Talk About Placing a Police Gun Range in East Haven Draws Significant Concern

By Jack Kramer, Correspondent

EAST HAVEN, CT - Representative James Albis, D- East Haven, is stating his opposition to a proposed bill that would halt the construction of a police gun range in Griswold, stating that a location in East Haven is the most viable alternative.

Representative Kevin Skulczyck, is proponent of a bill that limits the locations of state firearms training facilities and specifically recommends existing federal firearms facilities as potential locations, pointed to an East Haven National Guard range on North High Street as an alternate site from a proposal to construct a range in Griswold.

“Rep. Skulczyck has never reached out to me or any other East Haven officials to discuss locating this facility in our town,” Albis said. “This approach is counterproductive and completely ignores any input from local officials and residents from the neighborhood that surrounds our National Guard range. Unless Rep. Skulczyck would like to discuss his plans for East Haven with our community, I will do whatever I can to prevent this bill from moving forward.”

Griswold First Selectman Kevin Skulczyck and U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2, don’t want the gun range to be where the state wants it – in Griswold. They have been pushing East Haven as what they term the “common sense” alternative.”

But state officials said there are big differences between a National Guard firing range and a state police one — and they don’t believe East Haven is a suitable location.

Albis isn’t the only one in East Haven who doesn’t like the idea. East Haven’s mayor agrees.

Joe Maturo, Jr. when asked about the gun range idea, said: “I will point out that the current range is located in the Farm River flood prone area. Certainly during periods of significant river flooding, the range is one of the first locations in that neighborhood to be found under water.”

Maturo added: “No one from the state delegation nor any state official has ever reached out to me regarding this bill. I believe it is very irresponsible for anyone to put forward a bill impacting a community without the courtesy of reaching out to the local leaders.”

Griswold residents, back in June in a non-binding referendum, voted 437 against to 63 in favor of the gun range proposal.

“The proposed state police gun range has been a hot topic in the town of Griswold,” said Skulczyck.

The state Department of Administrative Services wants to buy a 113-acre parcel of privately owned forest and farm land on Lee Road as a site for a new State Police training facility. The current facility in Simsbury is in a flood zone and repeated flooding and mold led to condemnation and demolition of the classroom building on the property.

Opposition from Griswold residents to the plan has been loud and ongoing, with opponents citing concerns ranging from noise and lead pollution to road maintenance costs and disruption of wildlife habitats in the nearby Pachaug State Forest.

Courtney, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, said that instead of building the new gun training facility, the state should consider using already existing locations, such as the National Guard firing range in East Haven and a dynamic shooting range in Simsbury.

Utilizing the East Haven facility more would make it less of a target for potential closure by the Base Realignment and Closure Commission, Courtney said.

State officials have contended that the East Haven National Guard site would not meet the state police’s training needs because police are trained to react differently in a shooting than Army personnel.

But Courtney has said he finds that explanation “hard to understand.”

A state website that addresses questions about the training facility suggests that using other sites isn’t a possibility.

The explanation on the site says: “The CT Army National Guard has two training facilities in Connecticut, the East Haven Rifle Range (EHRR) and the Stones Ranch facility in East Lyme. Neither of them is a suitable alternative . . . The Connecticut State Police evaluated both sites extensively before determining their unsuitability. There is no range at Stone’s Ranch and no land to build one. The East Haven Rifle Range was designed to meet the specifications of the National Guard, not the State Police. The differences are significant, and both agencies agree that it cannot be modified to meet the collective training requirements.”