Firearms Owners Against Crime
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
Bob Otty, president of the board at the North Country Sportsman's Club in Williston at the club's trap range on Thursday, May 21, 2015. The club has had several visits from police over the past few weeks. Officers say they are violating noise ordinances, but the Vermont Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs Inc. says municipalities cannot regulate firearm discharges at existing sport shooting ranges.
A recent court decision compares a shooting range to a loud music venue in a case between the town of Williston and a gun range within town limits.
The issue: whether noise restrictions can be applied to the North Country Sportsmen’s Club in the absence of an agreement with the town regarding business hours.
A ruling signed by Judge Helen M. Toor was filed in Vermont Superior Court in Burlington in late October in which Toor determined the town is unable to require the range to enter into an agreement. Toor also ruled that the town can cite the club for a violation of the noise ordinance if the noise from the range exceeds certain sound levels.
Toor compared the situation to restrictions place on a music venue.
"The town may not be able to ban all music, but it can certainly place reasonable limits on how loud it can be, and the bar must figure out how to tamp down the volume one way or another," court documents stated.
Town noise ordinance limits noise to 80 decibels by volume, which is equivalent to the level of sound made by a freight train or garbage disposal, according to a study from Purdue University.
Both parties declined to comment on the pending case.
The case stems from the termination of an agreement regarding the club's operating hours that town officials say is necessary as part of Williston's noise ordinance adopted in 2014, according to court documents. In June, the shooting range filed a lawsuit against the town after the club received two citations for noise ordinance violations.
The lawsuit accuses the town of "infringement of constitutional right to bear arms" and "malicious prosecution/abuse of process."
Court documents showed that club officials, through their attorneys at Murphy Sullivan Kronk, have asked the court to alter or amend the decision. Club officials believe both parties should be allowed to present additional arguments and evidence about the noise levels of guns, according to court documents.
The town filed a response to the club's motion in mid-November in which they asked the court to leave the order that holds the club answerable to violations of the noise ordinance.
The noise ordinance is a public safety ordinance, the response stated, and the town intended to regulate the club on how frequently the range was open, rather than the noise of the guns.
In the ruling, Toor recommended silencers to lower the volume of the shooting. Also known as "gun suppressors," silencers became legal in Vermont on July 1. Act 61, a fish and wildlife bill, opened the way for the manufacture and use of silencers.
The devices reduce the sound of firing a weapon and can help protect shooters from hearing damage.
“If nothing else, the club could build enclosures with soundproofing,” Toor wrote in the decision.
In an affidavit, Robert Otty, president of the board of the shooting range, said that while silencers are available for shotguns, they are minimally effective. He also explained in the affidavit that the silencers are heavy, which makes it difficult to shoot at a moving target. The suppressors also are expensive and difficult to purchase, and many of the guns used at the club cannot be fitted with the products, he said.
Enclosing the skeet shooting space would also be cost-prohibitive, Otty said in the affidavit. The enclosure would require a 70,500-square-foot building, 100 feet tall.
"Construction of such an enclosure is not only far beyond the club's means, but would also violate the town's 35' height limit."
In court documents, the town said these reasons are “irrelevant to the prosecution or enforcement of an ordinance.”
The club has yet to file a response to the town.
Contact Haley Dover at 660-1850 or hdover@freepressmedia.com. Follow Haley on Twitter at www.twitter.com/HaleyRDover.