Gun club trial to resume Thursday (WA)

kitsapsun.com ^ | 3 October, 2011 | Christopher Dunagan

[marktwain]

TACOMA — The court trial involving the Kitsap Rifle and Revolver Club will move into its third day on Thursday, when Kitsap County deputy prosecutor Neil Wachter is scheduled to call more witnesses to support the county's case.

The county is seeking to have the gun club's shooting range on Seabeck Highway declared a nuisance because of noise and risks to neighbors. The county also wants the club to be found in violation of local land-use rules related to clearing timberland, filling a wetland and diverting a stream.

The club maintains that the county has overstepped its legal authority and has no basis for its claims.

The trial opened Wednesday and continued on Thursday with expert witnesses testifying about maps of the shooting area, range safety and local zoning rules.

[marktwain]

Zoning is one of the strongest areas of local tyranny in the country today. In most of the country, there was no zoning before 1950. There are still a few places that exercize freedom without zoning. The big push for zoning came in the 1960's and 1970's, when the federal government tied "revenue sharing" money to the condition that counties institutue zoning.

[marktwain]

Institutue should be institute.

[John123]

They described maps they created to show that bullets hitting houses in Eldorado Hills and other areas were in a direct line from the gun club's shooting range.

If true, this isn't good.

[SeaHawkFan]

The problem for the county is that the gun range has been there a long time, and if the county approved building permits down range, the county could have a huge liability issue for any damage or injuries. Having to purchase those properties from the owners would not be cheap.

[John123]

the county could have a huge liability issue for any damage or injuries

You have excellent points. I wonder if the defense is allowed to bring those up at the trial.

[SeaHawkFan]

You can pretty much guarantee that the developer is politically connected, because he is the one who will have to buy back the houses if the gun club wins.

[Wonder Warthog]

"...bullets hitting houses in Eldorado Hills and other areas were in a direct line from the gun club's shooting range."

If true, this isn't good.

Very like faked. I live in Pierce County (the western part across the Sound from Tacoma) which is right next door to Kitsap. Gig Harbor also has a shooting club, and the exact same thing was put forth to try to get them shut down (the fact that the club is a LARGE acreage of VERY high value real estate is probably one motivator for the faking). One dumbass tossed an UNFIRED CARTRIDGE onto his roof and claimed it came from the gun club (I know, so stupid as to be unbelievable). Sounds like these fakers may have learned from the outcome of the GH attempt. The GH club is still up and going strong.