The Connecticut State Police need an updated gun range. Nobody disputes this fact. However, their current proposed site- in the small town of Willington, Connecticut, would place a massive gun range and training complex smack in the middle of a sleepy town full of natural beauty, rich history, and deep community roots.
The State Police are in dealings with a private landowner to secure the sites for the range. This effectively ties the hands of the local Board of Selectmen, preventing them from stopping the sale. Furthermore, as this is a State project, it would not be subject to local zoning laws. The State of Connecticut already has exempted all firing ranges from noise violation laws, so the people whose homes abut the proposed site will have no recourse when the sound of gunfire fills the air day after day.
The current gun range site is admittedly poisoned by the lead associated with spent bullets. The new, proposed site contains wetlands, vernal ponds, and waterways, all which would be exposed to lead from spent bullets. There are no plans in place to improve environmental protection, and so the people of Willington can reasonably expect lead to leech into the water and soil.
There are other, less controversial sites available for this gun range. This petition seeks to urge Senator Guglielmo to condemn not the construction of this needed facility, but to stop it from being built in the center of a small town.
