Urban sprawl vs. your gun range. . .Guess who loses!
Posted: Fri Apr 21, 2006 8:19 am
I'm a brand new member to this board which I just happened to stumble across a few days ago. The reason I stumbled across this board started with my ongoing quest to find a good smallbore range.
I began shooting under the guidance of my father - a devoted competitive pistol shooter - and a shooting coach friend of his whose daughter set some Camp Perry top scores during her competitive shooting career. The smallbore range was located in some bottom land, not far from the city, which was nice for a number of reasons. First of all, it was big enough to field regional championships, having a firing line of approx. 80 slots. Second of all, it boasted a very active Junior shooting program. We had small matches, practice sessions, monthly meetings, etc. As Jr. shooters we got to know each other, the shooting community and got our competitive feet wet. I became a very good competitor. In high school, I was a member of the ROTC rifle team and lettered every year in shooting. Then, I went off to college and continued my shooting career in collegiate competition (this pre-dated NCAA). We were one of the top teams in the region and I also lettered there every year. During my absence from home, my shooting world changed. Our city grew quickly and encroached on the area around the range. Development went crazy to the point where keeping the range in it's old location would be a costly legal battle. The land sold, and the range disappeared.
It never came back. There is no longer an active shooting community. There is no longer a Jr shooting program. There are a few urban ranges in the city, but for a competitive smallbore shooter, they are poor substitutes for what once was. I don't know what the solution will eventually be for me. Maybe I'll get a chance to shoot on another range every now and then, but as far away as they are now, I'm afraid my competitive days may be over.
I began shooting under the guidance of my father - a devoted competitive pistol shooter - and a shooting coach friend of his whose daughter set some Camp Perry top scores during her competitive shooting career. The smallbore range was located in some bottom land, not far from the city, which was nice for a number of reasons. First of all, it was big enough to field regional championships, having a firing line of approx. 80 slots. Second of all, it boasted a very active Junior shooting program. We had small matches, practice sessions, monthly meetings, etc. As Jr. shooters we got to know each other, the shooting community and got our competitive feet wet. I became a very good competitor. In high school, I was a member of the ROTC rifle team and lettered every year in shooting. Then, I went off to college and continued my shooting career in collegiate competition (this pre-dated NCAA). We were one of the top teams in the region and I also lettered there every year. During my absence from home, my shooting world changed. Our city grew quickly and encroached on the area around the range. Development went crazy to the point where keeping the range in it's old location would be a costly legal battle. The land sold, and the range disappeared.
It never came back. There is no longer an active shooting community. There is no longer a Jr shooting program. There are a few urban ranges in the city, but for a competitive smallbore shooter, they are poor substitutes for what once was. I don't know what the solution will eventually be for me. Maybe I'll get a chance to shoot on another range every now and then, but as far away as they are now, I'm afraid my competitive days may be over.