Wednesday, March 28, 2001

This letter is in response to the spin submitted by Denny Kuhr and the written attack made by Melissa Payne regarding Nancy Buchanan's letter about the 4-H shotgun range that is disturbing the peace in south Fayette County. In my opinion, this group of recreational shooters is using the fine reputation of the 4-H Club to justify their intrusion into our quality of life. Fayette County blatantly supports this through its failure to enforce the noise control ordinance.

Last year the gunfire began. It started in February and lasted until May. It was infrequent at first and increased to six days a week. The gunfire began at 5:30 p.m. and lasted until sunset. A round of skeet or trap includes 25 shots. It doesn't take much "passing of family traditions" and firearms instruction to equal in excess of 1,000 rounds an evening. You can forget a quiet evening outside.

Research on my part discovered that Fayette County had granted the 4-H Club a permit to operate a shotgun range between three subdivisions, homes along Ga. Highway 85 and, unbelievably, within a mile of the Starr's Mill school complex. This permit was issued without a public hearing.

As an aside, that permit was dated April 24, 2000, the same day I went to the Fayette County Administrative Complex to look up applicable ordinances and pick up a copy of that permit. The shooting had been going on for weeks. The chief of the Marshall's Department signed that permit. The permit is unconditional. Absolutely no consideration was given to the effects of noise on local residents.

The noise control ordinance states, "It shall be unlawful for any person to willfully make, continue or cause to be made or continued any unusually loud noise which disturbs the peace or quiet of any neighborhood or which causes discomfort or annoyance to any reasonable person of normal sensitiveness residing in the area." On a single afternoon I obtained 16 relevant signatures supporting my efforts to put an end to this (the 4-H has a petition as well; it was circulated at a Peachtree City neighborhood bunko party).

Last March I gave Mr. Kuhr the courtesy of a visit at their range to make sure he understood that his shooters were making a nuisance of themselves. He was pleasant, as was I, but it was obvious he had no intention of addressing our concerns nor did he offer any indication of compromise.

Mr. Kuhr uses "sound level readings" in an attempt to state as fact that the shooting is quieter than the traffic on Hwy. 85. I have videotape of a junior varsity soccer match at Starr's Mill High with loud gunfire in the background and zero traffic noise. I guess Hwy. 85 must have been closed that evening or Mr. Kuhr's sound level readings are flawed. Let's see, 12-gauge or truck, which one is louder?

Mr. Kuhr mentions that it is not a public range, yet I have a photo of a sign advertising "Public Trapshoot Here SAT" at the entrance to their range.

Next Mr. Kuhr alludes to the numerous sacrifices made by adult leaders and the conviction to pass on "family traditions and safe use of firearms." Don't let them fool you. It is hard to find a place to shoot in Fayette County. I ought to know. I drive to Talbot County to shoot. These shooters have found a place to shoot, they love the convenience, and local residents be damned.

Mr. Kuhr and Ms. Payne's rejection of the solution of driving to Wolf Creek (in south Fulton on Camp Creek Highway, not north Fulton), an Olympic class facility, on the grounds that it takes too long to get there falls on deaf ears. I have two boys who play club and high school soccer. I find myself in north Atlanta and everywhere else throughout the year. We make that sacrifice for them because we feel it is important and we don't publicly whine about it.

If they feel that competitive shooting is "self-confidence" building, I suggest they start driving. What Mr. Kuhr and Ms. Payne really don't want to do is travel 30 to 45 minutes because it is time-consuming and it costs to shoot there. Instead, they want to shoot at our expense, the expense of our right to peace and quiet and our property value.

Mr. Kuhr mentioned the many compromises that his shooters have made. His idea of noise control is a few 8-by-4s between shooting stations. He mentioned schedule cut backs. I have seen none. Mr. Kuhr wrote that his club would only shoot on Tuesdays and Saturdays until mid-May. It is 6:15 p.m. on Thursday, March 22, and as I sit inside and write this, I hear you shooting. I guess that "week or two" before May state qualifications started early. I have seen his shooting schedule. It is full of loopholes.

Mr. Kuhr last year promised "two or three" fund-raising events a year, in an attempt to pacify me. By the recent printed response, he states one per month through November. What's next?

This group of shooters, with a few exceptions (shooting participants living around the perimeter of the range who have such little respect for their neighbors don't count for much of anything) leave their quiet neighborhoods, drive to our "backyard," shoot their guns, get back in their cars and return to their homes. They do all of this under the guise of helping the community and 4-H participation. They are unconcerned that they take away the very thing most of us moved here for, peace and quiet. How dare they paint us as selfish and mean in this difference of opinion!

Why isn't Fayette County enforcing the noise control ordinance? In Fayette County it is the responsibility of the Marshall's Department to enforce county ordinances. The Marshall's Department is placed in the unenviable position of enforcing the noise control ordinance on a shooting range that it approved.

I do not wish to be at odds with the 4-H Club. I learned to shoot .22-cal. rifles at a 4-H summer camp. This is not a case of what they are doing, but where they are doing it. I haven't even begun to opine on the prudence of the sound of gunfire at the Starr's Mill school complex during after-school activities in a post-Columbine environment.

I would like to end this letter by using a phrase used by Ms. Payne, who borrowed it from the very club she brings discredit to. To all 4-H shotgunners, I wish you good health, but use your head and stop disturbing the peace, have a heart for your fellow citizens and keep your hands off the trigger around here.

Dan Bates

Brooks

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