Last year the gunfire began.

It started in February and lasted until May. It was infrequent at first

and increased to six days a week. The gunfire began at 5:30 p.m. and lasted

until sunset. A round of skeet or trap includes 25 shots. It doesn't take

much "passing of family traditions" and firearms instruction

to equal in excess of 1,000 rounds an evening. You can forget a quiet

evening outside.

Research on my part discovered

that Fayette County had granted the 4-H Club a permit to operate a shotgun

range between three subdivisions, homes along Ga. Highway 85 and, unbelievably,

within a mile of the Starr's Mill school complex. This permit was issued

without a public hearing.

As an aside, that permit was

dated April 24, 2000, the same day I went to the Fayette County Administrative

Complex to look up applicable ordinances and pick up a copy of that permit.

The shooting had been going on for weeks. The chief of the Marshall's

Department signed that permit. The permit is unconditional. Absolutely

no consideration was given to the effects of noise on local residents.

The noise control ordinance

states, "It shall be unlawful for any person to willfully make, continue

or cause to be made or continued any unusually loud noise which disturbs

the peace or quiet of any neighborhood or which causes discomfort or annoyance

to any reasonable person of normal sensitiveness residing in the area."

On a single afternoon I obtained 16 relevant signatures supporting my

efforts to put an end to this (the 4-H has a petition as well; it was

circulated at a Peachtree City neighborhood bunko party).

Last March I gave Mr. Kuhr

the courtesy of a visit at their range to make sure he understood that

his shooters were making a nuisance of themselves. He was pleasant, as

was I, but it was obvious he had no intention of addressing our concerns

nor did he offer any indication of compromise.

Mr. Kuhr uses "sound level

readings" in an attempt to state as fact that the shooting is quieter

than the traffic on Hwy. 85. I have videotape of a junior varsity soccer

match at Starr's Mill High with loud gunfire in the background and zero

traffic noise. I guess Hwy. 85 must have been closed that evening or Mr.

Kuhr's sound level readings are flawed. Let's see, 12-gauge or truck,

which one is louder?

Mr. Kuhr mentions that it is

not a public range, yet I have a photo of a sign advertising "Public

Trapshoot Here SAT" at the entrance to their range.

Next Mr. Kuhr alludes to the

numerous sacrifices made by adult leaders and the conviction to pass on

"family traditions and safe use of firearms." Don't let them

fool you. It is hard to find a place to shoot in Fayette County. I ought

to know. I drive to Talbot County to shoot. These shooters have found

a place to shoot, they love the convenience, and local residents be damned.

Mr. Kuhr and Ms. Payne's rejection

of the solution of driving to Wolf Creek (in south Fulton on Camp Creek

Highway, not north Fulton), an Olympic class facility, on the grounds

that it takes too long to get there falls on deaf ears. I have two boys

who play club and high school soccer. I find myself in north Atlanta and

everywhere else throughout the year. We make that sacrifice for them because

we feel it is important and we don't publicly whine about it.

If they feel that competitive

shooting is "self-confidence" building, I suggest they start

driving. What Mr. Kuhr and Ms. Payne really don't want to do is travel

30 to 45 minutes because it is time-consuming and it costs to shoot there.

Instead, they want to shoot at our expense, the expense of our right to

peace and quiet and our property value.

Mr. Kuhr mentioned the many

compromises that his shooters have made. His idea of noise control is

a few 8-by-4s between shooting stations. He mentioned schedule cut backs.

I have seen none. Mr. Kuhr wrote that his club would only shoot on Tuesdays

and Saturdays until mid-May. It is 6:15 p.m. on Thursday, March 22, and

as I sit inside and write this, I hear you shooting. I guess that "week

or two" before May state qualifications started early. I have seen

his shooting schedule. It is full of loopholes.

Mr. Kuhr last year promised

"two or three" fund-raising events a year, in an attempt to

pacify me. By the recent printed response, he states one per month through

November. What's next?

This group of shooters, with

a few exceptions (shooting participants living around the perimeter of

the range who have such little respect for their neighbors don't count

for much of anything) leave their quiet neighborhoods, drive to our "backyard,"

shoot their guns, get back in their cars and return to their homes. They

do all of this under the guise of helping the community and 4-H participation.

They are unconcerned that they take away the very thing most of us moved

here for, peace and quiet. How dare they paint us as selfish and mean

in this difference of opinion!

Why isn't Fayette County enforcing

the noise control ordinance? In Fayette County it is the responsibility

of the Marshall's Department to enforce county ordinances. The Marshall's

Department is placed in the unenviable position of enforcing the noise

control ordinance on a shooting range that it approved.

I do not wish to be at odds

with the 4-H Club. I learned to shoot .22-cal. rifles at a 4-H summer

camp. This is not a case of what they are doing, but where they are doing

it. I haven't even begun to opine on the prudence of the sound of gunfire

at the Starr's Mill school complex during after-school activities in a

post-Columbine environment.

I would like to end this letter

she brings discredit to. To all 4-H shotgunners, I wish you good health,

but use your head and stop disturbing the peace, have a heart for your

fellow citizens and keep your hands off the trigger around here.

Dan Bates

Brooks