Niles Shooting Range Suit Dismissed Over Standing

NILES, IL — A judge dismissed a lawsuit filed nearly three years ago by opponents of a shooting range and gun shop set to open in Niles. Cook County Judge Franklin Valderrama Monday ruled that Skokie-based members of the gun safety activist group People For A Safer Society no longer has standing to challenge the Village of Niles and the owners of Revolve Rifle and Range in a lawsuit filed in October 2014, the Journal & Topics reported.

The judge found because one of the parties to the lawsuit, New Hope Academy, moved from less than 1,000 feet from the range's 6143 W. Howard St. location to Arlington Heights, the activists who want to block the gun store no longer have standing in court, according to the paper.

The activists' lawyer, Dan Shapiro, told the Journal he plans to file a motion to reverse the judge's dismissal order and will file a new version of the complaint if his motion is successful. (Get Patch real-time email alerts for the latest news for Niles — or your community. And iPhone users: Check out Patch's new app.)

Shapiro declined to tell the paper what the basis of a new complaint would be or whether he was working pro bono, like the group's original attorney Anthony Hind of Evanston.

Niles' village attorney expressed frustration at the amount of time the case has taken so far, but she said she respects the judge's order and looks "forward to final resolution," according to the Journal.

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_{Top photo: San Svadilfari (CC)}