Gun Range

A man died of a gunshot wound Aug. 2 at an indoor shooting range in Huntington Beach, in what police are calling an apparent suicide. The Huntington Beach Police Department responded to the shooting at 12:16 p.m. at the Firing-Line Indoor Shooting Range, 17921 Jamestown Lane, said Lt. Chad Nichols. The shooting occurred while the gun range was crowded, said Lt. Mitch O'Brien. He would not say whether the victim used his own gun or a gun from the range. A man who answered the phone at the range declined to comment.

Paul Clinton The City Council revived a proposal to build a state-of-the-art gun range in Surf City to offer pistol and rifle training for its police department and, perhaps, generate revenue from an eager clique of gun enthusiasts. At its Monday meeting, the council agreed to study whether a new gun range is feasible. The city has been without a firing range since 1997, when an open-air range in Central Park was closed after it was deemed a hazard.

The Police Department, eager to build a gun range, asked the City Council Monday for permission to continue its work with the city of Fountain Valley to find a site and develop plans for the range. The gun range would be used as a firearms training facility for law enforcement officials only. The Police Department is looking to build a facility with multiple firing lanes and multiple long-range rifle firing lanes near the city. Funding for the range would come from both cities and from a labor grant awarded to Huntington Beach by the federal government in January 2001.

Jenny Marder Although skeptical about its prospects, City Council members on Monday approved what Mayor Connie Boardman called a "a feasibility study of the feasibility study" for an indoor gun range for city police officers. Faced with a state budget crisis, severe budget cuts, layoffs, a sluggish economy -- as well as the fact that a similar proposal failed due to lack of funding less than a year ago -- the council still voted to direct staff to look into the possibility.

Jose Paul Corona Dog owners may have a long wait for a new park at the old gun range, while the city is tied up in litigation with the Huntington Beach Police Officers Assn. for failing to clean up lead deposits at the site. The city filed a lawsuit against the association on Nov. 26, 2001 over who is responsible for the decontamination of the site. "It's kind of a ridiculous suit," said Russ Reinhart, president of the Police Officers Assn. Reinhart contends that when the city terminated the gun range lease in 1997, there was an agreement made with the city that it would share in the cost of the cleanup.

Plans for a local firing range have hit a brick wall and will be put on hold indefinitely, said Police Chief Ken Small, who made the recommendation to the City Council on Monday. "We're looking at the city budget, and we're not sure [the firing range] scores high enough on the city's priority list to do it," Small said Monday. Small studied plans for a gun range at Gothard Street and Talbert Avenue, where the police heliport and fire department training site are, at the request of Councilman Gil Coerper.

Some ideas deserve to be revisited, and some do not. The proposal to build an indoor gun range, brought up again last week by Councilman Gil Coerper, is one of those ideas that does not need to be rehashed at this time. It is an idea that has been studied at length by the City Council and others. A feasibility study already determined that there was no money and no room in Huntington Beach for a gun range. That is not to say Surf City's finest do not deserve and perhaps even need such a range.

Tariq Malik HUNTINGTON BEACH -- Contaminated land that once heard the pops of gunfire may soon hear sounds of a different sort. The city's Environmental Assessment Committee has approved plans to conduct an environmental impact report on the site of a former gun range as part of a remediation effort that could eventually turn the space into parkland. "An initial study on the site is available to the public now for comments until April 13, and then we'll bring those back to the committee," said Ricky Ramos, an associate planner with the city.

Tariq Malik HUNTINGTON BEACH -- City and police officials want to band together with the Army Corps of Engineers and other law enforcement agencies to build a new gun range and training center for use by officers and the public. In a subcommittee meeting Dec. 6, city officials decided to apply for a Joint Task Force Six grant, federal funds aimed at helping city law enforcement agencies coordinate with federal law programs in the war against drugs.

