Barnstable town officials are working on a plan re-open the town-run gun range that has been closed for six month, the Cape Cod Times reports.
The shooting range, located off the service road west of Exit 5 on U.S. Route 6, was shut down in December because the town's insurance provider does not cover shooting ranges.
Mark Ells, Barnstable assistant town manager, says town officials are working on new rules and procedures to ensure the shooting range is ran safely, including adding constant range-safety officer presence.
Officials plan to listen to both opponents and supporters of the range as they work out the details, the Times writes.
Barnstable is the only town in Massachusetts to operate its own gun range, the Times reports. Town officials are looking to Texas and California as models for operation.
In the past, the shooting range had an "unsafe feeling" due to the consistent lack of range-safety officers, says Douglas Kalweit, Barnstable Department of Natural Resources supervisor.
According to the Times, the shooting range took in $41,267 in resident and nonresident user fees between July 1, 2010, and June 30, 2011. It costs about $8,000 a year to run; leftover revenue benefitted the town's general fund.
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