Arizona Arizona Getting Five More Shooting Ranges...

[1971Chevelle]

Arizona will be getting five more shooting ranges, the first of which should be open in about 6 months. I think that they are all a ways away from where I live, but they should be a welcome site to many people throughout the state.

First of 5 recreational shooting sites to begin construction on BLM Phoenix District land

Construction on the Baldy Mountain site is expected to last about six months, BLM officials said in a news release.

www.azcentral.com

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[MadDuner]

Excellent news!

 

[delta6]

We are not getting 5 new shooting ranges. The BLM is taking control of 5 locations that we have been shooting on for years (one for over 40 years). Their proposals end up with the shooting locations being smaller than they are today, access to the actual shooting spot will be more restrictive and there is a clause in the proposals that they can charge for use. You guys are pretty smart...when did the government ever get involved in anything and actually made it better.

We shoot in the desert because of the freedom, it's less restrictive and if we wanted to go to a formal range we would go to Ben Avery, Rio or Phoenix.

There is nothing excellent about this at all.

 

[nvshooter]

We shoot in the desert because of the freedom ...

Freedom is exactly why I moved to Nevada from Northern Virginia in the Fall of 2004. Until you've lived where all the land has been owned by someone else for over 300 years and you with your evil Black Rifle are not welcome on it, you won't know Liberty until you come to a place like the wide-open deserts of Nevada. I lived in the vicinity of Winchester, Virginia for twenty-eight years. I think back now on that period and I have to wonder how I ever survived it with my sanity intact.

 

[Joe Link]

Fantastic!

 

[1971Chevelle]

We are not getting 5 new shooting ranges. The BLM is taking control of 5 locations that we have been shooting on for years (one for over 40 years). Their proposals end up with the shooting locations being smaller than they are today, access to the actual shooting spot will be more restrictive and there is a clause in the proposals that they can charge for use. You guys are pretty smart...when did the government ever get involved in anything and actually made it better.

We shoot in the desert because of the freedom, it's less restrictive and if we wanted to go to a formal range we would go to Ben Avery, Rio or Phoenix.

There is nothing excellent about this at all.

I actually do not have a problem with what they are doing and I will tell you why. A huge number of firearm owners go out to these places to shoot and they trash them. They bring in all kinds of stuff to shoot at, but they never take it back out with them. They also leave brass and ammunition boxes everywhere. This is why we can no longer shoot at 'the pit" in northeast Mesa. This is why they shut down the 'V' out in Queen Valley. They probably wouldn't be setting these ranges up if people would be responsible and clean up after themselves. Hopefully they will remain free to use, and that people will take care of them.

 

[1971Chevelle]

And the BLM (government) building these ranges will change the BAD behavior...HOW?? I'm sure with your somewhat misguided thinking, you probably also think that if the government just passed one more gun law, that will also change BAD behavior! God help us...we have met the enemy and they are US.

Not even close. I feel that all current gun laws should be abolished. But, when people can not be responsible and clean up their trash, then someone has to do something. Is it a perfect solution?? Nope. But hopefully it will make a difference.

 

[1971Chevelle]

You sure do read a lot into what I said that I didn't say. Relax. Remember that BLM can completely shut those areas down if they want to. Nothing you can do about it. Do not assume that I am pro government - not even close. As for the areas that are trashed, I will not clean up after anyone else - that just exacerbates the problem and makes it worse. Everyone today thinks that it is someone else's job to clean up after them. That is not me - at all.

 

[35404]

We have a shooting area near Hidden Valley. Several yr ago BLM organized a clean up day. 2 -36 ft dumpsters full of TVs, Computer monitors, pallets, mattress, were hauled away. About 20 of us showed up. Took 2 days. Today it looks like a landfill there. People are pigs, that's just the way it is. I hauled my dump trailer full of garbage from the spot we use last Nov.and it's back again.

The folks that go there two/threee times a week aren't the problem, its the guys that take their friends/faily out to show off the new gun they just got.Throw old tv in the trunk and out they go, leaving busted glass and garbage behind.

This may or may not stop with more supervision but if the newsies were to go out there with their camera crew it would certainly cause quite a stink.

 

[nvshooter]

This may or may not stop with more supervision but if the newsies were to go out there with their camera crew, it would certainly cause quite a stink.

What you'd get with that is the usual shrill cry by liberals to close-down all shooting areas because children might go there, get cut on the broken glass and expose themselves to lead. It's all about "the children," don't you know. Hundreds, thousands or even millions of Americans who go about their business without harming or inconveniencing anyone must bend or alter the way they live their lives because one rectal aperture is butthurt about something. That nutcase Lani Guinier wrote some idiotic book entitled "The Tyranny of the Majority" in which she argued that the minority opinion need be considered before that of the majority. This is typical liberal insanity. It's usually true that what benefits the majority benefits all involved. To defer to one screaming protester within a throng of those who agree is counterproductive unless the idea held by the protester presents a clear and present danger to all. It usually doesn't. Protesters most usually want something that directly benefits themselves, and to hellsinki with the rest.

