Shooting-range plan introduced in Congress

Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2001 | 9:12 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- If Nevada's senators have their way, 2,880 acres of public land north of Las Vegas will become a shooting range, sports park and firearms training facility at no cost to Clark County.

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee held a hearing on the proposal Tuesday. The legislation was introduced by Sens. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and John Ensign, R-Nev., and by Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., in the House.

The area for the shooting range is about 10 miles northwest of Las Vegas, a mile northeast of Floyd Lamb State Park.

Southern Nevada's growth in the past decade has spawned "dozens, if not hundreds, of makeshift shooting ranges across the Las Vegas Valley which pose extreme danger to nearby homes and increasingly busy roads," Reid said.

Law enforcement officials as well as sports enthusiasts have asked for a new shooting range, "a place for police officers and Clark County citizens to safely use their firearms," Ensign said.

Clark County officials began meeting with the Bureau of Land Management and others interested in developing a shooting range in December. Last month ordnance exploded at a Metro storage facility where homes had been built close to the bunker, Ensign noted.