Gun Club Issues on the Table

At least one Four Seasons at Forest Meadows resident is encouraged by the initial discussion he and his neighbors had with Iron Horse Rifle and Pistol Club representatives.

"Well, we're talking. That's a start," Shelly Street resident Jim Kibelstis said on Thursday.

A relatively large contingent of Forest Meadows residents are disgusted by what they consider excessive noise from the Iron Horse firing ranges, which are located behind their 55-and-older development, just off Garwood Road in the township's Erial section.

Word that police were summoned May 15 to remove a bullet from a nearby home, on Monticello Drive in the Twin Streams development now has those same residents concerned about their safety. There's no confirmation the bullet came from Iron Horse, or word on how long it was lodged in the home before it was discovered.

Kibelstis updated the Township Council during its meeting Monday night on the May 16 sit-down he and his neighbors had with Iron Horse officials and firing-range property owner Watson Waddell—a meeting arranged by Mayor David Mayer after Forest Meadows residents expressed their concerns over the noise in late April.

It "was a very good meeting for exchange of information and discussion of the concerns," he said. "The residents thank the mayor—I wish he was here—for taking the initiative to arrange an informal face-to-face meeting between us."

Iron Horse officials told the concerned residents, according to Kibelstis, that they would discuss closing the firing ranges on Sundays and holidays.

Garwood Road resident Jim Bonnette Sr., who is Waddell's son-in-law, also addressed Council about the ongoing Iron Horse discussion.

"To me, that is a right and a privilege, and it excites me and pleases me to know that our people have that right to exercise, to practice and to utilize in the United States," he said.

Bonnette noted the Iron Horse firing ranges were in operation long before homes were built near them. The gun club began using the Waddell family property in 1959.

"I'm very pleased to listen to the sounds. ... It's a demonstration of our rights, and I'm very happy for it there," Bonnette added.

Kibelstis noted Iron Horse officials also expressed openness to the idea of turning the pistol-range targets so guns are not being fired toward the homes on Monticello Drive. That would be costly, though, he and his neighbors were told.

"They talked about contacting the NRA (National Rifle Association) to see if the NRA would evaluate the range and possibly provide financial assistance in redirecting the range," Kibelstis said, noting an NRA official could visit by the end of June.

The rifle range was repositioned several years ago after a bullet was discovered lodged in a Monticello Drive home. Kibelstis and Bonnette both indicated that incident occurred in 2004.

"It would be unfortunate, it would be terrible," Bonnette responded when asked by Councilwoman Michelle Gentek about the possibility of a bullet fired at Iron Horse's ranges striking a person, not a home, in the future. "But the Constitution, the Second Amendment ... these people are being responsible by going out there and training."