Very sad, range closed

[mtgianni]

My father used to belong to a muzzleloader gun club. One of the members had a private range on his property. The club shot there, he shot there, and he even let the local LE agencies use it for training. He had a skeet/trap setup and a 150 yard rifle/pistol range. He had been doing this for over 20 years.
New neighbor moved in and six months later sued every member of the gun club and the owner of the property. He claimed noise issues and traffic issues. But his big thing was lead. Kept saying it was leaching into the ground water and causing high levels of lead.
Noise and traffic was easy to dismiss as it only happened 2-3 days a month. And there weren't too many people there at any time, anyways. The lead issue required having tests and surveys done on the neighborhood water supply. They did find elevated lead levels at one house. The plaintiff's. The ground water was fine, no elevated lead levels at all. This moron didn't realize his old farmhouse still had lead piping under the house.
Of course the club won the case, but the stress and hassle caused the owner to shut down the range. He was in his late 70s by that time and just didn't have the energy to fight.

A dozen years or more ago, the EPA provided a clean up standard for one part per billion when dealing with lead. Their testing then provided them with the information that the US averaged six parts per million in most areas. They decided to put the matter on hold.

 

[Jim Watson]

Lots of similar stories.
Places I have shot at, one closed on insurance, one sold to a limestone company that wanted to quarry the site, two successfully relocated (In the sticks at greater travel distance.) after real estate developers pushed them out with threats of legal attack.

 

[GypsmJim]

Yes, very similar situation in SC.
There are only a few organized clubs and a patchwork of public ranges.

Even the clubs can be problematic. There are so few shooters that want to participate in serious target disciplines, but tons of guys that just love blasting away.

I used to belong to a nearby club that was formed in the 1930s. We used to send a team to Camp Perry to shoot in the National Matches. As late as 2003 we used to offer Registered International Matches through USAS (US sanctioned member of the IOC).
Now it’s just a bunch of trigger happy yahoos that want to play “John Wick” games. Safety infractions and accidental discharges, (by supposedly vetted members!) started to become a problem.
The range building (an old wood frame horse stable) has had more than a few bullets pass through the walls and roof, going who-knows-where into the local area!
I quit that place years ago. I hate to say it, but far as I’m concerned, maybe it should be shut down?

I live in NY. Saying that conjures up a lot of grief about living in a commie state. The truth is that I have several ranges within a short driving distance. My club's annual fee is $40 and I have 24/7 access to an indoor range with no daily range fee. We just spent a quarter million $ on a range upgrade.

I was given the opportunity of a once-in-a-lifetime job but I had to move to SC. I chose to stay behind and try to look for a new job. Some of my coworkers DID go. Now they have no place to shoot. One actually comes home on holidays so he can shoot at his BIL's range.

 

[6string]

I live in NY. Saying that conjures up a lot of grief about living in a commie state. The truth is that I have several ranges within a short driving distance. My club's annual fee is $40 and I have 24/7 access to an indoor range with no daily range fee. We just spent a quarter million $ on a range upgrade.

I was given the opportunity of a once-in-a-lifetime job but I had to move to SC. I chose to stay behind and try to look for a new job. Some of my coworkers DID go. Now they have no place to shoot. One actually comes home on holidays so he can shoot at his BIL's range.

I am sorry to hear how that worked out for your coworkers.
Yet, I am not surprised!
The gun culture in SC has quickly become one of mostly pointless blasting.
Some folks with guns here are scary dangerous in their range behavior and gun handling.
A properly run organized club can’t thrive in an environment with that prevailing attitude.

The club I referenced above actually dismissed a competitive event RO because members were upset that he was giving DQs to shooters for safety violations.
Incredibly, that’s how they “solved” the safety issue: get rid of the guy who noticed the problem.

This is a thread I started last month:

Thread 'Went to the range. Got shot at!'

Apr 20, 2025

Hi everyone!

Wishing everyone a Happy Easter!

On occasion, I have posted here about some of the unfortunate trends in range behavior. Sometimes, it’s people trashing ranges, being disrespectful of other shooters, or even careless gun handling.
Yesterday, I had an experience that just tops them all in awfulness.

Arriving at the pistol range, there is one adult male accompanied by his three kids on the firing line. They were shooting a couple pistols. The father was giving instructions. He seemed conscientious and aware.
The only other person present was a friend I regularly see. He...

• 6string

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Having said this, somebody made reference to a private club near Charleston that runs good Bullseye matches. Mid-Carolina Gun Club somewhat near Columbia was very good, at least as I remember. But, it is a remote location near the Congaree Swamp. Belton Gun Club, south of Greenville, has a good reputation too.

 

[Shooter-2]

That is sad news to hear about your club range shutting down. Here these last couple of years have been concerning me as they are putting in a subdivision and new high school pretty close to the club, I have been a member of for 25+ years.

 

[Kinman]

The range I belong to has been on site over 100 years, it was originally on the far side of the city dump. It was land that became part of Riverside State Park. When the paperwork was originally drawn up a number of the members were attorneys, they set up the deed/lease to last in-perpetuity. We have about 40 acres with over 1000yds of river frontage, they used to shoot one trap house over the river. Insurance is the scariest part and along with the wages is the most expensive cost. Our long time carrier just told us that insuring shooting ranges was not what they wanted to do, we finally found a carrier. I believe our biggest problem could come down to the EPA, with all the lead shot scattered at the furthest end of the trap lines, geese often are seen eating grass, if they were tested and showed up positive for lead poisoning we'd be done. My lead levels were elevated and all I was doing was working on the target frames in the area near the dust from the 25yd pistol backstop, at least that is all I can figure caused it. I quite working with lead casting for over a year and still had my levels increasing. We figure were lucky to keep our lock on the gate and hope to weather the current anti-gun storm.