I know it looks like they had a lot of fun, but they forgot a couple of very important things. First, clean your shit up! As we started cleaning up, we found out that they also forgot that guns and booze don't mix!
You know, it only took about three minutes of this...
To make it look like this...
Seriously. Three minutes and five plastic bags that we managed to scrounge up from our cars. Didn't take hardly any time at all, certainly the drunk bastards who left the mess weren't in such a big hurry that they couldn't spare three minutes to clean up after themselves.
It's because of idiots like the ones who left the mess that we're losing our places to shoot.
I feel like not only is it important to teach our children about gun safety, but how to be good stewards of the land. If we allow our children to grow up to treat our public shooting lands the way these idiots did, we won't have any public shooting lands left.
I know, we have gone out to places on public property that we used to shoot, only to find TV's and refrigerators garbage, shell casings, you know. Why do people do this!! We always clean up too when we can. We always pack out what we brought in!!! Always!
ReplyDeleteNow there are gates across the roads to the best shooting spots, and no place to go anymore, except the public and private ranges.
Makes me crazy! I was taught to always leave your spot cleaner than you found it. And you know it's just a few idiots who are screwing it up for the rest of us.
ReplyDeleteAmen! I'm with you - makes me a little bit crazy when people leave a mess for others to clean up - especially when they know those "others" are fellow shooters. It wouldn't take but a few people to do that, before you would have to wade through spent shells and casings just to find a place to stand. And I think trying to walk on/around small round things that roll could definitely be considered a fall hazard. End rant :) Thanks for the reminder.
ReplyDeleteRCC, my husband, used to belong to an off-roading group and once a year they would get together and clean up one of the public shooting areas. Not because they used it to shoot, but because they feared that if it continued to get trashed, the county would shut down the area for everyone. They were right. Almost two years ago, the county decided that the area could no longer be used for shooting or off-roading.
ReplyDeleteHow sad is it that another group, who used the public land for something completely different than the shooters did, took it upon themselves to try to clean it up. The off-roaders understood what was going to happen and tried to prevent it. I absolutely understand why people want to close down public shooting areas and it's not because of safety.
OH! and my another pet peeve. The bear grass pickers and the Mexicans and orientals, out in our National forests. They camp and leave long swaths of toilet paper piles, right next to creeks. Piles and piles of garbage because they refuse to pack it out, leaving tarps, pots, plastic, rope,and anything else you can think of. So ruining the beauty of our forests, not the mention the cleanliness!! Unfortunetly there are not enough law enforcement to catch them, even if they could do something with them when they did.
ReplyDeleteYou did a good thing. I get so disgusted with our public outdoor range which is a hillside and half of a mountain. It is filthy. People are bringing their fridges and old junk out there to shoot up. One year ago, they took thousands of dollars and tons of loads to the dump to clean it up. The Game and Fish also have been using it to dump road kill in piles. Even our government agencies are messing it up!
ReplyDeleteI am really discouraged at how no one respects land or the opportunity to have such things.