Task force tackles range bays at Carson City rifle range

The Range Task Force voted to get started on work to get four bays at the range back open for public use.

Carson City has restricted hours at the Carson Rifle and Pistol Range since November after stray bullets were reported at the nearby city landfill. Currently, the entire range is open on Sunday to the public, when the landfill is closed, and three of the four bays are available to reserve Tuesday through Saturday by groups, but not the general public, using frangible ammunition, according to the Carson Rifle and Pistol Club web site.

After reducing hours at the range, the city commissioned two reports to determine the steps needed to reopen it.

Working off a report from the National Rifle Association, the task force prioritized work, focusing on doing the minimal work necessary to get the bays and the short and long range sites open.

The city was planning to contract with an engineer for construction drawings to start the work, but an initial quote from Poggemeyer Design Group was considered too high.

So the task force looked at the work needed to get the four bays open and decided it might be done in house. The work includes building up the floor of the bays with sand, which requires some engineering for slope, fixing a berm on the first bay, and some signage as well as eventually work to provide better drainage.

The city plans to apply for a grant with Nevada Department of Wildlife to fund the work. The grant application is due Friday.

The task force also decided on a six-month interim agreement with the Carson Rifle and Pistol Club, which takes reservations for the range and provides volunteer range safety officers.

An existing decades-long agreement with the club expires next month so another agreement is needed, but the task force wants to look into operations at the range before entering into another long-term deal.

The six-month agreement, as proposed, would compensate the club for its work by letting it hold matches on half the range for four to five hours one Sunday a month.

A draft of the agreement will go to the Parks and Recreation Commission, which would vote whether to recommend it to the Board of Supervisors for approval.

The city also hopes to meet with the Bureau of Land Management this month to talk about a possible lease of BLM land around a large city parcel behind Centennial Park that could be the range’s future site if and when the city decides to relocate it.

The task force meets next on April 3.