Huntington Beach settled two lawsuits relating to contamination of its gun range, receiving about $615,000 from the major users of the range, City Atty. Jennifer McGrath said in a news release on Tuesday. The city resolved the case that it filed in 2001 against the Huntington Beach Police Officers Assn. and a related suit filed by American States Insurance against the police officers' association. In 2005, the city collected $55,000 from the U.S. government to help pay for the cleanup.

A man died of a gunshot wound Aug. 2 at an indoor shooting range in Huntington Beach, in what police are calling an apparent suicide. The Huntington Beach Police Department responded to the shooting at 12:16 p.m. at the Firing-Line Indoor Shooting Range, 17921 Jamestown Lane, said Lt. Chad Nichols. The shooting occurred while the gun range was crowded, said Lt. Mitch O'Brien. He would not say whether the victim used his own gun or a gun from the range. A man who answered the phone at the range declined to comment.

Huntington Beach settled two lawsuits relating to contamination of its gun range, receiving about $615,000 from the major users of the range, City Atty. Jennifer McGrath said in a news release on Tuesday. The city resolved the case that it filed in 2001 against the Huntington Beach Police Officers Assn. and a related suit filed by American States Insurance against the police officers' association. In 2005, the city collected $55,000 from the U.S. government to help pay for the cleanup.

When Gil Coerper takes the mayor's gavel Dec. 4, one of his first priorities will be beefing up police patrols downtown. "I am concerned about having too many bars downtown," Coerper said, adding that after 10 p.m., "It's like a new mask is drawn over Huntington Beach downtown." Too many bars downtown naturally means there also will be too many drunks there, he said. "Is this the type of tourism that Huntington Beach wants to bring to downtown?" he asked. The Huntington Beach Police Officers Assn.

Federal government will chip in to decontaminate gun range; city lawsuit against Police Officers Assn. continues.Huntington Beach's attorneys have reached another settlement in a lawsuit involving the cleanup of the former police shooting range, a possible sign that the 4-year-old battle with the police union could be resolved and the space converted into a park. At the City Council's Nov. 7 meeting, City Attorney Jennifer McGrath announced that the council has settled one part of the lawsuit, wrapping up a deal with the federal government to pay for a portion of the decontamination.

Plans for a local firing range have hit a brick wall and will be put on hold indefinitely, said Police Chief Ken Small, who made the recommendation to the City Council on Monday. "We're looking at the city budget, and we're not sure [the firing range] scores high enough on the city's priority list to do it," Small said Monday. Small studied plans for a gun range at Gothard Street and Talbert Avenue, where the police heliport and fire department training site are, at the request of Councilman Gil Coerper.

No good reason for an indoor gun range I'm highly against a gun range. We're not hunting in Huntington Beach, you don't need it for safety reasons, we have one of the best police departments around and there's no good reason to do this. All it's going to do is make the gun ownership higher, it's going to increase people getting shot, and it's just not a good thing. If people really want an indoor gun range that bad, they can go somewhere else to find one. Why do we need this?

Some ideas deserve to be revisited, and some do not. The proposal to build an indoor gun range, brought up again last week by Councilman Gil Coerper, is one of those ideas that does not need to be rehashed at this time. It is an idea that has been studied at length by the City Council and others. A feasibility study already determined that there was no money and no room in Huntington Beach for a gun range. That is not to say Surf City's finest do not deserve and perhaps even need such a range.

Jenny Marder Although skeptical about its prospects, City Council members on Monday approved what Mayor Connie Boardman called a "a feasibility study of the feasibility study" for an indoor gun range for city police officers. Faced with a state budget crisis, severe budget cuts, layoffs, a sluggish economy -- as well as the fact that a similar proposal failed due to lack of funding less than a year ago -- the council still voted to direct staff to look into the possibility.

The Police Department, eager to build a gun range, asked the City Council Monday for permission to continue its work with the city of Fountain Valley to find a site and develop plans for the range. The gun range would be used as a firearms training facility for law enforcement officials only. The Police Department is looking to build a facility with multiple firing lanes and multiple long-range rifle firing lanes near the city. Funding for the range would come from both cities and from a labor grant awarded to Huntington Beach by the federal government in January 2001.