New law in Redmond targets shooting range; gun club sits in area the city plans to annex
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The ordinance is in response to city and residents' concerns about the safety of the Interlake Sporting Association. The gun club was recently shut down by the King County Department of Licensing while the King County Sheriff's Office investigated a report that a stray bullet had landed in the parking lot of a nearby business.
The gun club is in an unincorporated part of the Rose Hill neighborhood that Redmond plans to annex.
The ordinance establishes regulations for the licensing and operation of shooting ranges and restricts the use of certain firearms.
Rick Raymond, president of the association, testified at Tuesday's City Council meeting that adoption of the ordinance would force the association out of business.
"Ordinances are fine — they protect cities and people — but some are so restrictive businesses can't operate," said Raymond.
"We're not trying to shut it (the gun range) down," Councilman Jim Robinson said during the meeting. "We're trying to find a balance between an open gun club and a suburban-urban area."
Redmond police and county deputies have received several reports in the past few years of bullets hitting car windshields and a glass door. Only two, including the most recent incident in September, were positively traced back to the range, said sheriff's spokesman Sgt. John Urquhart.
The shooting range has been closed since the end of September, when a stray bullet landed in the parking lot of Trendwest Resorts, within three feet of an employee.
"Everyone was pretty shaken," said Kymberly Horne, risk manager at the business, which employs 300 people.
This is the second time the sporting association, formerly the Interlake Rod and Gun Club, has been shut down. It was closed for six months in the fall of 2000 over another stray bullet and was required to make changes to its pistol range before reopening last February. The nonprofit association, at 13633 N.E. 97th St., has been around for 54 years.
This time, King County is requiring the association to have a certified range-safety officer and make other changes before it can reopen.
Richard Ripley, a member of the sporting association, said the way the ordinance is worded, the club would be required "to apply all the guidelines blindly without taking into consideration the environment." For example, he said, while safety issues for a range at the bottom of a hill are the same as for one at the top, they would be addressed differently.
Members also object to the cost involved in complying with the ordinance, including a $5,000 deposit the city would draw from to pay consultants and investigators in determining whether to grant the license.
The ordinance has no immediate effect on Interlake because it is still part of King County. But Redmond has been eager for years to annex the jagged chunk of land that lies between the city and Kirkland.
The council has asked that the ordinance be reviewed a year after it goes into effect.
Angela Lo can be reached at 206-464-3206 or alo@seattletimes.com.