Click here to download the catalog as a PDF file. To view this site you need Adobe Flash Player and your browser must allow javaScripts. Go here to get the latest Flash Player. Massad Ayoob When Lawsuits Threaten To Close You Down A range and gun shop that has long legacy alive. The Blue Trail Range, a com- by Durham, a town situated on the othbeen an institution in its commu- plex that includes a thriving gun shop and er side of a mountain from Blue Trail nity is threatened with being sued a small, friendly restaurant, is facing an at- Range. The plaintiff alleges that bullets out of existence. What would you do if it tempt to sue it out of existence. have struck residential homes and prophappened to you? According to local media, the law- erty in the town, and that lead from bulThe Blue Trail Range in Wallingford, suit was filed by a homeowner in near- lets fired at the range has polluted the Conn., is a landmark and water supply, including an an icon in the community. adjacent town reservoir. The Lyman family — of I’ve taught on the Blue Lyman Gun Sight Co. fame Trail Range many times and — founded many businesses have seen it managed with in the area, including this faimpeccable safety. Backmous public shooting range stops have recently been and gun shop. upgraded until they stand Today, the range is owned higher than those found by Dave Lyman, a direct on most ranges, out of an descendant of Lyman Gun abundance of caution. I do Sight inventor and founder not have any part in the William Lyman. It is a safe litigation, but having toured bet that none of those who the range and its surroundmade Lyman a name to recking environs, I don’t think on with would imagine that the allegations in the lawtoday, Dave and his wife, High berms and a mountain stand between the Blue Trail Range and the suit against Blue Trail will Deb, are fighting to keep the community where bullets are said to have struck people’s property. stand up to scrutiny. 1961 in which it would convey land to the town for a reservoir. In the agreement, Blue Trail retained the right to shoot over the future water body and into the side of Tri-Mountain State Park. As it exists today, Blue Trail is just west of the reservoir, its 200-yard range separated from the water by a 35-yard buffer of trees.’” The newspaper report continued. “Annual testing of pretreated water at a connected water body, Pistapaug Pond, has shown no evidence of lead contamination within the last five or six years, according to Darrell Smith, of the Department of Public Health. Water from Ulbrich (the reservoir in question) is pumped into Pistapaug before it reaches the treatment plant . Samples taken on May 9 (2008) found a lead content of .003 milligrams per liter at a stream at the south end of the reservoir, (Smith) said. Another sample found less than .001 milligrams per liter at a stream at the south end of the reservoir . Smith said these numbers are relatively small. The maximum amount of lead allowed in pretreated water is .05 milligrams per liter . ” A more powerful newspaper in the region, the Hartford Courant, said of the matter in its Aug. 13, 2008, edition under the byline of staff writers David Funkhouser and Josh Kovner: “No lead has been found in the main body of the Ulbrich or anywhere else in the reservoir system and the water is safe to drink, local and state officials said.” Issues At Stake W henever there is an allegation that a bullet escaped a shooting range and caused damage, the first thing you do is plot the trajectory to determine if the allegation is possible or not. Common sense tells us that for a bullet to be fired at ground level on the foothill of one side of a mountain, suddenly soar upward like a rocket, clear the mountain peak, make a sudden and precipitous descent, and then suddenly veer off its path yet again to travel parallel with the ground and strike a building straight on would require the laws of gravity, physics and nature itself to be drastically altered. Yet, in at least one instance cited in the complaint, that is apparently what is being alleged. Another allegation is that lead bullets from the natural backstop — the mountain — are polluting the public water supply. Strange as it may seem, the reservoir in question was built by the community on top of an old shooting range. Here’s what the local newspaper, the Journal-Register, had to say on the matter in its June 19, 2008, edition, written by staff reporter George Moore: “As the scrutiny continues, Blue Trail is quick to note that it existed and operated before the reservoir was built. ‘The reservoir was built on top of a historic shooting range,’ said Blue Trail attorney Martha Dean. ‘The range struck a deal with Wallingford in MARCH 2009 “It’s an attack on the way of life of gun owners.” 18 Read SI DIGITAL www.shootingindustry.com