Shooting Area Shrinks Commissioners Respond To Complaints Of Unsafe Gunfire
Dangerous and sloppy behavior by some firearm shooters led Spokane County commissioners to ban all shooting in a rural neighborhood at Long Lake.
Also at their Nov. 21 meeting, commissioners banned shooting on about 400 acres at Silver Lake, where houses are sprouting from a former farm.
The bans will not affect waterfowl hunting on Long or Silver lakes because the no-shooting zones stop at the water’s edge.
The newly created no-shooting zone at Long Lake is pierced by South Bank Road and McLellan Road. Encompassing about 400 acres, it includes about 160 acres of state land that draws shooters from throughout the county.
Some of the visitors shoot into a gravel pit dug years ago. But many who don’t want to make the quarter-mile trek to the pit stand near the road and fire into the trees — sometimes toward houses built within recent years.
Neighbors complained about pines riddled with bullets and trash that’s used as targets, then left behind on the state land. They told of loud hunting camps and stray bullets whizzing through their land.
One alleged that he sometimes hears the rapid fire of illegal automatic rifles.
Neighbor John Reilly, who started the ban petition, passed around a mushroomed rifle bullet he dug out of his garage siding last year.
“This bullet could have killed me, my wife or my grandchildren,” said Reilly, who moved into the neighborhood two years ago.
“We didn’t plan to move to a shooting zone,” said Reilly’s wife, Laurel Reilly. “We don’t have guns, we’d rather feed the deer than to shoot them.”
Commissioner John Roskelley, himself an avid hunter of birds and big game, said he was disturbed by pictures of the damage and litter.
“This type of (misbehavior) destroys the sport of hunting,” Roskelley said.
John and Laurel Reilly were joined by other neighbors in supporting the ban. But neighbors who live outside the no-shooting zone spoke against the ban, saying ethical shooters and hunters are losing access to too much land.
“If you shut that state land down, you’re taking from the people who live in town and don’t have a place to shoot,” said Mike Stotts.
Commissioner Kate McCaslin noted that while the ban includes 160 acres of state land, an adjacent 400 acres was not included. The state land where shooting still is allowed is more remote and more rugged than the portion where target practice has been common.
A DNR land manager asked commissioners to ban shooting on the entire state parcel. Roskelley and McCaslin declined to make that change before adopting the ban. Commissioner Phil Harris did not vote because he lives near the affected neighborhood.
The ban at Silver Lake, on the West Plains, was requested by residents of a growing subdivision on the west shore of the lake. Like ban proponents from Long Lake, they said they felt endangered by shooting that occurs primarily during hunting season.
Commissioners rejected the ban in March because it included about 160 acres owned by a farmer who leases her land to hunters. The new proposal exluded that land.
Longtime residents complained that newcomers are trying to change their way of life.
“I don’t feel that I should lose my rights after 20 years for people who are moving in, building expensive homes,” said Barbara Shields.
The three commissioners voted unanimously to impose the ban, saying the entire 400 acres is destined for development. Forty shoreline lots are as narrow as those on Spokane’s South Hill; others are 10 acres.
The county’s no-shooting advisory committee, which receives petitions submitted by neighborhoods, recommended commissioners adopt the bans but exempt shotguns firing birdshot or buckshot. Commissioners opted for all-out bans instead.
The county’s no-shooting zone encompasses all suburban areas and many semirural neighborhoods, like the most recent additions. The city of Spokane and other towns have their own rules.
The county ban applies to all firearms, BB guns and other airguns. It does not prohibit the use of archery equipment.
“This type of (misbehavior) destroys the sport of hunting,” Roskelley said.
John and Laurel Reilly were joined by other neighbors in supporting the ban. But neighbors who live outside the no-shooting zone spoke against the ban, saying ethical shooters and hunters are losing access to too much land.
“If you shut that state land down, you’re taking from the people who live in town and don’t have a place to shoot,” said Mike Stotts.
Commissioner Kate McCaslin noted that while the ban includes 160 acres of state land, an adjacent 400 acres was not included. The state land where shooting still is allowed is more remote and more rugged than the portion where target practice has been common.
A DNR land manager asked commissioners to ban shooting on the entire state parcel. Roskelley and McCaslin declined to make that change before adopting the ban. Commissioner Phil Harris did not vote because he lives near the affected neighborhood.
The ban at Silver Lake, on the West Plains, was requested by residents of a growing subdivision on the west shore of the lake. Like ban proponents from Long Lake, they said they felt endangered by shooting that occurs primarily during hunting season.
Commissioners rejected the ban in March because it included about 160 acres owned by a farmer who leases her land to hunters. The new proposal exluded that land.
Longtime residents complained that newcomers are trying to change their way of life.
“I don’t feel that I should lose my rights after 20 years for people who are moving in, building expensive homes,” said Barbara Shields.
The three commissioners voted unanimously to impose the ban, saying the entire 400 acres is destined for development. Forty shoreline lots are as narrow as those on Spokane’s South Hill; others are 10 acres.
The county’s no-shooting advisory committee, which receives petitions submitted by neighborhoods, recommended commissioners adopt the bans but exempt shotguns firing birdshot or buckshot. Commissioners opted for all-out bans instead.
The county’s no-shooting zone encompasses all suburban areas and many semirural neighborhoods, like the most recent additions. The city of Spokane and other towns have their own rules.
The county ban applies to all firearms, BB guns and other airguns. It does not prohibit the use of archery equipment.