Loveland Tackles Gun Issues  

Use of private range might provide temporary option

BY DOUGLAS CROWL • Loveland Connection • June 21, 2008

LOVELAND — The Loveland City Council will consider a temporary fix Tuesday to the Loveland Police Department’s noise and space issues at its outdoor gun range west of Loveland.

The council will consider a $47,000 bid from the Front Range Gun Club to move a little more than half of the police department’s weapons training to a private facility at 697 N. Denver Ave.

The police force currently trains at a 30-year-old range near Green Ridge Glade Reservoir, at Loveland’s water treatment plant.

For months, Police Chief Luke Hecker and neighbors of the range have been discussing noise issues.

Hecker also said the range no longer can sup-port the training needs of the officers.

City Manager Don Williams called the proposal to move to the Front Range Gun Club a temporary solution to serve the officers for the remainder of the year.

In February Hecker proposed a $3 million improvement on the current outdoor range which would mitigate sound and provide better training opportunities, though the neighbors still wanted the site abandoned.

“It’s really an issue that’s undecided at this point,” police spokesman Sgt. Benjamin Hurr said.

For now he said the indoor gun range can facilitate 55 percent of training officers need.

Each of Loveland’s 91 sworn officers must complete four hours of firearms training each quarter.

Specialized assignments, such as Loveland’s SWAT team with 18 officers assigned, needs firearms training every month, Hurr said.

“A lot of the training that the SWAT team needs to do needs to be at the outdoor range,” he said.

The police department also has stopped allowing law enforcement officers from other agencies in the region to use the gun range, to further limit the outdoor shooting there, Hurr said.

Loveland police officers still are allowed to use the range on their personal time for training, but Hurr said that use is minimal.

“The reality of it is that we have to train some-where,” Hurr said.

He said firearms use in law enforcement is such a high risk that the department can’t afford to limit training.

The Loveland City Council will consider a first reading to approve the expenditure to use the Front Range Gun Club on Tuesday.

Hurr said if all goes well a training session scheduled for July will be at the indoor range.