OLYMPIA – Call it a Valentine for the safe-and-sane gun crowd. State Rep. Dean Takko has locked up vast support here in the state House for his legislation protecting sport-shooting ranges from litigious neighbor-come-latelies.
Takko’s proposal, House Bill 1508, flew out of the House, 93-5. It’s now in the Senate awaiting further consideration.
The measure defends a sport-shooting range against someone trying to close it down, as long as the range hasn’t substantially changed since the accusing party moved into the neighborhood.
“Hunters and sport shooters need safe places to practice and to participate in firearms-safety courses,” Takko explained.
“What do you think is going to happen if we close the sport-shooting ranges that have been operating as good and safe neighbors for years?” he asked rhetorically. “What’s going to happen is that we’ll push a lot of people to unsafe locations.”
He said shooters will go out to the woods or other areas to practice target shooting.
“And that’s exactly what we don’t want. Of course that sort of activity is illegal,” Takko noted. “But the reality is that people are going to do it if we don’t maintain and keep the safe ranges that we have now.”
Many of these gun ranges started up years ago, long before surrounding areas were developed or turned into housing.
Firearms enthusiasts aren’t the only folks who use the gun ranges. Not by a longshot. Members of the general public are often joined at these sometimes-private, sometimes-public facilities by law-enforcement folks and other people engaged in firearms training.
Private gun-range groups that get matching funds or grants of public funds must keep their facilities open on a regular basis for public-safety officers and the general public involved in gun-safety classes.