Councilors Get Mixed Messages From Public on Gun Noise

UPDATE (6:23 p.m.): Londonderry Fish and Game Club President Rick Olson said today that shots were being fired from his range during yesterday's town council meeting.

Olson said that the fact is that the gunfire was not audible at the golf course from his club, and that more shooters were active at the LFGC range than the police range at the time of the meeting.

He said that one member was using a Russian-made Moisin-Nagant Rifle: 7.62X54R, which he added has "quite a bark."

An Earlier Story Follows:

The Town Council is left to pinpoint where the noise causing concern at Londonderry Country Club is coming from after receiving mixed messages during a gun demonstration held on Oct. 4.

Three separate gun types were fired at the police shooting range – pistols, 12-gauge shotguns and AR-15 .223 assault rifles. Councilors and residents listened for the gun shots at the golf course to hear the disturbance or lack of disturbance that they caused.

On one hand, readings taken by Londonderry Fish and Game Club Vice President Richard Tracy all came in between 45 and 50 decibels. Simply talking near the reader pushed the level up around 56 decibels.

But one resident – Pam O'Brien – who lives right next to the course, said that the shots she hears on a daily basis are louder.

"What you just showed as an example is not what we get," she said. "Not at all."

Helga Kimball, co-owner of Londonderry Country Club along with her husband Tom, agreed with O'Brien, saying that her home is also next to the course and she has trouble getting work done.

"Today seemed very, very muffled," she said of the shooting range demonstration. "It's not indicative of what we normally have to live with."

Town Council Chairman John Farrell told those in attendance that from what he and the other councilors have been told, a lot of the gun noise could be coming from the Musquash Conservation Area.

He referenced people possibly taking target practice at abandoned cars or appliances out there.

Farrell also clarified that nobody is looking at removing hunting from the Musquash land.

Londonderry Police have been asked to look at what is going on in the area so there can be a bit more clarity.

The Londonderry Fish and Game Club gun range sits close to the police range. It has been the target in the past of complaints from the golf course.

LFGC President Rick Olson argued in September that forestation between the course and his range creates a sound barrier. During the meeting, shots were only fired from the police range, but Olson attended along with some other club members.

His club stops shooting 30 minutes after sunset. The police range also stops shooting around dark, but Police Chief William Hart did apologize to those in attendance for a recent shooting session that lasted until 10 p.m. He explained that the state police were borrowing the range and that the late hour of use was inappropriate and will not happen again.

Town Attorney Mike Ramsdell said that shooting ranges in the state are entitled to specific statutory protections.

"A shooting range can't be challenged for nuisance unless the noise violates a noise ordinance that pre-dates the existence of the shooting range itself," Ramsdell said.

He said that there doesn't appear to be any legal basis for the town to take action against a shooting range.

Steve Marr, who lives in Bedford but grew up in Londonderry and still goes to the LFGC range on a weekly basis, called the issue much ado about nothing.

"I mean listen to that – is that offensive?" Marr said of the sample gun shots from the police range.

"We need a place to shoot," he added. "We've been shooting (at LFGC) for a million years."

The Town Council will convene again on Oct. 15 to discuss the noise at the golf course. Farrell noted that he and his fellow members will ask questions and not jump to any conclusions on the matter.

The state's regular firearms deer season begins in mid-November.