Snohomish County Council closes Sultan shooting pit
News, Political, Guns, Law ·Wednesday February 17, 2010 @ 14:05 EST (link)
The following notice was circulated by Snohomish county, making its way to local gun shows and message boards and eventually to the Microsoft gun list (thanks Jason):
NOTICE OF INTRODUCTION OF ORDINANCE
AND
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING
NOTICE IS HERBY GIVEN, that the Snohomish County Council will hold a public Hearing on Wednesday, February 17, 2010 at the hour of 10:30 a.m., in the Henry M. Jackson Board Room, 8th Floor, Drewel Building M/S 609, 3000 Rockefeller, Everett, Washington to consider the following:
ORDINANCE NO. 09-151
RELATING TO NO SHOOTING AREAS, ESTABLISHING AN ADDITIONAL NO SHOOTING AREA, AND AMENDING CHAPTER 10.12 SCC
I felt bad for missing the Olympia "Push Back the Tax" event (long drive, poor parking, and couldn't any sort of speaker or event guide), so I made sure to attend this one, and speak, too. Here's the report ("Report from Snohomish") that I posted to MSGun:
I just got back from Snohomish. 3 hours of testimony, 5 minutes of deliberation, and they closed the Sultan pit to shooting. I'm not sure if that means it's already illegal or not. I am fairly sure they don't need to wait for DNR (but there was a DNR rep there who was in favor of closing it), since the particular Snohomish county ordinance is just to extend a No Shooting area. I suppose we should expect signs to go up soon. So much for March 2A day at the pit.
There was quite a parade of local rich wives who, to hear them tell it, were living in Viet Nam in the middle of the war with bullets ricocheting around them and their children every day (said tearfully with feeling, and sorrow for humanity). There were also many good people debunking the alleged safety issues so what it really came down to was (1) noise and (2) unrelated bad behavior (loud parties, drinking, trash) which really ought to be dealt with separately.
I certainly have sympathy toward the property owners about the noise—for most it wasn't as noisy/busy as it is now when they bought their properties, but of course it's been getting busier as every other local public shooting area has been closed (which several people mentioned). Really it just goes to show that the very existence of public land is a terrible idea (if it was private, then the issue would be property rights: the owner would be responsible for not interfering with others' safety or enjoyment of their property, and otherwise would be able to manage their property as they saw fit; the issues of people littering and partying are of the same kind).
Many brought up the plans for a new range down the road from the pit, and apparently progress is being made—and they're making a volunteer list—but since it has been discussed and "in progress" for literally 40 years, there isn't that much hope there. Several people suggested or indicated that the pit should not be closed until the new area was opened. Would that the council was that sensible.
I was most disappointed in the NRA guy (area technical range expert) who testified against the pit. It's not a fancy official range; nobody claimed it was. If I wasn't a life member I'd consider not renewing. Speaking of NRA, "I'm in the NRA / a NRA life member" or "I have guns and family with guns and used to shoot and really wish I still could [who broke your arms?]" was the "I have black friends"-type quote of the day, to the point it became amusing.
I did speak and mention that a group from Microsoft liked to shoot there, some of whom lived in Snohomish county, and that we were always safe (with our own range master even!) and packed out our trash and much more. I figured I'd see at least one other person from this group. On the other hand, it's a lot of time to dedicate to such an event if you work—I felt bad about not going to Olympia Monday, which is why I took the time today—and also why a large number of the testators were well to do women that didn't work, and retired people.
Books finished: The Collected Short Stories, The Probability Broach, The Panic of 1819: Reactions and Policies, The Keeper of the Isis Light.
