[gunsmoker]

Is there precedent for government ranges being open to the public?
Was this more common in the past, before cops got militarized and encouraged to only associate with other cops and govt employees?

I know that the Dekalb County outdoor range on N. Goddard Rd. is, or was, open to the public a couple days each month. I've shot there as a private citizen.
Like any range that allows Joe Blow to show up and shoot, there are some horror stories of idiots doing unsafe things there. But any range has that, even members-only private gun clubs (usually it is a guest of a member that is the idiot or vandal).

Here's a recent news story showing that Warner Robins has opened its law enforcement range to the public (one day a month).
http://www.13wmaz.com/story/news/lo...s-police-departments-5-firing-range/25990457/

 

[gunsmoker]

Palm Beach County, FL lets the public shoot at their Sheriffs range at least twice a month, up to 4x for some months.
They charge more for non-county residents. (Seems fair).
http://www.pbcgov.com/fdo/admin/shootingrange/

 

[gunsmoker]

Dane County Wisconsin allows it, too, on weekends.

https://www.danesheriff.com/documents/pdf/Public_access_range.pdf

 

[gunsmoker]

Clackamas County, Oregon has a range and L.E. training facility at a community college, and it's shared with the public for range use too.

http://www.clackamas.us/sheriff/pstc.html

 

[gunsmoker]

Waukesha

Waukesha technical college in Wisconsin is primarily for law enforcement, and their events take priority over the public shooting for fun, but it IS open to the public.

https://www.wctc.edu/business-and-community/firing-range/index.php

 

[Strick54]

Henry County, GA opens their range (paid for with drug money seizures) as well. attached, I hope, are their rules/guidelines. They can be tweaked, example recognizing your GWCL when applying, to avoid additional checks/expense.

 

[mark5019]

I'll venture a guess if you don't live in that county its s no go

 

[gunsmoker]

There are 17 Wildlife Management Area ranges run by the State of Georgia Dept of Natural Resources.

While these ranges aren't usually used for law enforcement training, so we can't really cite them as examples of how LEOs and citizens can share ranges together, we CAN refer to them to show:

1-- This is a legitimate function of government, to provide a safe place for people to learn and practice marksmanship. It is not reasonable to expect the private sector to fill this need entirely, especially as to outdoor ranges.

2-- The "liability" risk is bearable. Is the State afraid of getting sued if somebody shoots them in the foot, of if some innocent person is injured when the idiot next to him touches off that muzzle-loader with 100 grains of Hercules smokeless powder in it? No, the State is not worried about being sued. At least not enough to stop them from providing this service to the citizens.

(Governments have special protections from lawsuits. It's called Sovereign Immunity. And any land owner, public or private, has special legal protection when he lets his land be used for sporting and recreational purposes.)

Here's a list of the 17 government-operated shooting ranges at WMA's in Georgia:

http://www.georgiawildlife.com/FirearmRanges/Info

 

[gunsmoker]

BARROW-- once in a while

BARROW COUNTY has opened its LEO firing range to the public every month. Or they did, back in 2012.

Not exactly shared and equal access with the cops, but the point is that they must not be too worried about somebody getting hurt and having the County's pants sued off.

QUOTE from old (2012) thread here on Georgiapacking:

From the Barrow County Sheriff's Office Facebook Page:

"The Barrow County Sheriff's Office open public range day will be this Saturday the 4th from 9:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m. The handgun range will be open until 11:00 a.m. and the rifle range of 50 yards will be open from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

There will be a $10.00 charge to shoot per person. The range is located at 1059 Briscoe Mill Road Bethlehem GA 30620. We ask that anyone coming out to shoot to please be mindful of our neighbors and please drive slow in the area so we do not stir up so much dust from the dirtroad we are located on.

We look forward to seeing everyone come out and enjoy themselves."

http://www.georgiapacking.org/forum/showthread.php?t=214268

The first post said the first Saturday of EVERY MONTH would be for the public to shoot with LEO trainers supervising them.

http://www.barrowjournal.com/archives/2842-Sheriffs-Office-to-open-firing-range-to-public.html

Okay, so it's not the best example of what we want. Limited times and only when the government supplies the supervision. That's a big manpower commitment on their part. I wonder if Reserve Deputies could do that-- especially if they took the NRA range instructor or safety officer course?