Area gun range fights for survival

June 29, 9:40 AMSt. Louis Gun Rights ExaminerKurt Hofmann

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     Oleg Volk photo

The Caseyville Rifle and Pistol and Pistol Club has weathered the storm of efforts by St. Clair County  to close it, and the costly effort is far from over.

The Caseyville Rifle and Pistol Club has spent the past four years battling for its survival in a legal war of attrition with St. Clair County.

So far the gun club -- the owner of the metro-east's only outdoor rifle range -- has won every round in court. The most recent victory occurred June 5, when a St. Clair County Circuit judge dismissed the county lawsuit aiming to shut down the 32-acre shooting range on the grounds it's a public danger.

That, of course, is encouraging.  The problem is that the St. Clair County Board is implacable in its efforts to shut the club down, and the legal expenses, which have already totaled at least $200,000, continue to mount.

So what is this "public danger"?

"We have expert testimony that shows that aircraft are endangered overhead," Kern said.

As a result of the hazard posed by the gun club, the future of Scott Air Force Base -- by far St. Clair County's largest employer -- could be jeopardized when the federal government determines the next round of military base closings, Kern said.

Ah, yes--the old "airplanes shot down by stray gunfire from the local shooting range" scenario.  No wonder they're concerned--that sort of thing has happened, well . . . never, anywhere in the world, so clearly we're about due.

One of the current legal battles is the appeal filed by the county of a court finding that there is no such danger.

The legal expenses are, of course, taking quite a toll on the range.

As a result, the club is nearly broke, forcing it to borrow money from members while doubling the amount it charges them for dues and fees -- a vicious cycle that has hurt membership, Seper said.

"We've lost all kinds of members," Seper said. "We've had to increase our dues because we've lost members. And every time I increase dues I lose members."

St. Clair County, on the other hand, can simply tap a nearly endless well--the taxpayers--for its legal expenses.  Those expenses, by the way, are high enough that even county residents with no interest in guns might have an issue here.

Between June 1, 2005, and March 31, 2007, the law firm of Gundlach, Lee, Eggmann, Boyle and Roessler, of Belleville -- which is representing the county -- had invoiced the county nearly $105,000 in legal, photocopy and consultant costs, according to the most recent records the News-Democrat obtained through the state Freedom of Information Act.

This is in addition to the more than $80,000 the county has been ordered to pay the club to reimburse its legal fees.

Caseyville RIfle and Pistol Club is one of very few outdoor rifle ranges in the area (the Belleville News-Democrat claims it's the only one, but I don't think that's quite true), and if the county succeeds in shutting it down, the gun culture in the area will take a serious hit.

That, I believe, is a significant part of the motivation for this kind of harassment.  Resistance to legislative attacks on gun rights is still such that such attacks have a long road to hoe.  The gun haters can be patient, though, and plan for years in the future.  Shut down enough gun ranges, and there will eventually be fewer and fewer peaceable practicioners of responsible gun ownership.  Eventually, the numbers will be so few that the gun banning legislative agenda will meet no effective resistance.

That's the goal.