I am a member of the Delran Junior Marksman and an RSO for the DJM range. Be advised that the range is temporarily closed. I don't have all the details so I won't say any more than that. I'm just trying to save someone a trip to the range for nothing.

I heard :cry:

 

Hopefully they get it fixed soon. I like DJM. Good people. Keep us posted.

I thought I'd update the situation at the Delran Junior Marksman Club...

 

Places to shoot in NJ are limited and this is looking like it may go down. During a once a year roof inspection at a neighboring warehouse, they found a 45 and a 9mm bullet on the roof. Right off the bat they blamed unsafe practices at the range and the Township closed it "until further notice," although it looks like their intent is now "forever." They refuse to talk with the club's board and have gone into a stall. A letter was sent to all members asking them to show up and show their support at the May 26th (this Tuesday night at 7 pm) Township Council Meeting in Delran.

 

This is a strictly regulated range with all shooting done from behind a bench, and overhead baffles prevent strays from leaving the area. You'd have to walk down and out from under the baffles to have any chance of accidentally letting one go. And even more unlikely because there's an RSO on at all times (I was one). Interestingly, the Delran Police have access to this range and have been observed doing their 7 yard fast draw with their new 45's. Imagine that! Also, a policeman from a neighboring town was hunting with his son several months ago in the area and they came across some kids shooting a 45 in the woods. They were arrested. You'd think that this might show some reasonable doubt on the part of the local politicians, but they were looking for a reason and got one.

 

Fortunately I belong to another club closer to my home, but this was a good place and had been there since 1960 without a problem. I hope to be able to make the meeting and I'll post the results.

Wow....right away blame the range, someone has to be the fall guy I guess. Is the twp board aware of the arrest that was made in the woods? Good luck with your fight guys, I hope it goes well for you.

Wow, that is appalling. So if I want to get a range shut down, all I have to do is throw some bullets on the roof of neighboring buildings? Unreal!

 

Hope they can maneuver around the town council idiots and get it back up and running again.

That is horrible. I shot there once when I went for my NRA Instructors class. It is a nice range.

Showing up with a large group of people won't sway anyone, especially if the majority are not voters in the town.

 

I would suggest that if any attempt is going to be made to keep this facility open, you have to go in with a plan. Simply saying "it wasn't us" or "we don't want it to close" won't cut it. I went through this with the range in Secaucus. You might want to refer to the NRA Range Manual which is a great source of information. You might want to present some ideas or possible solutions to improve the safety of the range.

 

Short of that, present large scale photos of the safety systems in place. Have documentation what these stray shots are virtually impossible to have come from your range. If you supply overwhelming evidence that your safety precautions make unsafe and stray rounds going off the range it makes it more difficult for the town council to close it down.

 

If unsuccessful, the only option left is legal action. That will be expensive and most likely require funding from the club's members. That is how we handled our legal problem a few years back.

 

Good luck.

You're right Rscalzo, A "march on the Council" won't solve anything. Only residents of the twp have any leverage. The club has been in contact with the NRA's legal people, but there isn't much they can do either. They are aware of the other shooting incident, but the main problem is that the land is owned by the twp and is classified as green acres. When the landlord wants you out, there's not much you can do.

 

DirtyDigz, you're right. In fact, the owner of the industrial park where the building is located has not been a friend of the club. It could very easily have been as you said; someone drops a bullet and then says, "hey, look what I found."

I think I read about similar things at a different club... wasnt it in NJ?

 

Development didnt like the range there, so someone called the police saying rounds were shot through the house...

 

turns out when they did the investigation, the bullet fired was from a different firearm and from a different time.

 

Developers will do anything to get a firearms club down... not good for sales when there are gun shots in the background when you are showing a model home.

The Secaucus range was bought by the Hackensack Meadowlands Comm. They spent millions to turn the area into a park and did not want a firearms range anywhere near it. The club (Meaodwlands Rifle and Pistol or at one time the Big-T )was on a month to month lease for a few years and didn't want to spend any of their funds to upgrade the place so it fell into disrepair. In the end the town closed it down and bulldozed it. That was a shame because in the 60's and 70's the place was the site for some large pistol matches drawing shooters from up and down the east coast.

 

It seems like NJ is trying to discourage gun ownership by closing down ranges one at a time. No place to shoot, no reason to own guns.

It seems like NJ is trying to discourage gun ownership by closing down ranges one at a time. No place to shoot, no reason to own guns.

 

There's always a reason to own guns. Exercising our 2nd Amendment right is good enough a reason for me.

closing down ranges one at a time

 

NJ isn't alone. Other states are trying to do the same although it has slowed quite a bit as the housing starts are down and the property is not sought after.

 

One thought that I had was involving the club with the town as a valued member of the community and one that the residents look on with a positive view. Our club is deeply involved in area activities with youth and other town activities. We sponsor one of the largest 4-H groups for kids in the state offering shooting sports and archery and outdoor training. We send one kid to a week long camp which is geared towards outdoor activities. We donate towards area funds that are involved with kids during the holidays and families that can't meet the demand during the holidays. Once a year we co-sponsor a charity match over a two day period that helped raise fifteen thousand which went to families of area military personnel in need of emergency funds. Boy Scouts and other youth groups use our property for weekend camp outs and merit badge activities.

 

Our town fathers love the club and the Chief of Police is directly involved in some of our fund raising efforts. We take pride in the appearance in the grounds and several acres is used for farming of organic foods. The point is, we are not looked upon as a gun club. we are looked upon as a valued member of the community. No one wants to see us gone because we bring benefits to the area not available is we go.

 

That is what a gun club must become. Otherwise it will be looked upon as a piece of land better suited for housing developments. Most clubs and ranges didn't leave because of neighbor resistance. They left because the land was more valuable for a house or a condo. the ones forced out didn't do much to help their cause in many ways.

Rscalzo,

 

I have been a member of DJM for 11 years and an RSO for 10 but was unaware of many of the things that you say the club does for the community. If I don't know, how would the communtity know. And if they do know, it's obvious that they really don't give a rat's behind. Somone, somwhere in that township is anti-gun or anti-noise or both and they pulled the right strings. I still don't see how those projectiles got on that roof. It doesn't seem physically possible unless they came from the police range across the river. I hope for the best, I love that range, but I fear the worst.

 

Spokes

you say the club does for the community

 

I didn't make myself clear with the comments. Those are areas that my club up here is involved in. It was pointed out as a way to show the community that the club and its members are an asset to the community. Every club up in this area (New England) is heavily involved in community programs. It is a way to keep the club's in operation and away from the claws of developers.

 

If your club is involved in these areas, it is something that shou

• d be pointed out to the town council.

Maybe all is not lost here. I received an e-mail today from DJM simply saying, "Range clean-up scheduled for this Saturday morning at 10 a.m. Please try to attend."

 

Keep your fingers crossed.

You really don't want the place to start looking like crap. that is even more reason for the town to look to get rid of it. that was a big part of the reason the Secaucus range was shut down. It started falling apart because no one felt it was reasonable to maintain a range that may not be around much longer.

 

It turned into a self fulfilling prophecy.

Any updates?

I got some third-hand info that NRA made some recommendations and twp. seems to be okay with the shotgun and rifle ranges, but wants more improvements done to pistol range. Some think shotgun and rifle could open in early fall, nothing is official.

I got some third-hand info that NRA made some recommendations and twp. seems to be okay with the shotgun and rifle ranges, but wants more improvements done to pistol range. Some think shotgun and rifle could open in early fall, nothing is official.

Anything other than they are closing it for good is good news I guess.