[ad_1]
EDEN VALLEY, MINN. – Rick and Tammy Kirkpatrick woke up one day and discovered their house was going to be on the target end of a gun range.
They haven’t always slept well since.
“We’ve had such a nice, peaceful life,” Rick Kirkpatrick said of the home where they’ve lived for 32 years, on a gravel road among farm fields about 2 miles outside this central Minnesota town. “Nobody bothers me here.”
That may be changing. The Eden Valley Sportsman’s Club is ready to open a full-service shooting range across the road from the Kirkpatricks’ home. It includes a pistol range as well as trapshooting.
But it’s the rifle range that has the couple upset. Their house is only about 125 yards from the end of the range.
It’s not directly in line with the 300-yard rifle range, which terminates in a 10-foot-high earthen berm designed to absorb the shooters’ bullets. But it’s close enough, Rick Kirkpatrick said, that off-target shots could hit their home.
“I’m not a ballistics expert, but I’ve hunted all my life,” said Kirkpatrick, explaining that a small error in aim could translate into a much wider miss downrange. He added that bullets from high-powered guns, such as .30-06 or .50-caliber weapons, could fly over the berm and hit traffic on a county road about a half-mile away.
After an inspection last fall, the county gave permission for the range to operate, but no shots have been fired yet as the Kirkpatricks and about a dozen neighbors challenge the county permit.
In a lawsuit filed in Meeker County District Court, they claim the Sportsman’s Club has failed to live up to the terms under which the permit was granted, primarily by missing required deadlines to complete safety work on the project.
They also allege that the shooting range will endanger the safety of local residents and lower their property values, charges that the county called “bunk” in a court filing.
County officials declined to comment on the case, but their attorney called the neighbors’ fight against the gun range permit “an exercise in futility.”
“Really, all the conditions attached to the permit have been complied with,” said Scott Anderson, a Minneapolis attorney who’s representing the county.
“Everything’s being done fine here according to what the standards of the law are,” he said. “I’m confident that nothing improper has been done out at the range.”
Anderson said the range design follows widely used guidelines from the National Rifle Association.
According to letters filed with the court, the range has the support of the Eden Valley Police Department (which has three officers), the local Scout troop and the high school FFA adviser.
Although the area is sparsely populated, with a handful of homes scattered hundreds of yards apart, most of the neighbors within earshot of the range have signed onto the lawsuit. That includes Lisa Thielen, whose land also sits across the road from the range.
Thielen said the entire process has felt “one-sided.”
“When we went to the Planning Commission [meeting], it felt like some of the members had already made up their minds,” she said. Neighbors asked to have some restrictions put on the permit, such as fewer days and shorter hours of operation, but were ignored, she said.
She’s not against guns — in fact, her two children were both on the club shooting team at Eden Valley-Watkins Secondary School. But she worries about the safety of her nieces, nephews and grandchildren, who visit often.
And she fears that once the range is operating, it will draw too many shooters.
“It’s a very rapidly growing sport,” she said. “We moved to the country for peace and quiet.”
Thielen worries that the range could be rented out to other groups as the Sportsman’s Club, which has more than 200 members, seeks to pay off the $100,000 it paid for the land.
The Kirkpatricks said the permit process felt rushed, with scant notice to them and other residents. Anderson said that “all the proper notices were given. Hearings were held. Testimony and evidence was taken.
“And the fact is, sufficient information was put out by the Eden Valley Sportsman’s Club showing that the range could be built in a safe way that would not endanger anyone or the environment. And because of that, it was approved.”
The Sportsman’s Club is eager to move ahead with completion of the range, said Keith Faber, the club treasurer.
“I just think it should have went through already,” he said. “It’s just kind of been a pain in the butt, that’s for sure.”
Rick Kirkpatrick, he added, is “just wasting our money and a little of his. I write the checks to the lawyer. At $300 to $400 an hour, it don’t take long to run up a bill of $10,000 to $15,000.”
Rick Kirkpatrick is a maintenance mechanic at a local factory, and Tammy Kirkpatrick makes jams, jellies and craft goods that she sells at local flea markets. The couple aren’t swimming in cash.
