Anyone want a range in Limerick??

Grizzly 45

Folks,
This is a twin point post on[1] the Limerick range and [2] the chance to have a say to a minister on this matter.

The Good news first.
I have the property,for an indoor range of appx 6 bays of 30 meters,and a variable bay of 10 to30 meters.All indoors. A outside building that could be converted to a clubhouse,a area that could have at a later stage a good sporting clay layout,and possibly also a short full bore rifle range.

There is already some rough drawings of the range plans,done by a fellow Boards.ie member [but to protect his modesty:) shall rename nameless,unless he wishes otherwise]

I have secured provisionally funds from some financers from outside Ireland to the tune of appx 150k and more if needed to construct this.

Those neighbours asked appx 400 meters plus ]from the proposed range dont seem too unhappy about this.Also,this range will be on walled private property so there is an added saftey feature.

There is a demand for some sort of range in this area.
Despite the negativity of Limerick and firearms and shooting in general,we dont have anything that would give a real face to the shooting community down here.

Bad news
This is all about to go down the toilet:(:mad:
Most of all because of the proposed handgun ban,and because of the long delays that you have to suffer here to get any info on decisions,that the finance is becoming shakey on this.The people who want to finance this are busisness people,and are used to EU standards of getting things done within a certain time limit.[Usually 3months in the EU for decisions on somthing like this]
Not waiting months on end for decisions or replies from depts here in Ireland.

SO..I need your help on this.
Next week I have an appointment to meet my local TD Willie O Dea,in one of his open clinics.Min O Dea has been intrested in this project himself,and was looking forward to trying it himself when this was opened.So I am wondering would the SW,Limerick,West and wherever else gunowners like to come down and meet the man and air their grivences on [1] this handgun ban and [2] on the idea of the firing range in Limerick?

Let me stress straight off the rules of Engagement!!

1] If you are coming down to have a pop at the man, his party or the current political situation other than the handgun ban or shooting matters. You WILL BE told to leave and escorted from the building.

2] If you cant keep a civil tounge in your head.
You WILL BE told to leave and escorted from the building.

3] Any stupid behaviour on anyones part,losing the rag or other unacceptable behaviour in my eyes,WILL BE told to leave and escorted from the building.

Above three rules will be enforced by me PERSONALLY!
[And I am a very large fellah.:eek::eek:]


Yes,I accept this is an emotive time,and the Govt has arsed up on alot of things more important than shooting.[Like the economy going to pot etc]
BUT this WILL NOT be the time you discuss them with the Minister.
We are there on two subjects that concern all of us.The state of the Nation,or whatever personal pet peeve you have other than gunownership or shooting isnt on the agenda.

WE CAN! possibly turn this to our advantage locally for a firing range and nationally for turning this to our advantage to gain another sympathetic ear of a Minister who has actually expressed an intrest in shooting and trying it as well.[And NO cracks/critiques about THAT famous picture please either!;)]Not to mind heads a Govt dept who actually handles firearms on a daily basis.

The reason I am being somwhat Anal about this is;

I have spent a lot of time, money,blood,sweat and tears in getting this range plan up and running to this point .Not to mind a stupidly long time in aquiring my handgun liscense,thru obstruction,delays of 2and a half years by the Gardai,to give up this easily,or have it ruined by some Muppett supposedly on our side.If you dont think you can fit the 3 rules I laid out.Then please dont bother coming to this!Simple as that!

YOU WILL
1] Keep it civil,polite and calm at all times.You are a gunowner and now consider yourselves ambassadors to your chosen sport.WE DO NOT want to sound or look like a bunch of " Wild eyed Gun Nuts":)

2] Keep it short and to the point.[5mins MAX per person]There will hopefully be a big que of other shooters wishing to make their points as well.So dont worry He will get the message.Plus there will be other folks there with other problems in the constituency,and he has to deal with them too.

A few of you promised help here on boards and privately to me as well on this.I am calling in that promise now.You are in reality helping yourselves,I need your support to get you shooting on a range that will benefit us all in this area.If we have a range,we have good reason to hold onto our liscenses here,we hold onto our liscenses we have a chance to keep our sport going.

I will need an idea of how many of you will be coming pver to this clinic.If you are coming please PM me by NOON on Wed 26th Nov
If there is enough of us,I would consider renting the hall so he can address us as a group,and we can put our questions to him.
Looking fwd to seeing you there.

Kindest Regards
Grizzly 45


PS MODS this is an announcement type thread.Can U lock down?As there really isnt need IMO to reply to this other than by PM?.
Thx
Grizz

rrpc

Glad to hear your still looking at this Grizzly. Regardless of the current situation, there will still be a need for a good indoor range in your area.

I like your style.

Be in touch again soon.

Sparks

Nice idea Grizzly, but for the love of sane behaviour, "escorted from the building"???
Everywhere else they call that assault unless you're working for Willie O'Dea's office as the security guard....

Tackleberry.

Hi Griz ..ya, love to see a range in SW but could you stick a 22 rimfire in there too .myself and my other half both travel to Cork to shoot the range and i know many others also travel a far, so i;d think it would be very welcome in the SW, BEST OF LUCK

ps When are you meeting Wille??

Sparks

And please, for the love of small furry things, noone should show up in camo.
Wear a suit or at least something you would wear to a non-army job interview...

Bananaman

It's not a good idea to wear camo anyway - gives the wrong impression

Hilltop don't allow anyone onto the ranges wearing camo.

B'Man

Grizzly 45

I just wore a cammo jacket so folks could ID me in the meeting place.:)

Anyways,thanks to all those who showed up!!
It was a very positive meeting.We put across our points on this whole issue politely and were listned to as well.
Wish we could have had more time,but the Minister could only afford us 20 mins all in.As there were a bunch of other folk with their local problems too.
I wont say that he hasn't heard it all before in the last couple of weeks, from all of corners out there,;).

Do NOT take this as Gospel,or a done deal.. I get the impression.
It doesn't sound like a total outright ban on everything,more like the grandfathering and more hoops and loops on security.No specifics I'm afraid.

It is going to take months yet before this misc provisions bill is going to be in the Dail to be debated.So go shooting,enjoy it, and importantly most of all,keep lobbying and the pressure on.:)

The range in Limerick,well, I am still going to push on with this,BUT,Iam back burner ing it for the moment,untill we know exactly where we stand with what being banned,restricted,or whatever

Best I can do at the moment for you:(

G17

Grizzly 45 wrote: »

Best I can do at the moment for you:(

Say what you like but you can't fault Grizzly for not putting his money where his mouth is.

For that, I salute you Sir.