Firearms Ordinance Is Unnecessary

To the Editor:

With reference to the proposed firearms ordinance changes for Newtown, why is this even being considered? The largest firearms club in town is the Fairfield County Fish & Game Protective Assn. with 475 members. The club, founded in 1907, has been in active existence for 105 years. In all that time there has not been one accident, one incident, one arrest, or one problem of any kind in the history of the club.

To the best of my knowledge there are two other hunting clubs in the town, and I have never heard of a problem with either of those clubs.

For that matter, in my 27 years of living in Newtown I cannot remember one incident of a shooting accident in the town.

There have been some complaints over the years from some neighbors about the noise of gun shots, but to these I would respond by saying that over the past ten years the club has been working with the State Agriculture Department to plant noise buffering trees so that we can be good neighbors to the houses that are in proximity to the club property.

 Further, the people that own those houses had to know that they were buying near a shooting club as the property lines are posted on all sides with signs advising that it is a private shooting preserve. They knew what they were getting before they bought.

The shooting public of Newtown is just as interested in safety as are our public officials, maybe even more so because it is our sport that would be at stake if safety were not our first concern.

The proposed changes are unnecessary, and I would urge that the matter be dropped before the town spends any more time, effort, and money on trying to fix a problem that does not exist.

Respectfully,

R.M. Giannettino

18 Chestnut Hill Road, Sandy Hook                            June 11, 2012