local event that I am aware of. I can't think of a single reason why they'd entirely shut down and not even move the meeting up. The regularly scheduled meeting is 3 weeks away.

I emailed for clarification and why we are not moving the date up. I was planning on heading to the range with my friend tomorrow. I haven't gotten to go for a while and it's frustrating to find out that I won't get to go this weekend, especially since every weekend to date has been crappy weather.

The only thing I know happening is berm build up thanks to the local telephone pole replacement program. We're getting the poles for free and they're building the burms higher. But I can't imagine that they'd shut down the range for nearly a month on a luxury improvement without notice.

Any members of the club here with some more information?

 

[olderthandirt]

further puzzlement

Not only iz a puzzlement - for those of us feeble enough and inactive enough to not remember when meetings are held, there is no suggestion of the regular meeting date, nor is there any such information to be found on the Website of SBRGA. Leaves me out, though I certainly am concerned about what is going on. This sounds much more ominous than I'd like to believe.

 

[Jofaba]

As I suspected, no answer at the number.

Well, it's a beautiful day so I think that I'll make the ride down and see what's up.

 

[lk229]

The meetings are held the fourth Tuesday of every month at 7:30 PM. Maybe if there's enough interest, we can arrange a special meeting at a sooner date.

My first guess, and I have no knowledge whatsoever of what has happened, is that we've lost the insurance for the club. Then there's possible noise complaint lawsuits by neighbors (who would have moved in long after the club was in existance). Whatever, I certainly hope this is an easily solved problem and the club will be back open before we lose the rest of the summer.

 

[MLeake]

If they're building up the berms...

... they may simply want to keep shooters away while construction is in progress, rather than having shooters try to work around the construction shifts. That would speed up the overall construction, and take a load off the construction workers' minds.

IE I can see where the contractors wouldn't wish to have to count on shooters making the right decision to not shoot in adjacent areas, etc.

It could be something more sinister, but I wouldn't get too worked up until you get more information, especially when you already know of planned activity that would impact availability.

 

[lk229]

Surely not because of building up bearms. Pike always does that during the week so when it's expected, the ranges are closed during Pike's business hours on weekdays only.

 

[MLeake]

Not a member, and not in the area...

... so I'm only speculating.

BUT, at a range near Fort Bragg, there was a problem with one idiot shooting too fast for his abilities, and shooting over the berm towards private property. In a case like that, shooting may be suspended until berms are improved, in order to head off potential lawsuits by the neighbors.

Not sure what development has been like downrange of the berms at South Berwick, but coastal Maine in general had a whole lot of development from Brunswick south when I lived up there.

 

[Jofaba]

Just got back from the range. Here's the deal:

There is a condo/apt complex that decided to build next to a firing range some years back. Over the years, there's been some incidences, but overall things have been friendly lately.

Some resident of that property claims to have found a hole in the fabric cover on the bed of his truck, and found a piece of lead. So until they hear from their insurance, conduct their own investigation, and possibly have the NRA come do a ballistic's test, they're only opening the range when they can have a range safety officer present.

Just before I left, the guy who told me all of this was inspecting the pistol range with someone else discussing the berm construction and possible problems.

I haven't decided whether I will go to the meeting or not. I ride a scooter and I'm not sure I trust other vehicles in the dark on 236.

 

[lk229]

If that's the case, it doesn't sound like there's any point to moving up the scheduled monthly meeting. I'm betting this is bulls**t by a neighbor upset with the noise. They've probably made up the whole thing and now it's going to cost the club a lot of money fighting it.

Bad timing for me, just got a Taurus back from repair that I wanted to test tomorrow.

 

[Jofaba]

I agree, there is no reason to move the meeting up. I only suggested that prior to knowing what the issue was. The email made it sound like the range was closed completely until the meeting.

 

[Jofaba]

If they have a range officer on duty it will be open. You'll know whether you can shoot or not based on whether the "range closed" sign is up. You don't have to seek out a range safety officer, s/he just has to be present at the range. I was alone at the pistol range and didn't see him once till I started packing up.

I was very glad that it was open. Got some +p ammo and wanted to see the difference. Wasn't really too happy with it actually. Shot more accurately with fmj flat nosed rounds than these hollowpoint +p.

Without this range I have NO WHERE to shoot. Hope all goes well for us.

That said, the situation is very bizzar. It seems like this was a very magical bullet.

 

[MAINEGUY]

Thanks for info...

I have been a member of SBRGA for about a year now, and usually shoot once per week. Thanks for the info on the closing of the ranges. Can I still use my hand trap over at the trap field? I think that the club could have included a brief explanation of the closing to keep people up to date.

Glad I kept my membership in the Southern Maine Fish and Game club current.

 

[Jofaba]

I think trap should be fine. It already has a shot size limit so I can't imagine any pellets getting getting anywhere near the development.

