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Petition to help The Complete Combatant Firing Range in Lumpkin County stay open for live fire

let try it this way:

The FFL exempts them from zoning.

BUT they still need to deal with the noise issues of the range.
No. The law as written is protection from targeted zoning that would prevent them from opening a firearms business. They still have to comply with the same zoning that any other business would need.

They are trying to operate a commercial business on property that is zoned as agricultural. Getting an FFL does not provide them an exemption from meeting the same requirements as any other business.

Commercial zoning holds businesses to a different set of standards. Getting an FFL does not exempt a business from those standards. It means they can’t be discriminated against.
 
If I was the owner I would be a lot more interested in being a good neighbor if they had come to me instead of trying to throw the weight of government at me.
I live in the area and can hear them shooting on the weekends. It doesn't bother me. I have not tried to introduce myself to the owners. I have talked to a neighbor, who is pro gun, who said when he tried to stop by and meet the owners he was met with attitude that left a bad taste in his mouth.
 
I live in the area and can hear them shooting on the weekends. It doesn't bother me. I have not tried to introduce myself to the owners. I have talked to a neighbor, who is pro gun, who said when he tried to stop by and meet the owners he was met with attitude that left a bad taste in his mouth.
Nice. Let’s start spreading hearsay.
 
I live in the area and can hear them shooting on the weekends. It doesn't bother me. I have not tried to introduce myself to the owners. I have talked to a neighbor, who is pro gun, who said when he tried to stop by and meet the owners he was met with attitude that left a bad taste in his mouth.

Yeah. His neighbors brought down the weight of gov on him. And he is probably used to people bitching at him. And it's a private class range not open to the public. Probably gets a lot of folks showing up wanting to shoot not understanding that. I'd probably be grouchy too.
 
In Michigan, there is a law that says an existing range cannot be shut down because people bought or built a house nearby.
It's come in handy a few times. Maybe with all of the urban sprawl happening in this state, there's a need for this law here.
Does anyone know any elected state reps or senators who could be talked into writing something up for the next legislative assembly?
Georgia already has a range protection act, which was presented to the Georgia Supreme Court by a brilliant lawyer, and the Supreme Court unanimously confirmed it's application, reversing a trial court decision which particially closed a range.

If the subject range meets the requirements of this law, it cannot be shut down for noise.


After talking to a friend who’s pretty knowledgeable with how county governments work, and looking back over the petition, I think the owners of TCC made an error.
They are trying to run a commercial range on private property that is zoned as agricultural. Unless they have either already met or are willing to meet the requirements for the change of zoning they are probably not going to be successful. Even if they meet the requirements they will be fighting an uphill battle as complaints have been made to the county.
if it's zoned agricultural and shooting ranges are not specifically addressed it's probably a permitted use, The issue came up in a suit in Morgan County, where the Commissioners got a major smack down. Also Dawson County (another smack down for the commissioners), Chatham County, Spalding County, as mentioned by Mikey357 (although the owner didn't spend tens of thousands of dollars on attorney fees, basically took one strong letter threatening to sue the commissioners individually)

The Georgia Supreme Court case mentioned above came from Jenkins County, where the jury partially shut down a range for noise, and a brilliant attorney took on the appeal of the case, got it reversed, with a strong opinion from the Court.

Reading the link to the owner's site, they probably screwed up by not getting a business license, which the county probably would have blindly given them. The strength of the law, as per the case decided by the Georgia Supreme Court, is that no noise complaint can be sustained against a shooting range unless the county has a noise ordinance, and most rural counties don't have a noise ordinance. Common law nuisance complaints cannot be sustained. Most counties will sell a business license in an ag zone for about anything short of whorehouse.
 
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