TargetTalk

With the recent range closings (U Texas and U Toronto), what can we do as shooters and coaches to stop this. Surely, if enough of us let it be known that there is more interest in this sport than the Univ. think, then maybe they will rethink this. I fear that if we don't stop it now, then it will continue, until us and our kids will not be able to shoot anywhere.

Probably the easiest thing, and possibly the first thing we should do is show our support, and publicise it widely. Funnily enough, there is no announcement regarding the closure of Toronto's range on the Hart House website (although I believe there is some sort of review on Sept 20th, where the club will try and find a compromise, which will probably be their excuse as to why it isn't being properly announced on the web).

generating negative publicity regarding the university may change the management's mind, and if it doesn't, it may sway the hand of other universities that are thinking of similar action. If everyone writes to the provost as well, it will show these are not just an isolated bunch of gun nuts, but part of a wider community of highly professional sportspeople who compete in a sport, not a hobby (I've had to explain that shooting is a sport not a hobby too many times...).

In a presentation to the management, the club pointed out that they had directly trained people from the geology, forestery, zoology and drama departments in firearm safety. I wrote to the provost, and apart from pointing out the stupidity of closing a club with a perfect safety record because of political correctness, noted to him that there were financial implications in that these departments would have to hire in armourers to train people for future projects where firearm knowledge was needed - I appealed to his wallet as well as his heart!

Another thing is to actually go out and actively use the facilities near you. Introduce shooting to your friends and co-workers, even if they don't take the sport up at least they have exposure to it and know what its about.

Everyone gets upset when facilities are taken away, I've been to numerous ranges and none are that busy even if they do have lots of paper memberships. Like the old saying goes use it or lose it.

Perhaps some of these colleges are thinking of closing down shooting related programs because of politically related issues. You might consider that many of these same colleges are sustaining courses/programs that favor certain groups of peoples.Is this not political favoritism?? Does this not come from the college coffers also?? Seems money speaks louder than words-perhaps a college can hear that kind of reasoning a little better.

Another argument was that it was "unfair for all this space to be dedicated for one use".
By all accounts, the range is next to a machinery room, and areas of it flood if it weren't for pump systems...not somewhere I'd want to hold society meetings and stuff.
Quite apart from that, a football field is a damn sight larger, and also a single use. Unless you double it up for field athletic events, then that's an even worse case of single-use dedication. Of course, football's politically correct, because no one ever gets hurts in football...it's a nice "safe" sport...

Use it or lose it doesn't always help though. Bath University here in the UK used to have a very competitive rifle team. Now it's got 3 very good shooters - all of whom shot to a high (national) standard before they started at Bath. The rest of the shooters are mediocre because they started at uni and don't get the chance to train properly. The uni was "redeveloping" the facilities, and put simply, nothing ever appeared on the patch of land where the new range was supposed to be built, causing massive damage to the club's ability to train. Basically the uni conned them out of their range in an attempt to kill the club... We'll no doubt have a fight on our hands sometime in the next 5 years to stop the same thing happening at Southampton...there's talk of redeveloping the site on which our range is built, along with a few other dilapidated sports facilities. We'll need to make sure there's a range on the blueprints when they get drawn up. Fortunately, the guy in charge of the redevelopment is quite sympathetic, and wants to include a range on the site. He doesn't control the purse strings though...

Another thing to consider is, unfortunately, a more confrontational approach. Many colleges and universities in the US were founded under the Land-Grant College system. My understanding (and this is admittedly not based on my own research, but the information comes from multiple sources who I believe to be well informed) is that Land-Grant colleges MUST offer ROTC training, and the college ROTC cadre can demand space for appropriate training. At a minimum, space should be made available for training with air rifles/pistols.

Additionally, I understand that when public funds have been used to construct a range for law enforcement training, the public, as a matter of federal policy, cannot be excluded from the range. It would require someone with legal training to find the correct statutes and prepare the proper documents, and the using group may have to pay the equivalent of a rangemaster's salary and benefits for the time they used the range, but they should be able to get range time.

University adminsitrators and public officials don't like having to deal with shooters who understand and insist upon their rights. You won't win any friends and may have to "fight the battle" with every change in leadership. Unfortunately, that may be the only way to continue shooting.