I'm not sure why it's being handled like this. When I mentioned that I was surprised how brief the email was, he replied "yes, as it should be, short and sweet". I think that they're putting a lot more energy and time into fixing the problem than keeping us in the know.

To be fair, club business is what the meeting is for. And most of us members don't go to the meetings, which is essentially telling them that we don't care about club business. I'm not saying that anyone feels that way there, but I could understand if that was the mindset.

We pay what, $5.34 a month? I think we may be asking a lot for them to try and reach out to every member and man the phones with a dozen folk to answer the phones. The more I think about it, the more ungrateful I feel for having expected immediate explanation.

I do know that they are trying very hard to fix the problem for us.

 

[OldShooter]

I belong to a club that was involved in a similar struggle (before I came to the club) and it was a long drawn out affair with lawyers, court, NRA and finally a settlement that costs the club lots of money and membership. A neighbor claimed that lead was found on his/her property, including imbedded in the exterior wall of the house. For the club, there was suspicion of "cooked" evidence and there was evidence of trespass on club property. Don't take it lightly.

 

[Jofaba]

I'm not taking it lightly, but in reality there is no way that I can take it that will change anything. I think we have good people on committee looking out for our rights, but it's entirely on their shoulders. And even that is putting too much blame on them if they were to fail. There really is only so much that they can do.

The club has been there for something like 80 years. I forget how long but for a long ass time. When I went to the first meeting, they said most local police are members and pratice there regularly.

The club sponsors or works with the local chapters of boy scouts and other programs, and raises money to send kids to summer camp.

It's not just a "run your credit card through this slot to enter" deal. Although I think that most of us treat it that way, including myself.

I think the odds are stacked in our favor, but no one is cocky. We're hoping for the best and there's little else that most of us can do at this point.

 

[Jofaba]

Well, I'm going to the meeting tonight. If anyone else from here is there, I'll most likely be the one that looks a bit out of place

 

[Jofaba]

Think it's still technically going on but I had to leave at "intermission". Did anyone else here go? It was actually a very educational experience, and I will definitely be getting more involved in the club.

 

[Falcon5NZ]

I'm betting this is bulls**t by a neighbor upset with the noise. They've probably made up the whole thing and now it's going to cost the club a lot of money fighting it.

I'm sure I heard a story on the net, maybe here, maybe not. Anyway the gist of it was someone who lived down range of a range rang the police and said that someone had shot out a window and the bullet had lodged in their wall. The police can and then asked the owner/president of the rang to come. Things were looking bad until the guy from the range pointed out that the projectile that had been "fired" was perfect with no signs of rifling or deformation. Police were embarrassed and the guy got charged with making a false claim.

PS. I live 5 mins from 2 gunclubs and one car race track. Guess which is loader?

 

[JohnKSa]

People can get very irate over ranges in their area. I've heard one story where an irate neighbor brought a round she claimed landed on her property. Apparently she knew very little about firearms because she brought an entire loaded cartridge. She wasn't taken very seriously, but if she had been smarter/more knowledgeable she could have made a lot of trouble for the range.

A local range was temporarily closed after a nearby resident claimed he was hit by a stray bullet from the range. Police investigated and determined that it was impossible for the bullet to have come form the range. No telling what happened there but it sure caused the range owner some major stress before it was resolved.

The point is that ranges are very vulnerable to nearby residents. It doesn't take much to close a range.

 

[Jofaba]

One very important thing that I brought from this meeting (and if you were there, I was the one that said this towards the end) was that regardless of whether the bullet that initiated this actually came from us; during the investigation there was an incident that showed us that range alterations need to take place regardless.

During the investigation, someone who didn't know that the range was closed went to the pistol range and began shooting. He hit a rock, it sounds like on purpose, and ricochets began finding themselves zinging into the rifle range to the right, causing the councilman inspecting the rifle range to pretty much "hit the deck".

The rifle and pistol ranges are not hot or not simultaneously, so this means it's possible for people on the rifle range to be in danger from the pistol range while placing and checking targets.

(There was some odd discussion regarding shooting pistols at 7 and 10 yards as if that was way too close. Isn't that standard self defense training distance? It was weird hearing a few people agree that people shouldn't be shooting that close.)

There was a lot of debate regarding removing the rocks or removing the idiots shooting them. Some debate regarding whether more ricochets were coming from purposeful or accidental rock hitting, etc, but in my eyes since the investigation showed that ricochets were indeed happening (they also discussed other forms of splatter and finding bullet fragments in places we'd rather not find them) I feel that the rather expensive range alterations being taken (as well as the precautionary range downtime) was necessary.

This turn of events has changed the way I view the club and I will definitely be a lot more active and be volunteering my time for the betterment of the club as a whole.

And I look forward to doing it! I may even join a committee or two.