Under considerable pressure from the public, County officials who permanently closed the public Joe Foss Shooting Complex last month have reversed their decision. NRA members and angry firearms owners in Maricopa County, Arizona, quickly banded together to oppose the closure, and within six weeks after the County locked the Complex gates, it appears the public may get its shooting range back.
An update on the Parks and Recreation website, referring to the wide and angry opposition as, “valuable feedback,” now indicates the County will not transfer the Joe Foss Shooting Complex (JFSC) to the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO). The update does not say when the Complex will reopen to the public or who will operate it.
“As MCSO did not initiate the request for the Joe Foss Range to be turned over to our agency, I am very supportive of the Range remaining a Maricopa County Park Area and optimistic for the facility to accommodate continued public use for our community members,” Appointed Sheriff Russ Skinner said in an email exchange.
“It’s a small step in the right direction, but it doesn’t really get us anywhere. The range is still closed,” Ivy Barrett of local gun shop America Fidelis, who has spearheaded the effort to reopen the public range, said of the Maricopa County update posting.
The backroom maneuvering by Maricopa County with its sudden, unannounced attempt to divest itself of recreational shooting has left firearms owners distrustful.
“None of the [County] updates matter until the update is a firm public reopening date,” Barrett said, and encourages the public to, “Keep up the calls and emails to the Board of Supervisors and Parks and Recreation.”
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