Warren County Declares WAR on Gun Owners

By: Kayne Robinson, ISF President

The Warren County Board of Supervisors has voted unanimously to demand that the Department of Natural Resources close the Indianola area public shooting range known as Banner Mines (Banner Wildlife Area).  This shooting area has served Central Iowa for over 40 years. The actual safety record as regards shooters is excellent.  Occasionally, drunks and dope-fiends have besmirched Banner as they have other recreational areas of the state.  This has resulted in two police calls a month since July of 2000, according to the Des Moines Register.  That is a record of tranquility to be envied by many parks and businesses across the state.  If there are non-shooters using dope and alcohol at the Banner area, why is that different than people using dope and alcohol at a government lake elsewhere in Warren County. 

Formal ranges staffed with employees play an important role with their instructors, classrooms, and sale items, but attendance is always far lower than at public shooting areas.   The excuse given by Warren County for closing the range is because they want to locate the Summerset Recreation Trail nearby.  Naturally, the recreational trail was not designed so that it passes dangerously near any bullet impact area.  Jogging trails often pass next to or cross highways, which are far more dangerous than any shooting range.

Public shooting areas with no employee, and with limited earth-work improvement, such as berms for dividing groups of shooters, are the most popular and useful shooting areas.  As such, they are targeted for destruction by the anti-gun crowd.

Two years ago, someone hired the Missouri Department of Natural Resources to study the Banner shooting area.  As we all know, they are much smarter in Missouri.  Not surprisingly those Missouri employees opined that the Banner area should have Iowa employees constantly in attendance to supervise.  That a government agency would want someone to hire more government employees is a shocking concept!!!

It is unclear how hundreds of thousands of hunters can safely take to the field every year in Iowa without the Missouri DNR to supervise them.

I propose the Banner shooting area remain as it is. 

The actual number of gun owners and hunters in Indianola is far larger than the number of golfers.

I propose that we examine the feasibility of taking a public facility having land in Indianola, perhaps the municipal golf course and turning it into a shotgun range.

In additional, I suggest there is a shortage of long distances varmint ranges in Central Iowa.  When the Summerset Recreation Trail is done, I understand it will have several long straight stretches.  We should have the Wyoming DNR examine the feasibility of closing off Summerset with appropriate safe earthworks and jogging bans.  The purpose would be to turn those straight stretches into varmint shooting practice ranges. 

There are about a million gun owners in Iowa.  If it is fair to steal shooting areas for joggers, it must also be fair to steal golf courses and jogging trails for shooters.

Perhaps the best alternative would be for the Iowa DNR to simply hold its ground and have both our shooting area and the Summerset Recreational Trail.