 

[delta6]

................Several yr ago BLM organized a clean up day. 2 -36 ft dumpsters full of TVs, Computer monitors, pallets, mattress, were hauled away. About 20 of us showed up. Took 2 days. Today it looks like a landfill there. People are pigs, that's just the way it is. I hauled my dump trailer full of garbage from the spot we use last Nov.and it's back again.

The folks that go there two/threee times a week aren't the problem, its the guys that take their friends/faily out to show off the new gun they just got.Throw old tv in the trunk and out they go, leaving busted glass and garbage behind.....

Well said.....

Ever since I started spending time in AZ (Colorado resident, wife is an AZ resident), I learned pretty quick that trashing shooting sites has been an ongoing problem. Our group set up a protocol to at least work on the problem. Every time we go out (which is 2-3 times per week) we each fill a trash bag with other folks trash. If every conscientious shooter did just a little bit we could put a small dent in the problem. We also are not bashful to confront others who are leaving their stuff or are shooting at things that we know will leave a mess (computers, paint cans, glass containers, etc.)

1971Chevelle stated "I will not clean up after anyone else ".. well I do not think it is in the shooting communities best interest to...as my Dear Mother would say, "Don't cut off your nose to spite your face." I do not like cleaning up after other shooters either, but if we as a community do not do our part, we could lose what we have.

We as a community are all in this together. There are times that we will need to clean up others messes. There are times we see shooters trashing a site we need to educate them. There are also times we may encounter shooters that have a bit of an issue with safe handling, we need to call them out and explain the rules. It is up to each of us to do a small part. If not me, you, then who?

 

[SA Shooter]

Having seen what can be done by a group such as could be formed from this forum's membership, in cooperation with government agencies, to develop and manage such sites I am looking forward to seeing what is done here.

Such cooperation does, as a matter of fact, rely on the users to help maintain and keep an eye out on the sites.

And it does work.

 

[billdeserthill]

We are not getting 5 new shooting ranges. The BLM is taking control of 5 locations that we have been shooting on for years (one for over 40 years). Their proposals end up with the shooting locations being smaller than they are today, access to the actual shooting spot will be more restrictive and there is a clause in the proposals that they can charge for use. You guys are pretty smart...when did the government ever get involved in anything and actually made it better.

We shoot in the desert because of the freedom, it's less restrictive and if we wanted to go to a formal range we would go to Ben Avery, Rio or Phoenix.

There is nothing excellent about this at all.

I actually prefer shooting in the desert over shooting at Ben Avery

 

[11Charlie]

I actually prefer shooting in the desert over shooting at Ben Avery

Shooting out in the woods or in the desert with friends is always better than a range. The nice thing about a range is that they are usually open when shooting in the outdoors is closed. I'm gonna have to find a couple places when I get to AZ.

 

[MadDuner]

We generally fill the bed of my truck with everybody else's left behind targets and trash while we pack up after a day of shooting. The very slight payoff for our troubles is that the clueless idiots who leave the trash, generally do not police up their spent brass either, so it's ours for the taking. That said, these idiots also shoot lots of steel case ammo and leave it behind too. Luckily a magnet on a stick makes picking that stuff up for them fairly easy.

The shooting areas will be closed for the summer soon enough - but the clueless continue to come out and trash the places we shoot while we are gone. Stupid people suck!

 

[nvshooter]

Stupid people suck!

God must love them special-more than the rest of us because He made so many of them.

When I shoot out in the desert, I always police-up my stuff. The hundreds and hundreds of acres where I shoot is privately-owned. The owner knows dozens and dozens of people will be out there on the weekends, but he doesn't care. I have an "in" because a good friend of mine is good friends with the owner. The two of us will always be allowed on the property which is unfenced, ungated and unsigned as of this time. People have been shooting out there for decades. There has never been a problem with somebody getting shot or two groups getting into an argument about encroaching on the other's shootin' line because there is so much other land out there to just choose another spot.

The first time I saw the place after coming from Virginia in Fall 2004, I thought I'd died and gone to Heaven. I measured 0.8 miles of flat and open land, such land being 500 or so yards wide. No signs, no fences, no RSOs, no fees, no memberships, no gates, no time-outs to change targets, no hours of operation and no rectal apertures two benches down. I've since found other places in the near vicinity, one of which can have me out there for hours and I never see another person. I'll hear his gunfire, but I never see him. That's good enough for me...