The City and Borough of Juneau Assembly approved the appeal of a Juneau Mercantile and Armory LLC permit to build an indoor gun range and retail space.
The permit was approved by the CBJ Planning Commission on Dec. 14. The Juneau chapter of Veterans for Peace submitted the appeal to the CBJ municipal clerk on Jan. 2.
“We were concerned about the idea of a shooting range in which people were going to be allowed to handle weapons of war,” Phil Smith, president of the Juneau Chapter of Veterans for Peace, said in an earlier interview with the Empire, “The idea of stuffing an arsenal of these things five minutes from the airport raised our concerns. Many of us are combat veterans and we know exactly what these weapons can do. They are not toys.”
City Attorney John Hartle said there was no reason not to hear the appeal. The assembly agreed unanimously to hear the appeal themselves. Members appointed Assembly Member Loren Jones as the hearing officer.
The commission approved the permit request to build a 13,000 square foot gun range and retail space on a property at 1720 Crest Street near the airport.
There was no public comment.
Attorney Hartle asked assembly member to refrain from speaking about the appeal with the public.
• Contact reporter Russell Stigall at 523-2276 or at russell.stigall@juneauempire.com.
Comments (41)
Add commentakbrdguru - Laws act as a
akbrdguru - Laws act as a deterrent and yes kids are being allowed to set off cherry-bombs in Juneau. These are the fireworks that rock your house.
How about safety?
We need a supervised, controlled environment for people to learn how to handle, load/unload, and fire their weapons. Some real tragic accidents have occurred at Montana Creek due mainly to ignorance and carelessness. Idiots won't go to this range because they would be schooled on how to do things right or get booted out.l
Banditrider
There is a gun safety class available through UAS. I took a class with Bruce Bowler and we learned all the basics that you are referring to.
It is very hard for me to be
It is very hard for me to be supportive of this considering how CBJ seems mum on safety concerns raised by the public regarding the use of fireworks near their homes. So, how can I believe that concerns raised by the public about this would be taken seriously by CBJ?
humanbeing - ease up
as you are incorrect, sir.
I have never disrespected veterans. I always use the proper titles for elected officials, showing the offices the respect they deserve, even when I disagree with the policies of the person holding that office. I don't even disagree with having the range.
Hitler's drugs?
Google it, hero. No wonder you forget. There are so many to remember. Quite the list. My favorite is Nux Vomica (a form of strychnine). Half the acid passed around my town was mostly strychnine. Same stuff that several of my dogs died of. Ranchers put it out for coyotes. Hippies tripped on it. Who woulda thunk that ol' Adolf was psychedelic? He was no stranger to coke or crank either.
There will always be crazies.
There will always be crazies. Guns or no guns, there will be violence. I prefer to have a gun for recreational shooting (although th ecost of ammo has limited that), hunting, and protection. All of them are "military" origin as all guns have been used by the military at one time or another. It isnt the gun...
skirkz
my goodness, you are correct! I vote that we outlaw psychadelics at once!
I think my point flew over your head there.... and i probably should have rephrased my sentence. Kpawsuh was mentioning the drugs that the school/theater shooters were on, there is no trace of psychedelic drugs in their system but they were on prescription drugs. My point is that Adolf Hitler was not on the prescription drugs and yet he used all kinds of weapons of war to nearly take over the world.
"..some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn."