Public firearm range under consideration in New Kent

An outdoor firearm range open to all county residents could be in New Kent’s future provided one Board of Supervisors member has his way.

District 4 representative Ron Stiers says he is fulfilling a campaign promise by introducing the shooting range concept to county officials and pushing for approval. County administrator Rodney Hathaway says his office is exploring the possibility. But beyond that, there is nothing to indicate that gun enthusiasts could soon be opening fire at a target/practice facility.

“There’s no definite answer yet since we’re still in the early stages,” Stiers said in an interview last week. “But the board has asked [county] staff to look into it, and I’ve been doing stuff on my own.”

Stiers said he met recently with Texas businessman John Poindexter, who has been actively engaged in buying property in the county. Of particular interest to Stiers for a potential firearm range site is land Poindexter owns near the county’s animal shelter and trash transfer station on Olivet Church Road (Route 618).

“I asked if he’d be willing to donate two or three acres back to the county, and he said he would think about it,” Stiers said.

“He called later and said if it’s set up as a multi-year lease and as long as there’s no liability to his company, he do it,” the supervisor added.

But Stiers said his concept is not coming to fruition in the near future. There are costs as well as other issues to consider. And the endeavor must win approval by the full board.

“It’s not going to happen overnight and may take a couple of years to get it going,” he said.

“We’ll probably start with having an outdoor range depending on what kind of funding we can get,” he said, not ruling out the possibility of building an indoor facility.

The National Rifle Association, he said, has a 50/50 program for funding a new range, but all who use the facility must be NRA members.

“We may not go that route because we don’t want to be supporting a political group, and the NRA is a very political group,” he said. “The range will be owned by the county, and it could fall under [the] Parks and Recreation [Department].”

Stiers said he has approached the county sheriff’s office about opening the range to sheriff’s personnel and received positive feedback. A section of the range could be designated private or for sheriff’s personnel use only while the remaining area would be open to the public.

“It would be a win-win situation for everybody,” the supervisor said.

When contacted later, New Kent Sheriff F.W. “Wakie” Howard Jr. said his office has interest in Stiers’ concept, but only as a backup to a regional plan already on the table. In the works is a training center for fire/rescue personnel to be housed at Henrico Jail East near Barhamsville. Plans also call for a firearms range there.

“Our first commitment is to Henrico, but if that fell through we’d have some interest in Ron Stiers’ project,” Howard said.

The sheriff’s office regularly conducts training sessions for residents applying for concealed weapons permits. Howard said all training takes place in the classroom, and there is no hands-on firearms practice. Stiers’ concept could change that, he added.

“I feel like this will be a money-maker for the county,” said Stiers. “I know of people who pay $300 to $400 or more a year to belong to [shooting] clubs. There’s no place in the county for those people to go, and there’s a lot of citizens in this county who own guns and would love to see it.”