Lethbridge Range closure
 

I just got word that yet again the city council has decided to propose the range closure. There is a meeting being held at the F&G club house on 9th aveS at 7pm on Feb23rd. Please attend and talk to alderman and the mayor. This must be stopped lethbridge has a fantastic range and we HAVE to fight to keep it:fighting0074:

OMG what can the complaint possibly be this time?
The City invested huge money into those overhead baffles...

What's the source of this info?

The local fish & game association, pretty reliable lol

I dont know what the complaint is this time, the noise is bothering the dog walkers, god who knows lol. I love this range the best one I have been to yet and It has to stay

Is this info on the Lethbridge F&G web site.

I dunno I got an email from them

Just got the e.mail from LFGA. Knew it was coming, just not so soon. I'm in Sask for the weekend, so don't know any more. Very sad. I for one will be letting the city know exactly what I think, just waiting till after the LFGA meeting.

Very unfortunate turn of events, but no surprise.

We need to all work together to secure a new location and rebuild. Its a great opportunity to build an even better range!!

Hopefully we can get the range reopened in the meantime...

Any chance that Softball Valley is the reason? I will be at that meeting to say my piece, but am all for assisting in building at a new location. Would love to volunteer my time. Can't believe this is happening again!

Has to do with stray bullets.

can you repost the email on here?

I am a range officer and this makes me sad that this is happening again. I go down often and bring my son with me to shot as well. There has been a lot of work put in down there to make the place safe and a better neighbor. I have always felt safe there as the people using it have the highest respect for the rules in place and gun safety, not sure what else could be done. Maybe its time to find a new permanent place and end this as the city well just keep on going until the range is closed permanently. Just my 2 cents....

I'm a range officer too and i say screw that. i want to hear what the rationale is first. if the City can find money for an arts centre and new rec centre, they can find money for the range to remedy whatever "problem" they believe exists.

Don't like gay marriage... don't get one
Don't like drugs?... don't use them
Don't like guns... don't buy one
Don't like your rights trampled... don't trample on anyone else's


PS there is no such thing as gun rights. Guns are inanimate objects they cannot have rights.

Only people can have rights.

Very possibly the best post I've read anywhere in weeks.

I just signed up to the email list for LFGA but can't get access to the email message being discussed quite yet. Could someone post it please? The message on the website doesn't provide much information.

Its posted here
http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/showthread.php?t=121510

LFGA range
 

This is what came from LFGA.



[/B][/B]LFGA – Range is Closed / Important Meeting February 23rd.

Folks,

Thank you for all of your very strong support for the range and our organization. You are invited to a meeting to discuss the closure of the range by city council.
Last night, I was invited to a meeting at City Hall and at that meeting city administration folks indicated that they would be closing the range again. Today, I got the email from Ashley Matthews confirming their position. Ashley has been very supportive in the past and we were working with him and the City to begin the process of finding a new location for the range. Please see his message below.
I have scheduled a meeting for all members and interested people at the Fish and Game Hut for 7PM next Thursday February 23rd. Please spread the word and do your best to attend.

Lethbridge has historically supported the rights of gun owners and the shooting sports. Your voices will be very important once again… but no matter when you choose to express your views (prior to / or after our February 23 meeting), please be polite and professional…

You may wish to talk to all of the aldermen and the mayor to express your feelings once again about the council’s decision to close the range and to determine their positions. Be patient, you may have to do this numerous times over the next few weeks and we hope you can join the “public debate” when it is announced.
The following website will provide you with their contact information:

http://www.lethbridge.ca/City-Govern...s/default.aspx



Sincerely,

Allan

_________________________Top of Ashley’s Message ________________



From: Ashley Matthews

Date: Fri, Feb 10, 2012 at 2:15 PM

Subject: FW: Fish and Game Association Shooting Range

Dear Allan,

As we discussed this is to confirm the City is exercising its right to request immediate closure of the shooting range until further notice. This closure is due to new information provided to the City regarding stray bullets. A report will be provided to City Council for public debate on a date yet to be determined, and Council will then provide further direction on this matter.

The decision to close the shooting range is about the responsibility the City of Lethbridge has to ensure public safety. If further clarification is required please contact me at your convenience.

Thanks, Ashley
Mr. Ashley Matthews
General Manager, Recreation and Culture

_________________________Bottom of Message ______________________________

Thanks, Mulie4x4. I guess load testing this weekend isn't going to happen.

So with the LFGD range closure does that not automatically make every single restricted firearms owner into a paper criminal?

Yes I was going to go down with my son this weekend and do some shooting.

The question remains...who is on the hook for the site clean up and remediation?

The Lethbridge club should suddenly become insolvent, and stick the City with the bill to do the clean up and remediation. Once they see these costs, I'd wager the City has a big change of heart, about the closure.

Back side is they may force the club to post a bond to cover such contingencies...but by then they are barganing not dictating (hopefully)

Start looking for a chunk of land and pick up stakes is likely the only real recourse...

I'd love to hear details on this. Has there been another incident of some sort?

I guess we'll find out at the meeting...

Good point!!! I'm heading for vacation on Tuesday but now I'm a criminal! Will they let me leave the country? Is my holiday gonna be four white walls instead of beaches and sunshine? Dumb!

Just e-mailed the mayor, all aldermen, LFGA and Allan Friesen the following:

My family and I have lived above the LFGA Range for the last 23 years, when we moved in we didn't even know that range was located in the river valley, now my son and I are members of the LFGA, we are both range officers and use the range for shooting rifle, shotgun and sometimes archery. When the range is in use we have never felt unsafe when we are in our yard, walking our dogs above and around the range. Even when the van was hit by a bullet down the street all you had to do is look on Google Earth and you could tell that the bullet couldn't have come from the range. The times I feel most unsafe in the neighborhood is when the softball players are finished their games and turn Stafford Drive into a raceway as they head home.

I don't know if the closure is because of another stray bullet but the last two "stray" bullets were not the result of negligent members. If I recall correctly, the 9mm round was the result of ill conceived police training where an officer shot rounds as he lay on his back. The other was a round that was alleged to have been shot from across the river.

I, for one, am proud of the membership of the LFGA. If you have never been to the Lethbridge range you are missing out. People like Al Friesen need to be publicly acknowledged for what they do to ensure we have a place to pursue our interest.

It's going to be a damn shame if we don't find a solution to the problem. If it means that eventually a new location will need to be found so be it but that will take years. In the meantime we have hundreds of members that need a place to shoot.

Sad state for you guys down south.....I would hope the City of L has some hard evidence to support the closure....without it there should be no grounds for closure right?

LC

Stray bullets again. Im sure its BS. Im glad that I spent good money to use the range only to be denied access. Im sure that the people that complain are the same ones that call 911 on me and my fishing partners while we ice fish the local lakes because they feel the ice is unsafe. But all and all who knows whats going to happen. Would be nice for a resident in the outskirts along the river to donate some land (hint hint) lol. But regardless some people make me shake my head, the range was fine, no chance of strays (unless done by lrps) the people that use the range are mostly all range officers and are super respectful of all the rules involved. Yet again the stray probably came from some yahoo's north of the range. happened before with the van incident, they didnt catch anyone so why would it not happen again??

Really? Wow, I don't remember the city coughing up any money for the safety improvements to the range. They sure have made a lot of money allowing development at the top of the hill though.


Everyone needs to remember this City Council crap when we have another election. I have had it with these schmuks. Millions on a city website, millions on ANOTHER arts centre, millions wasted on BS projects of all sorts. And my property taxes keep going up to pay for it. Lethbridge is damn near as bad as Calgary for inept governance.