My Turn: The third side of the County vs. KRRC coin
Published 10:32 am Tuesday, November 17, 2015
By Karen Chu
As a resident of the county who does NOT belong to the Kitap Rifle and Revolver Club, I am not technically a part of the ongoing legal dispute. I am however affected by it, as is every citizen.
The issue is not and has never been a Second Amendment issue. It is a community SAFETY and compliance with the LAW issue. When the Kitsap Rifle and Revolver Club was grandfathered ‘as is,’ in 1993 the range had one rifle line and one pistol line. Articles in the Sun in recent years have discussed the unlawful expansion of firing lines from the original two lines to a dozen or more that allow firing in all directions from the club. These facts were proven in court and upheld on appeal.
Should the subdivisions that now find themselves downrange in the Surface Danger Zones of those firing lines have been built? Should Klahowya Secondary School have been built in its location? Should Newberry Hill Heritage Park be next door to a gun range? I don’t know the answers. Regardless, they are here now.
Because the club “was there first,” is it okay for them to shoot “any legal weapon” directly towards my neighborhood without overhead baffles, side berms, or even adequate backstops? Is it like buying next to an airport and then complaining about the noise, or is it like buying near Apex Airport and then suddenly fighter jets and 747’s are landing there?
Where is the dividing line between the club accepting responsibility for their own activities and actions, and their contention that the County and surrounding property owners should give up their property rights and responsibilities to avoid the dangers and nuisance conditions now presented by the club?
It was a different Board of County Commissioners, and probably a mostly different DCD staff when much of this growth occurred. But the current county personnel are left to deal with the situation that exists TODAY, not in 1926. Part of their job is to ensure the public safety. To that goal, they passed an ordinance that would hopefully do that. They attempted to meet with KRRC in good faith, but the club refused to show evidence of meeting even the minimum required physical bullet containment criteria. As I understand their position, they feel they should be exempt from any such regulation. They have instead chosen to try to delay through the courts while they continue to verbally attack the Commissioners at BoCC meetings. Their leader apparently has political aspirations and is using the venue to campaign for office.
I have watched some of the BKAT broadcasts of the meetings and I can only say that I’m sorry the Commissioners are having to listen to this. Thank you Commissioners and DCD for doing your jobs and working to make our neighborhoods, our schools, and our parks safe for all of us.
Karen Chu is a CKR/Patriot advisory board member.
