Conn. Gun Club Can be Sued for Lead Pollution

[LiquidTension]

The Metacon Gun Club Inc. has operated a shooting range in Simsbury, Conn., for 15 years, court filings say.

...alleges that "thousands of pounds of lead" were deposited into the environment since 1980

...in Metacon's more than 30-year history.

...the club has not had any problems concerning safety in the 40 years it has been in existence.

Uh...what?

 

[rock jock]

Countersue the stables and the golf course

Hey, dude, leave the golf course out of it.

 

[LeonCarr]

Oops...sorry .

Just my .02,
LeonCarr

 

[Mk VII]

Sweden has banned lead in any ammunition for hunting from 2006, and from 2008 they are going to ban all lead bullets

 

[hso]

"testing conducted at the request of the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) proved that surface and ground water on the club's property has not been polluted by the lead bullets fired on the range."

Bingo! If the state DEP accepts the data then there's no pollution argument. That being the case, why didn't the judge throw that out as well?

"Further evaluations made by the DEP proved that the club has not had any problems concerning safety in the 40 years it has been in existence. In a letter written to Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, DEP Commissioner Arthur Rocque Jr. stated that the Metacon Gun Club "operates at all times under strict safety rules that are specifically designed to prevent the occurrence of accidents, therefore I have no reason to believe that continued operation of the range represents any unreasonable threat to the safety of visitors of Talcott Mountain State Park.""

I don't understand this one. Why would the DEP have anything to say about the safety issue since their charter is environmental and not safety. It only makes sense if the DEP is responsible for TMSP.

 

[280PLUS]

yes, the length of time the club is reported as existing does seem to change several times. I don't know what's going on there.

 

[SMMAssociates]

General rule of thumb, which, of course, the anti's don't accept, is that if you move next to a slaughterhouse, you really shouldn't complain about the smell....

Heresay at this point 'cause I can't recall the source, but I recall reading where some yuppie was complaining about bullets hitting his property from a nearby range.

To prove it, he showed off "some of the stuff I found recently". Unfired, complete, ready to stuff in the gun, ammunition....

I think we need a "all lawsuits must be based on common sense" amendment, as well as corporal punishment to the violators thereof.

Also, since the "corporation" was created as a sham, perhaps the corporate officers could be put in stocks. Or bonds....

The range I use has the misfortune to have the son of a former President (of the club) living across the street. I have no idea why, but he really doesn't like us. Shooting at our indoor range after 2300 is verboten 'cause he can hear us from 300' away. We also have restrictions on the times at the outdoor ranges, but they are reasonably sensible in the summertime at least.

Can't use the "prior use" argument. He's been there about as long as the clubhouse.

 

[Daniel T]

yes, the length of time the club is reported as existing does seem to change several times. I don't know what's going on there.

Well, it's possible that the range has been technically owned by different organizations without ever actually changing hands. "Metacon Gun Club Inc" may be the latest incarnation.

 

[280PLUS]

Update FYI

I just received this from a Metacon club member:

What's the date of this? We were told earlier this month by the club president that the Federal Gov't ruled in favor of the club with respect to lead pollution, making the state case all but meaningless.

 

[280PLUS]

I sent a copy of the first article in this thread to Rich who is a Metacon member ansd also captain of my pistol team. He asked what the date was on it and this is my reply to him:

----- Original Message -----
From: [email protected]
To: Rich
Sent: Saturday, July 23, 2005 5:22 AM
Subject: Conn. Gun Club Can be Sued for Lead Pollution


This is what I found. Apparently it's dated june 24 05 at the bottom of the page. I thought it would be nice to try and generate some money for them to defer legal costs. Good idea or no? Can they use some money? I'd even just donate a little myself for the cause.

His reply to me:

Yes, good idea, any ideas?

The club, in addition to three all member assessments, asked individual members for voluntary contributions. I don't know the results of that effort, but some individuals have chipped in $1,000 each. They give recognition to people who contribute at certain levels, i.e. up to $100, $101-250, $250-500, $500-1,000, 1,000-5,000,

I have just paid my third assessment to help fund our legal battles, pay consultants, etc. There are multiple law suits. I don't think exact figures have been quoted or published, but I've heard that we spent over $100,000 so far on legal fees and we're not done yet. The NRA is helping with our defense and I believe they have pledged $25,000 as they see this as a case that could set precedence if the plaintiffs win.
We're being sued for pollution, which won't go anywhere, and safety - which has some merit in my mind. The town of Simsbury is also being sue for allowing us to operate under these alleged conditions. We & Simsbury hired a safety consultant who came up safety upgrades. We put up 100 feet (4 feet high, 100 feet long) of blue sky barriers on the outdoor ports. This is a drop down wall on the front edge of the roof facing the target berm. Made of sheets of plywood. When the shooter is at his port and aims toward the berm, his line of sight is limited so he cannot see the top of the mountain behind the berm, and therefore can't see the blue sky. There's a .45 cal hole in one of the sheets, about 18 inches up from the edge. The theory here is that while the plywood won't stop a bullet it will disturb it's flight enough so that it will not get over the mountain.

Cheers, Rich