Regional public shooting range sought

Diana Sahagun

Friday, Dec. 8, 2000 | 10:42 a.m.

The shrinking Clark County desert has become a haven for gun gurus who make use of old refrigerators and tin cans for target practice.

Sure, the practice is ruled illegal according to Clark County code, which declares any area inside the county limits a "no-shooting zone."

But to more than 100,000 gun owners in the Las Vegas Valley, the desert is the only place left to shoot because the city lacks a public, outdoor shooting range.

A group of gun enthusiasts and officials from Las Vegas, Clark County and North Las Vegas are working together to bring a regional public shooting sports park to the area, drafted after the successful Ben Avery Shooting Range in Phoenix.

Local law enforcement agencies are hoping to take a piece of the park's pie, securing at least 1,000 acres for officers to train.

Clark County Parks and Recreation Director Glenn Trowbridge has taken the reins on the project and has mapped out six possible locations for the shooting park.

Trowbridge will meet with the Bureau of Land Management in the coming months to secure a site.

The city of Las Vegas was originally considering the idea, but tossed it to the county after determining there was no land available in the city limits.

"What's happened is the valley's growing so fast, all the areas the shooters have used in the past have gone away. Shooters really have no place left to go," Trowbridge said.

As the valley grows, the lack of a public outdoor shooting range is becoming more of a hazard, said Las Vegas resident Norm Lindley, a gun enthusiast and competitive shooter. Lindley is a member of Desert Sportsman's Rifle & Pistol Club, a private club with an indoor shooting range.

Lindley said he would love an outdoor facility that is open to the public.

"The problem in the county is that for 100,000 gun owners, people don't have any place to shoot," he said. "What's happening is that everywhere they can, these people find a dirt bank and shoot bottles and cans. This makes for a dangerous situation."

Trowbridge has mapped out six sites around the Las Vegas Valley or on the outskirts of town where a 2,500- to 5,000-acre shooting park could be located.

The favored choice is a parcel of BLM land north of Moccasin Road and west of the Nellis range, in the county limits.

The site, though, is located in a wilderness preservation area, which could pose a problem. Wilderness areas are protected from development by the government. Assemblyman John Lee, D-Las Vegas, will ask Nevada's congressional delegation to help obtain the land.

BLM spokesman Phillip Guerrero said it would take an act of Congress to acquire a parcel of land from a wilderness preservation area. He added that the BLM would rather see the county look for other parcels, which are not located in a preserve area.

Lee said he has met with retiring Sen. Richard Bryan, D-Nev., and will meet with Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., next month to drum up support.

"They understand it's a sport, and the encroachment on police ranges is just getting out of control, so it is a need," Lee said. "I don't foresee a negative reaction from the Legislature."

If all goes according to plan, the county will own and operate the facility, but a volunteer executive board appointed by the county will oversee day-to-day operations.

The county will foot some of the bill to build the facility, estimated to cost $10 million to $15 million over 10 years, Trowbridge said. But the remaining funds will come from grants, sponsorships and private donations.

Local governments are providing input, and, hopefully, county officials also will offer to help fund the project, Trowbridge said.

So far, Trowbridge has received letters of support from Sen.-elect John Ensign, R-Nev., the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, Sheriff Jerry Keller and various shooting clubs.

Law enforcement agencies in the valley also could reap the benefits of a shooting park.

Metro Capt. Mark Medina said there is a real need for a shooting range that could accommodate officers, who train four times a year.

Metro and North Las Vegas Police Department have shooting ranges near the base of Sunrise Mountain, which are slowly being encroached upon by new residential areas.

"We recognize there's not going to be too much time left before the land down the mountain is going to be needed for development, and we won't be able to operate safely," Medina said. "We need to find a one-time solution to carry us over for 50 years."

Metro's range is closed for remodeling, but the North Las Vegas range is alive with activity.

At the base of the North Las Vegas range, just below Metro's range, a neighborhood, baseball fields and the Nellis Air Force Base flight range are all just a few yards away.

North Las Vegas Police Lt. Art Redcay estimates the range has only a few years left before it will have to be shut down because of the encroachment.

At the Ben Avery range in Phoenix, which the Las Vegas range is being modeled after, 19 police agencies make use of the complex.

Don Turner, who is in charge of developing ranges for the Arizona Game & Fish Department and runs the Ben Avery range, said the ranges set aside for law enforcement mix perfectly with nearby ranges for the public and gun clubs.

Ben Avery covers 1,650 acres, making it the largest publicly operated shooting facility in the country. It is run by the Arizona Game and Fish Department in cooperation with Arizona State Rifle and Pistol Association and other user groups.

Sixty percent of the people who use Ben Avery are public shooters, and 120,000 people used the range last year.

Turner said he advised the county to prepare an in-depth analysis on who the shooting range will target, in order to make the project successful.

"The problem lately is that ranges become either exclusive or inclusive, and that doesn't foster an environment for people just wanting to go out and shoot," Turner said.