(1-1-2006) Good news, bad news for Montgomery County range: A federal judge dismissed two of three parts of the Riverkeeper’s environmental lawsuit against National Capital Skeet & Trap. Most observers agree that arguing the rest of the complaint will be an up-hill battle for eco-warriers on the other side, a dispute that has nothing to do with on-going shooting activities. The bad news: NCST’s facility remains closed, mired in red tape by (co-defendant) Maryland Dept of Natural Resources … which is what gun grabbers (and apparently administration officials) want!
Ehrlich administration achieves what even Glendening did not. In December Lonaconing Trap Club became the first shooting range ever to be attacked in court under the Noise Control Program run by Maryland Department of the Environment. That’s when administration officials argued in Allegany County Circuit Court that the western Maryland facility should be closed for being too loud, in spite of its operation there for decades. The club could face hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines. Maryland strongly protects established ranges from private nuisance noise actions, but at the same time enables bureaucrats to bring public noise actions. In this case, an irrelevant dispute between the club’s long-time neighbors and some of its members resulted in someone looking for creative ways to gig the club. This turned into a noise complaint which MDE cheerfully picked up. Interestingly, the administration has gone out of its way to prosecute this action in spite of the General Assembly quietly having removed funding for the Noise Control Program last session. That’s right: Not only is MDE fighting to close a range, it may be doing so with tax dollars it has no authority to spend. The judge is expected to issue his decision in January. Stay tuned.