The Arizona Game & Fish Commission is holding a meeting Friday morning that may result in the sale of an Arizona treasure to land developers. [Reporter: See the meeting minutes to verify this fact for yourself before you call Game & Fish for their song and dance: http://www.flagstaffoutdoors.net/BASF/BASF.html ] 

The Commission will consider the sale or lease of the Ben Avery Shooting Range and land adjacent to the range. The Ben Avery Range is considered one of the top shooting facilities in the country and has been an attractive destination for shooters around the United States.

It's a safe place for people to shoot long range rifles and other firearms instead of forcing thousands more shooters onto public lands. 

According to the minutes of the June 21-22, 2002 Arizona Game & Fish Commission meeting, the disposition of land adjacent to Ben Avery Shooting Range on I-17 will be discussed, and all shooters and gun owners are encouraged to attend. Of concern to many thousands of Arizona gun owners is the possibility of selling or leasing a portion of the range's land to developers who may not be friendly to the range.  Total range closure is being discussed.

The minutes of the same meeting also contain statements that Pulte/Del Webb, a publicly held development corporation, has already pledged $500,000 to a shooting range project in the Buckeye Hills area. "What is curious to me is why a huge developer like Del Webb would give that kind of money to develop a shooting range clear across the valley from Ben Avery -- are they hoping to use this distant range as a replacement for Ben Avery Range?" said Angel Shamaya, Executive Director of KeepAndBearArms.com -- a Flagstaff-based national gunowners' rights organization with hundreds of members in Arizona who use the Ben Avery facility.  "Or are they merely seeking to cash in on the millions of dollars the land could put into their bank account, regardless of public interest and safety issues?"

"Shooters from all over the United States come to shoot at this safe, well-established facility," Shamaya added. "The land was slated long ago for one sole purpose: a shooting range. Ben Avery is one of the very finest shooting ranges in the country. Anything that could in any way jeopardize the facility's current and future full use is absolutely unacceptable."

Ken Rineer, President of Firearms Action Committee of Tucson agrees. "The land for Ben Avery was deeded to Game and Fish for the purpose of a shooting range," said Rineer.  "F.A.C.T. will support no other use. In Tucson, we have experience with Departments closing shooting ranges. U.S. Forest Service closed Tucson Rod & Gun Club in Sabino Canyon over 5 years ago. We also experienced the promise of a new range being built by Pima county. Monies were even approved by voters in a bond election -- but the promise to build a new range was never fulfilled."

Mr. Shamaya added, "Shooting ranges have come under attack all across America in recent years. Methods for closing shooting ranges have included the lease or sale of adjacent land along with well-planned attacks by landowners surrounding the range. The results have been consistently problematic for shooting ranges, and thus for the gun owners who use the facilities. The AZ Game & Fish Department is advised to find other ways to generate money -- ways that do not in any way jeopardize the future full use of the facility. Thousands of shooters rely on Ben Avery Shooting Range, and sending such a large number of gun owners out to the desert unattended could easily produce a whole new set of problems."

It is in the interest of all residents of Arizona to keep this world class facility open to the public. Whether you are a shooter who wants to shoot there, or an outdoorsperson who wants folks to shoot on an organized and safe shooting range, you should attend this meeting and be heard.

The AZ Game & Fish meeting on this issue is open to the public. Shooters who oppose any non-shooting use of Ben Avery Shooting Range's land are strongly urged to attend.  Please show up, bring your friends, fill out a speaker's card, and make your voice heard.

ARIZONA DEPARTMENT OF GAME AND FISH
2221 W. Greenway Road
Phoenix, Arizona 85023-4399

FAX Number (Director's Office) .....(602) 789-3299

Duane L. Shroufe, Director..............(602) 789-3278

Steve Ferrell, Agency Ombudsman .....(602) 789-3276