http://www.belleville.com/mld/belleville/news/breaking_news/17016033.htm

Judge tours shooting range; county says air base threatened

BY GEORGE PAWLACZYK

Apr. 02, 2007

But the president of the Caseyville Rifle & Pistol Club told St. Clair County Associate Judge James Radcliffe as he toured the enclosed site on the edge of Mascoutah that if rules are followed it would be impossible for a bullet to leave the confines of the range.

Aircraft from nearby Scott Air Force Base pass near the shooting range, although it is rare for a plane to come anywhere near overhead, said club president Randy Seper.

The operation of the range is currently the focus of an eminent domain lawsuit brought by the county on grounds that the operation of a shooting facility so near to a flight path poses danger from bullets hitting aircraft, and people on the ground being killed by a crashing airplane. St. Clair County Board Chairman Mark Kern has said the operation of the range could threaten the future of Scott Air Force Base, an economic bedrock for the metro-east.

However, Seper said that during hunting seasons the marshy surrounding woods are full of hunters who could easily let a round loose toward the sky.

As for danger on the ground, a housing subdivision is less than half a mile away while the Mascoutah Rod & Gun Club, which attracts hundreds to antique auctions, is even closer.

Radcliffe, who is not a shooter, said a hearing will be scheduled before he can decide on a request for a temporary restraining order brought by attorney Charlie Swartout, who represents the county.

"Even experts have accidental discharges," said Swartout who showed a reporter that, even inside a roofed firing position protected by gravel-filled baffles that can stop hig-powered rounds, a slice of blue sky was visible.

But attorney Don Weihl, who incorporated the club in 1968 and is himself a competition pistol shooter, said if strict rules are followed a shooter would never allow a loaded firearm to be pointed toward the narrow slice of sky. Rules require that a firearm must remain in a case until the club member is inside a shooting position where the targets are situated between high berms. The berms would stop any shot fired by a shooter obeying the rules. The shooter is then required to keep the muzzle always pointed down-range.

Weihl said the club has never had an accidental shooting.

If the county wins the eminent domain lawsuit, taxpayers would pay the cost of acquiring the range to shut it down.

Seper said the total cost so far would be about $1.4 million.