“Do I look like I have a lot of money?” Rick Kirkpatrick asked with a laugh. “They didn’t figure we’d fight it.
“I told them, I don’t have much, but every penny I have will go to stopping you.”
John Reinan • 612-673-7402
[ad_2]
Source link
991665 391777Youd outstanding guidelines there. I did a search about the field and identified that really likely the majority will agree together with your internet page. 288922
937197 420699hello admin, your site pages pattern is simple and clean and i like it. Your articles are wonderful. Remember to keep up the great work. Greets.. 196739
342661 309674Thank you pertaining to giving this superb content material on your web-site. I discovered it on google. I may check back once again if you publish extra aricles. 539906
817330 840199Some truly nice and utilitarian information on this internet website , likewise I feel the design and style holds wonderful attributes. 920310
633585 123900Hi there, I found your blog via Google whilst searching for 1st aid for a heart attack and your post looks extremely fascinating for me. 676912
973962 144452This is the suitable weblog for anybody who needs to seek out out about this topic. You notice so significantly its virtually laborious to argue with you (not that I truly would wantHaHa). You undoubtedly put a brand new spin on a subject thats been written about for years. Excellent stuff, just fantastic! 965729
117113 371921I undoubtedly did not realize that. Learnt something new today! Thanks for that. 616106
954140 810178Couldn?t be designed any better. Reading this post reminds me of my old room mate! He always kept talking about this. I will forward this report to him. Pretty certain he will possess a good read. Thanks for sharing! 857969
737258 499239extremely good post, i actually love this web website, carry on it 19646
537198 278118Oh my goodness! a wonderful post dude. Thanks Nevertheless My business is experiencing concern with ur rss . Dont know why Not able to sign up for it. Possibly there is any person obtaining identical rss difficulty? Anyone who knows kindly respond. Thnkx 438464
554747 280867Cool text dude, keep up the very good function, just shared this with the mates 928749
900787 337177As soon as I found this web site I went on reddit to share some of the adore with them. 889540
153223 225046Yay google is my king helped me to find this wonderful internet site ! . 902817
400145 898309Nice read, I just passed this onto a colleague who was doing some research on that. And he truly bought me lunch as I discovered it for him smile So let me rephrase that: Thank you for lunch! 205673
969167 233933I genuinely dont accept this particular write-up. Nonetheless, I had searched with Google and Ive discovered out that youre appropriate and I had been thinking within the improper way. Keep on creating top quality material comparable to this. 373077
523666 319493Exceptional post even so , I was wanting to know if you could write a litte much more on this topic? Id be very thankful should you could elaborate a little bit a lot more. Thanks! 88531
404424 486744Particular paid google internet pages offer complete databases relating whilst personal essentials of persons although range beginning telephone number, civil drive public records, as properly as criminal arrest back-ground documents. 5817
736397 776617Exploring in Yahoo I finally stumbled upon this site.Studying this information. 950302
385111 431848I was examining some of your content material on this internet web site and I believe this internet site is rattling instructive! Maintain putting up. 561749
37809 213431Extremely usefull weblog. i will follow this weblog. maintain up the great work. 250052
510912 642634This really is a superb weblog, would you be involved in doing an interview about just how you created it? If so e-mail me! 526415
168003 223970I like this blog so considerably, saved to my bookmarks . 246889
209899 911064This website can be a walk-by way of for all of the data you necessary about this and didnt know who to ask. Glimpse here, and also you will certainly uncover it. 337006
144871 381973Glad to be 1 of numerous visitants on this remarkable internet website : D. 340025
614834 725867I genuinely like your writing style, amazing information, thankyou for posting : D. 138611
24592 735248Hi. Cool write-up. There can be a dilemma with the web site in firefox, and you might want to test this The browser will be the marketplace leader and a huge portion of folks will miss your outstanding writing due to this problem. 140296
83228 78231Simply a smiling visitor here to share the enjoy (:, btw outstanding style . “Audacity, far more audacity and always audacity.” by Georges Jacques Danton. 71832
67483 695274Merely wanna input which you have a very nice website , I enjoy the pattern it really stands out. 969948