Mayor nixes firing range

The Westminster mayor last night said his city should not get into the business of permitting a gun firing range on a small section of property on the city’s rodeo grounds on S. Bibb Street. Mayor Rick McCormick spoke last night after a firearms instructor, Helen Shepperd, requested the mayor and council look into the legality of allowing a firing range at 528 S. Bibb Street. But the mayor said he’s concerned about the liability potential of having a gun range inside the city limits. He quoted the city’s police chief and the county sheriff as saying the county’s range is adequate to meet the training needs of local officers. But Shepperd said , there’s a “new normal out there and Westminster officers could benefit from instruction given inside their city that could help them deal with the kinds of violence experienced in other parts of the country. She also said the range could prove valuable to private individuals who may have bought guns that they don’t know how to handle safely.