New law expands protection of Maine shooting ranges

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAAn amended version of a bill designed to protect existing shooting ranges has been enacted and signed into law by the Governor. “An Act to Protect and Promote Access to Sport Shooting Ranges” was proposed by the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine and sponsored by Representative Patrick Corey.

The original bill sought to exempt shooting ranges from new rules and ordinances if they would cause the shooting range to close or substantially limit sport shooting there, and to give the ranges immunity from lawsuits. It would have also allowed the ranges to expand, including scheduling more events and increasing membership. Those provisions were set aside in the amended version of the bill. Here’s what the new law provides:

  1. It expands sport shooting range immunity from nuisance lawsuits filed against the shooting range from nuisance lawsuits based on noise to any nuisance lawsuit.
  2. It prohibits municipal ordinances from being applied to limit or eliminate shooting activities that have occurred on a regular basis at a sport shooting range prior to the enactment date of the ordinance. Current law exempts the applicability of ordinances only with regard to noise control.
  3. It requires a sport shooting range to meet general gun safety and shooting range operation practices or be constructed in a manner not reasonably expected to allow a projectile to cross the boundary of the range in order to be exempted from municipal ordinances applied to limit or eliminate its current shooting activities.
  4. It provides that a municipality may not restrict a sport shooting range established prior to September 1, 2016 from performing maintenance or making improvements to enhance public safety and shot containment, provide access for persons with disabilities and provide rest room facilities. Other maintenance or improvements must be done in compliance with generally applicable municipal building codes and zoning ordinances. Repairing or rebuilding a building or structure damaged by fire, collapse, explosion or an act of God must be done in compliance with generally applicable municipal building codes and be completed within 2 years.

 

History

When I served as executive director of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine, we successfully championed legislation that protected existing gun shooting ranges from noise ordinances. Since that time, other challenges have threatened Maine’s shooting ranges, including lawsuits and zoning ordinances.

Maine could actually use a few more shooting ranges, which are used not only by sporting club members, but lots of others including police officers who have no other place to shoot. So this is a very important issue.

Representative Corey, an avid sportsman and member of the Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Committee, when he introduced this bill, said, “Shooting ranges are truly unique, which is exactly why we need to take steps to protect their existence.”

He got that right, and so did the legislature and governor. Congratulations go to SAM and Representative Corey for their work on this bill.

George Smith

About George Smith

George stepped down at the end of 2010 after 18 years as the executive director of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine to write full time. He writes a weekly editorial page column in the Kennebec Journal and Waterville Morning Sentinel, a weekly travel column in those same newspapers (with his wife Linda), monthly columns in The Maine Sportsman magazine, two outdoor news blogs (one on his website, georgesmithmaine.com, and one on the website of the Bangor Daily News), and special columns for many publications and newsletters. Islandport Press published a book of George's favorite columns, "A Life Lived Outdoors" in 2014. In 2014, George also won a Maine Press Association award for writing the state's bet sports blog. In 2016, Down East Books published George's book, Maine Sporting Camps, and Islandport Press published George and his wife Linda's travel book, Take It From ME, about their favorite Maine inns and restaurants.