Fall Fell

I'm gone for a week, and all of a sudden it's fall...the aspen have gone golden in clusters...the ground cover is red...our local lion snarfed another horse and a "domestic animal," as the papers says, then lay around a driveway in the sun, causing the wildlife guys to set traps...I say stake out a "sacrificial goat," a member of the town council or the mayor will work well...of course, the intent is to catch the lion, not gag it to death...we're having our own local Oktoberfest here in Nederland, and I will be pouring beer from 10:30 AM to 3 PM...drop by and give me a shout!

US Forest Service green ugliness continues unabated...a friend of mine went up to the posted Magnolia range — the very range that triggered the national outcry and resulted in a national Memorandum of Understanding between the shooting industry and the USFS as wellas memoranda toevery USFS head explaining that recreatinal shooting is an accepted use of the resource and that REMAINS CLOSED — and put 100 rounds through his Glock. Since he's a firefighter, he carried his radio and heard this whole ridiculous exchange.

First telephone calls began pouring into the local police department, city hall (such as it is). The local cops didn't respond because the shooting was not taking place on town land and they had no jurisdiction. They, however, notified the Boulder County Sheriff's Department, who quickly sent numerous cars to scene. However, before the county cars could get there, a call went out cancelling the call, the dispatchers saying that they had a memo stating RECREATIONAL SHOOTING IS LEGAL ON ALL FOREST SERVICE LAND.

Two new points:

1) Our sources in local law enforcement tell us that the antigun activists at the local branch of the USFS refuse to acept defeat and will soon post the range for a different reason, such as "shooting is not allowed when the sun is visible," then claim that because the property was illegally posted before the MOU and the memorandum from Washington, the posting is "grandfathered in" and therefore does not require a hearing and public input from shooters.

2) All these telephone calls complaining about the shooting are coming from basically ONE person, a woman antigun activist who is committed to stopping shooting wherever she can. ONE — count 'em — PERSON, who is constantly badgering the Town of Nederland, all the local police departments, the USFS...and all of them are dancing to her antigun tune. Here's the punch line...HER phone number isn't listed.

3) USFS officials are having a big meeting in November to discuss recreational shooting. I, of course, am pointedly not invited so will certainly be attending. I think this time I'll be attending with a video camera, so everyone will have the opportunity to put names with public utterances. Since it'll be a public meeting, I think names, addresses and phone numbers of all the participants would be a good thing...it's past time to scare the rats out from under the rocks, doncha think?

Well, it's still great to be home, even with all the local angst. I should have gone to the NRA event in D.C. with the Presidential hopefuls, but I couldn't face a trip between trips. I will be at the IDPA Nationals in PA next week — drop by; say hi of course.