Saco city officials have tweaked the local firearms ordinance to allow Western-style mounted shooting competitions, but only if the competitions are held in indoor horse-riding arenas.

Members of the Maine Cowboy Mounted Shooters approached city officials earlier this year about changing an ordinance that restricts them from shooting black-powder blanks from pistols while riding horses during practices and competitions. The Saco City Council voted 4-3 Monday night to make the change, but also require that the competitions be held inside to address concerns from neighbors about noise.

The council also changed the ordinance to allow 21-gun salutes at military funerals. The ordinance previously prohibited the shooting of firearms in the part of the city where its largest cemetery, Laurel Hill, is located.

Councilors Kevin Roche, Alan Minthorn and Nathan Johnston voted against the changes. Bill Ledoux, president of the Maine Cowboy Mounted Shooters, said he was disappointed by the requirement that shooting competitions be held inside arenas.

“It don’t make that much noise in an open area. It’s out in the country,” he said. “We were really hoping to be outdoors.”

The little known sport – in which pistol-wielding competitors fire blanks at target balloons while riding horses through a course – is growing in popularity across the country and local competitors are interested in expanding competitions in southern Maine, Ledoux said.

During the competitions, each rider uses a .45-caliber pistol to shoot at 10 target balloons during a 60-second run through the course. Although the cartridges don’t fire bullets, the black powder coming out of the gun barrel is hot enough to pop the balloons if the shooter is close enough to the target. Riders are divided into separate divisions based on their shooting ability.

Most horses ridden during the competitions are accustomed to the sound of guns firing, but each horse wears earplugs to protect its hearing.

City Administrator Kevin Sutherland said city officials will now look at the possibility of creating a process that would allow the mounted shooters to apply for a permit to hold a specific shooting competition outdoors. That process would need council approval, he said.

Ledoux said the club would prefer to hold its competitions and practices outdoors at River Winds Farm and Dream Catcher Farm, which are located in the rural part of Saco known for its horse farms. He said several residents apparently voiced concerns about the potential noise from the competitions to city councilors, but he believes the noise isn’t loud enough to bother neighbors a mile or more away from River Winds Farm.

Though he is frustrated by the indoor restriction, Ledoux said he is glad the 21-gun salutes will be allowed at military funerals.

“It’s a good thing and a bad thing, I guess,” he said.

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