A privately owned shooting range in Greenburgh will lose its lease next month, effectively ending a debate on whether the gun range should operate so close to a new residential subdivision.
The Westchester County Police Revolver and Rifle League has operated for 70 years on Ardsley Road but faced growing opposition since a woman claimed she was hit in the leg by a bullet fragment in her backyard in Ardsley Chase. The range voluntarily closed on June 12 pending analysis of the fragment.
Town Supervisor Paul Feiner, a Democrat, said he was notified July 16 by Consolidated Edison Inc., which owns the property, that it would terminate the lease with the gun range in 30 days. Feiner, earlier that day, proposed a law that would prohibit outdoor firing ranges from operating within a certain distance of residents and public spaces. It is unclear if that law, which would have forced the closure of the Ardsley Road gun range, will still be pursued.
“I don”™t think that if somebody is living in the town of Greenburgh and they”™re having a barbecue, they should have to wear a bulletproof vest,” he said.
Pam Epstein, who lives in Ardsley Chase, spoke to Town Board members at a July 16 meeting in support of the ordinance. “We are not talking about golf balls; we are not saying that golf balls are trespassing on our property,” she told elected officials. “We”™re looking at bullets, and bullets can kill.”
Robert Berkowitz, attorney for the shooting range, said that if the law restricting outdoor ranges were approved the range would have sued. The range had been safe, he said.
The range had a large dirt hill to absorb bullets, backed by a large stone wall. There were plates that prevent shooters from firing rounds in the air. Berkowitz said that there was no way the resident who was allegedly hit by a fragment could have been struck by a direct shot.
“This incident is being falsely portrayed and certain people want to tell us their facts of how this happened,” he said.
Robert Bernstein, an attorney and president of the local civic group The Edgemont Community Council, drafted the ordinance, which would require at least a quarter mile between outdoor ranges and any public spaces or homes. It also would require ranges to obtain $5 million worth of liability insurance.
“This is not a Second Amendment issue,” Bernstein said at the board meeting. “This is not barring all outdoor ranges in Greenburgh, this is not barring all firing ranges in Greenburgh, but it tries to strike a balance to protect the rights of residents who have moved in and are entitled to have peace and quiet in their neighborhood, too, just like everybody else.”
An indoor range is scheduled to open on Route 9A near the Captain Lawrence Brewery, Feiner said.
