Law officers are crowding out public access at the Durango Gun Club shooting range off County Road 213, Sheriff Duke Schirard told the county commissioners Tuesday morning.
It is time for the county to develop its own facility, he said during the public comment section of the meeting.
Until 2007, area law-enforcement agencies had their own gun range. However, it was closed to make way for jail expansion, and since then, law officers have used the Durango Gun Club range for training.
“We have no training facility anywhere except with the hospitality of the gun group,” Schirard said.
A new gun range for law officers had been planned near the Durango Gun Club, and the National Rifle Association and other experts were brought in to help with design, Schirard said.
However, he said “No dirt has been turned. I don’t see any activity by the county to provide this.”
Proper weapons training is vital for law officers and the community, and poor training increases liability concerns, he said.
Heavy demands by law officers are causing conflicts with events the gun club would like to schedule, he said.
Also, during general hours, members show up and find the range occupied by law enforcement.
Gun club president John Malarsie told commissioners added use for officers’ training has strained the facility.
“This has reached a pretty critical point,” he said. People can use the gun range for four or five months a year, he said, but law enforcement takes up about one month of that, mostly with full-day use.
Schirard also said club members now have a $5 charge on membership to pay for lead mitigation if the range ever closes. “The number of rounds expended just by my agency, we have added significantly to that,” he said.
