Correction: The following letter was submitted by Scott Gray of Lisbon, not Assemblyman Scott Gray.

To the Editor:

As some of you are aware, there is a bill in the New York State Senate that could bring an end to most if not all the High School trap teams. Senate Bill 08461 brought forward by Senator Pete Harckham, establishes “the sporting range good neighbor act”. This bill imposes requirements on the size and location of areas used for trap and skeet shooting and includes all rifle, pistol, trap and skeet ranges in the State. This Bill essentially will force most ranges and clubs to build a covered backstop and be required to follow the State rules regarding lead reclamation. Most if not all clubs will not be able to afford to comply with these regulations. 

So, what does this mean for the High School trap teams? It means that if each local club or range can’t comply with these regulations, the trap teams will not have any place to shoot. I believe that these trap teams are one of the best things to happen in this state in a long time. I think that every kid should have the opportunity to be part of a team. Being on a team gives kids the opportunity to hang out with kids they normally wouldn’t and helps develop the life skills needed to deal with people not in their friend group. Not everyone has the desire or physical ability to be on a sports team and the trap teams give every kid an opportunity to be a part of a team.  

The liberal left keeps preaching to us about gun safety. My understanding is that in order to compete, every kid has to take and pass the NYS Hunter Safety Course. These kids are shooting and practicing responsible gun handling under the direct supervision of the coaches and club staff. Safety is the number one priority of everyone involved. So why would the politicians want to pass a bill  that would almost certainly bring an end to this activity? I think that they know they can’t take away our guns, but they can take away where we get to shoot them. I don’t believe this has anything to do with the trap teams, but they are an unintended consequence  of the overeducated and underinformed liberal politician. 

What can we do about this horribly thought-out Bill? I think that each and every kid that is a member of a trap team should contact  these politicians and tell them what their team means to them. We can call, email and send letters to our local politicians and tell them to fight against this Bill. We need to flood Senator Harckham’s office with phone calls, emails and letters. If his Bill  gets passed, we have no one to blame but ourselves. If we all do our part, these people will realize that there must be a better way to accomplish whatever it is they are trying to accomplish. It’s about time these politicians realized that they work for us, not the other way around. 

If anyone needs more information on contacting representatives feel free to call me.                                                                             

Scott Gray 
Lisbon