Glastonbury Residents Oppose Firing Range in Town

Thousands in Glastonbury are fighting to keep a shooting range out of their quiet town. State Police want to put one in the Meshomasic State Forest and neighbors called it a dangerous idea. A public meeting was on the matter Thursday night.

People who live in the southern section of Glastonbury near Thompson Street and Toll Gate Road, were outraged over the idea.

“What are they thinking? What are they thinking?” questioned Beverly Scavetta.  State Police had inquired about building a state of the art training facility and firing range on 30 acres of that state forest near their homes. Two smaller gun ranges already exist here.

Neighbors said even more sounds of gunshots would be too much. “This is going to be noise pollution for us,” Scavetta added.
 
They were also worried about stray bullets. “It increases the odds of an accident happening,” Melissa Pericolosi explained. 

During the last few weeks, nearly 2000 people signed a petition against the proposal. On Thursday night hundreds showed up at an informational meeting to fight it. State Police presented their idea, and tried to calm their fears. “We are always cautious, we have never had a civilian accident at our existing range,” explained Lt. Paul Vance with State Police.
 
He said their current firing range was in flood zone in Simsbury.  Pictures of the facility showed extensive damage there after Tropical Storm Irene. The state had spent thousands on repairs, that haven’t worked. “You can’t throw money at it anymore it's inappropriate it's a waste of money,” Lt. Vance added.
 
State Police said a new location was critical, but many in Glastonbury argued this town was the wrong place. “Want to protest this, I want to ask why would you pick a residential area?” Beverly Scavetta added.
 
State Police want to emphasize this was only an idea, there was no concrete plan, and nothing had been approved.  They also told NBC Connecticut, it was likely the Troopers would not use the gun range daily, instead they would heavily utilize new classrooms that could be built on the land.