Neighbors denounce planned gun range

Angry residents fired verbal volleys Wednesday night at public officials who came to speak about a $64 million gun park planned for a sprawling desert area near the Sheep Range.

Las Vegas Councilman Steve Ross and state Sen. John Lee, D-North Las Vegas, were among those invited by a neighborhood group to answer questions about a shooting range that could cover 900 acres northwest of where Decatur Boulevard ends.

More than 100 people crammed into a room at the Aliante Public Library for what turned into a hostile and at times raucous inquisition.

Meanwhile, gun range supporters quietly demonstrated outside the room.

Hecklers jeered, laughed mockingly and made caustic remarks whenever Ross or Clark County representatives spoke about the shooting park.

"Get it out of here! We don't want it!" Jeff Peters blurted.

Peters moved 14 months ago to Carmel Canyon, a subdivision that will be a mile from the shooting range.

Most neighbors at the meeting said they weren't told about the proposed park before they bought their homes.

Ross said he was puzzled that they never heard about a high-profile gun range that had been in the works for 24 years. A citizens advisory committee approved the site and discussed how to create an optimal shooting site for most of a decade, Ross said.

Jennifer Knight, a county spokeswoman, said the county had 18 public meetings since 2000 in which the park was discussed. Notices were sent to houses within nearly a 4,000-foot radius of the site in late 2005, and signs were displayed on a road near the property, she said.

But Knight's comments drew heckling from homeowners who said they were never informed.

Demetrios Philippou asked Ross why the city didn't require the builder, Lennar Homes, to disclose the shooting park to buyers. Elected leaders are supposed to look out for their constituents, he said.

Don Turner, the county's shooting-park expert, said noise from the range must be kept below 57 decibels at the nearest resident's property line; otherwise, the county must build berms or other barriers to muffle the sound.

"We will do everything possible," he said, to keep the noise to 56 decibels.

Plans call for the park to be open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday, he said. The park will be closed Mondays and Tuesdays for cleaning.

Some residents worried about shotguns discharging lead pellets into the soil, which might wash into the drinking water or become airborne when dust is kicked up.

Turner said sediment traps will catch runoff that might contain lead. Workers also will scoop the lead debris from the ground, he said.

Several people also asked how stray bullets will be avoided and whether officials had thought about shooters toting weapons en masse to the range and through their neighborhood.

Turner said residents are more in danger now from rogue shooters firing off rounds on the hillside.

The range will be a controlled environment that will demand people act safely, he said.

Park-goers will fire their weapons in a safe direction, Turner said, and adults must accompany anyone under 18.

When the shooting park was first proposed for the land years ago, Lee said, there were no houses near it.

"It is in your backyard. I agree to that," Lee said. "We didn't know you were going to be there."

As Lee spoke, an irate neighbor flung an information packet at him and stomped out the door.

Contact reporter Scott Wyland at swyland@reviewjournal.com or (702) 455-4519.