A new state late does not prevent Cape Elizabeth from regulating operations at the Spurwink Rod & Gun Club, but it does prevent municipalities from imposing overly burdensome rules that would either lead to the closure of such ranges or substantially limit shooting opportunities.

The new law, which was approved by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Paul LePage earlier this month, also prevents shooting ranges like the one in Cape Elizabeth from being sued, including nuisance actions or requests for injunctive relief, under certain conditions.

The bill, L.D. 1500, was sponsored by state Rep. Patrick Corey, a Windham Republican, and written by the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine. It also had the support of the Spurwink Rod & Gun Club, which has been financially struggling to meet new licensing requirements imposed by Cape in the last couple years.

Ben McDougal, the code enforcement officer in Cape Elizabeth, told the Current he doesn’t believe the new state law would have any impact on the town’s ordinances governing shooting ranges because the rules were mostly designed to regulate safety, which municipalities are still allowed to do.

In addition to protecting shooting ranges across Maine from being regulated out of existence, the new state law also allows ranges to take action to expand or increase its membership, expand or increase the number of events or activities they offer and to restore, rebuild or put up any new structure associated with the safe operation of the range.

Corey told the Current he sponsored the bill to protect Maine’s shooting ranges because the pressure on municipalities to regulate and limit range activity has been increasing in recent years.

He also feels that shooting ranges should be protected because they “provide places where people (can) learn and practice safe gun-handling skills (and therefore) they serve a public interest.”

Corey said that public safety personnel, like police officers, game wardens and others, often use their local shooting ranges to train and for target practice, as do hunters.

“My hope,” he said, “is that this legislation puts up a firewall between sport shooting ranges and their neighbors, who use municipal government to shut them down.”

He added, “It’s also important to understand that many of these ranges were originally built on the outskirts of town and were there before many of their neighbors bought houses next to them,” which is the case in Cape Elizabeth.

Corey said his bill was created in “response to concerns held by many sport shooting ranges, especially in southern Maine” and was not specific to the shooting-range licensing requirements in Cape.

However, he also said that although the new shooting range rules in Cape were designed to “strike a balance between the concerns of neighbors and letting the Rod & Gun Club continue to shoot,” the club has been forced to spend “a lot of money, (while) shooting opportunities have been severely limited.”

Overall, Corey said, the licensing requirements in Cape have left the Spurwink Rod & Gun Club with trying to implement “an extreme solution and municipal ordinances that would be nearly impossible for any not-for-profit sport shooting range to meet,” which he called “unfortunate.”

The new state law takes effect Sept. 1, Corey said he hopes the Cape Elizabeth Town Council will take “a few steps back, give a good hard look at the hardships they’ve created and hopefully find a way to dial it back.”

Dave Trahan, executive director of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine, told the Current the new state law protecting shooting ranges was needed because such facilities “play a vital role by allowing target practice in a safe, controlled environment.”

He said the alliance works with a network of 42 fish and game clubs across the state and that they’ve been “hearing stories and similar issues” from all of them, not just the club in Cape Elizabeth.

What the new state law does, Trahan added, is “make sure that shooting ranges can’t be shut down just because people don’t like them.” He also said that if shooting ranges are shut down, people would find “makeshift and often unsafe” ways to continue shooting.

Tammy Walter, president of the Spurwink Rod & Gun Club, said the new state law is key because it “helps protect all (shooting ranges) from the small, but vocal special interest groups (wishing) to close them down.”

She also agreed with Trahan that keeping shooting ranges open is important to public safety because they provide a place for people to safely practice and improve their shooting skills.

Unfortunately, Walter said, “our opponents do not see the public safety and educational benefits from shooting ranges. It is disappointing that part of their focus was articulated as anti-gun (and included) emotional arguments that polarized our fellow community members and neighbors.”

She added that the club’s support of this bill “was never about seeking a vendetta but instead about the fundamental principles,” such as not having “to go through quite so many regulatory hurdles to be able to do safety upgrades and improvements on our range.”

In all, Walter said, “We hope that the difficult and unnecessary journey we have had to endure will not have to happen at other shooting ranges in Maine.”

In his testimony before the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee, Mark Mayone, the public relations officer for the Spurwink Gun & Club, outlined the need for a state law to protect shooting ranges.

“Our shooting range is a prime example of why L.D. 1500 needs to be passed,” he told the commitee. “After 61 years of safe operation, extreme political pressure from a newly constructed, affluent neighborhood forced the town of Cape Elizabeth to create and enact a shooting range ordinance (that’s) effectively specific to our club.”

He went on to say, “L.D. 1500 prevents the arbitrary enactment of reactionary, inconsistent laws. There are fewer and fewer places in Maine to shoot or to train people how to shoot. If we are to keep Maine’s rich sportsman heritage alive, we need places to practice shooting.”

Mark Mayone, left, and Tammy Walter, of the Spurwink Rod & Gun Club in Cape Elizabeth, prior to their testimony in favor of a new state law that provides protections to shooting ranges.

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