Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
2 <br />after we made the shooting range complaint to the Board of County Commissioners an ordinance <br />was passed by the Board that addresses shooting ranges. So it is a non-issue at this point. <br />Unfortunately shooting ranges that were in existence at the time of the ordinance’s passageare <br />exempt from the ordinance. I’m not even covered by that ordinance. I’m not exactly sure why it <br />is not important to have existing shooting ranges subject to safety regulations or whether there <br />was any opportunity to have input into that ordinance, but if there was I did not hear anything <br />about it. <br />More disturbing to me than Jack’s continuing to suggest that I have a conflict of interest is the <br />subtext. What it says is that if my homeowner’s association hadn’t complained to the Board of <br />County Commissioners then there would not be this Committee, because there is no problem <br />with firearms safety in Orange County. I don’t think the Board of County Commissioners <br />believes that. I believe they created this Committee to address the issue of firearms safety and <br />noise. These issues have been raised in countless other counties throughout the state, and have <br />been brought to my attention through numerous individuals complaining of stray bullets and <br />repetitive shooting. I believe we all are here for the same reason. We might have other reasons <br />why we are here, but the shared reason is firearms safety and noise. <br />About an hour into the first meeting I thought about resigning from this Committee. If I were <br />somebody else I might have quit a long time before now. But I’m not somebody else. And even <br />if I were to walk out the door right now, this Committee would still have the problem that has <br />been raised by the citizens of Orange County. I would like to see the focus of the Committee <br />shift from shooting ranges, which is a non-issue, to the issuesof safety and noise. <br />Dr. Arvik asked the Committee if anyone thinks that its business is a threat to the Second <br />Amendment in any way. No one said that they did. The impression I got from the newspaper <br />report [Chapel Hill News,September 14, 2016; “OrangeCo. draft firearms rules raise <br />concerns”], he said, is that someone here is planning to limit our liberty, to take away our Second <br />Amendment rights. I look around the room and recall what all of us have said, and I don’t get <br />that. My conclusion is that the article was just “today’s news.” I’m not against the Second <br />Amendment. I’m a very strong supporter of it. Look in my closet and my gun safe and you’ll <br />see my NRA sticker. You can’t have my guns until you pry them from my cold, dead hands. <br />Mr. Hunnell replied to Ms. Conti that no apology is necessary. I don’t find anything you did to <br />be offensive, he said. I think you are representing your opinion. And as you saw in that <br />newspaperarticle, I think the Board of Commissioners did an excellent job at picking a balance <br />from all different perspectives.Ms. Conti said that she saw those remarks in the article and <br />appreciated it. Mr. Hunnell continued: And what we have found out from our resource persons is <br />that there really isn’t a problem. There have been very few instances of problems other than