The Campbell River Gun Club has shut down its rifle and pistol ranges after the owner of a neighbouring property complained stray bullets hit his deck and a bus and whizzed over the heads of outside workers.
In a letter to members obtained by the Campbell River Mirror, CRGC president Greg Yeoman says the owner of the land to the east of the CRGC’s outdoor range on Argonaut Road reported to the Chief Firearms Officer that he has had a deck railing glass sheet shattered by a bullet, his caretaker’s bus/RV has had multiple impacts on its side, he has found bullets lying on the ground in the northwest corner of his property and that outside workers have heard bullets whizzing overhead.
Yeomans says that the neighbour has never reported to the club that there were projectiles entering or damaging his property so that the club could remedy the problems.
The Chief Firearms Officer representative determined that the CRGC does not have a Land Use Agreement to use the neighbour’s land as a safety area for overshots or ricochets from CRGC ranges. All of their ranges, except the Trap Range have a safety area that goes into the neighbouring property. The CFO cannot allow the potential “trespass of projectiles” into the neighbouring property so a complete shutdown of shooting on the rifle and pistol ranges was ordered.
Yeoman’s letter says the club is working with the CFO’s office to get the shooting ranges up as fast as possible. The option being considered is to build a temporarily-covered firing point on the 600 yard ranges around the 300 yard target area.
The CFO representative told the club a decision about re-opening will be coming by the end of this week.
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