7 posts tagged with "grassroots activism"

No state statute or regulation addresses the use of high-powered firearms on private shooting ranges. Shooting ranges are generally regulated by towns, and there are very few state laws pertaining to them.

Would you want to live in a war zone? In Connecticut, anyone can create one. With no minimum lot size requirement, shooters can load, aim, and fire—regardless of how close their neighbors are, whether a public hiking trail or nature preserve is nearby, or even if a school is just down the road. It doesn’t matter. Just spray and pray, hoping no one is injured or killed.

There’s no requirement for a properly constructed backstop. No laws hold shooters accountable for sending rounds onto neighboring properties or subjecting entire communities to hours of relentless gunfire.

This reckless disregard for public safety must end—before someone is hurt or killed.

The only law currently in Connecticut that can loosely interpreted to regulate the act of target shooting was written to regulate hunting. The current law states that: "The regulation generally prohibit anyone from hunting with firearms, discharging firearms, or carrying loaded firearms within 500 feet of a building occupied by people or domestic animals or used to store flammable or combustible material [unless you have written permission]"

Does this sound like a viable law to regulate the activity of target shooting?

A hunter may discharge only a handful of rounds during an entire day while engaged in the activity of harvesting wildlife. A hunter is only taking well aimed shots with the intent of killing their prey in one shot. Target shooters on the other hand could discharge thousands upon thousands of rounds in an afternoon. Depending on the caliber of their ammunition the bullet can travel over two miles.

So, where are their rounds going? What is stopping those rounds? Is their a chance the bullet could ricochet? Could someone unwittingly wander into their impact area? Should children who are at school playing during recess, be subjected to listening to gunfire that is just barely over 500' from their playground?

These questions are too important to just be left to chance. The state of Connecticut needs to regulate the hobby of backyard target shooting ranges before it is too late.

A letter of advocacy that was sent to legislators in Connecticut pleading for a solution to the epidemic of unregulated shooting ranges in our state:

I recently read this compelling article on Everytown's Safety In Numbers blog David Riedman: Using “First Principles” Thinking to Decrease School Shootings by 10x

When I wanted to burn debris (downed tree limbs, invasive vines, and brush) from around my small piece of property I had to schedule an inspection from the town's fire marshall. The marshall came out and inspected the location and materials used to construct the fire pit.

Here is a clip, about twelve seconds long of the neighbor across the street from my home shooting a semi-automatic weapon (likely an AR-15) with a high capacity magazine.

Here is an early letter of advocacy that was sent to my local Senator imploring them to act on our behalf to address our growing concerns about neighbors target shooting in very close proximity to our home and property.