Wayland Special Town Meeting Article to Limit Weapons Discharge

In the upcoming special town meeting on Nov 13, Article 10 gives Wayland a chance to expand its limits on gun discharge. If you live near a Wayland town owned property, Article 10 should be of special interest to you.

The town is actively looking to build a new police shooting range in Wayland. The town transfer station land is the primary target for this new range, but any town owned land without an explicit conservation restriction could be used. A new firing range at the transfer station would mean the Rivers Edge development, the Town Center development, Pelham Island neighborhoods, and others would be subject to the sound of gunfire. Assuming both the Wayland and Sudbury police department use this new range, as was the case with the previous range, it would amount to about 48 hours of gunfire a year.

Article 10 will effectively prohibit the town from establishing a shooting range on town owned property. It will keep such a range from being built near the home of any Wayland resident. Police training can be done at alternative training sites, or perhaps the Sudbury police department can build their own range and return the courtesy that Wayland extended to Sudbury for many years.

Article 10 does not look to eliminate existing legal gun ranges in Wayland. It will be moved with an explicit exception for currently legally established ranges. The article is intended to affect future sources of weapons discharge. Current ranges are a separate issue facing the neighborhoods near these ranges.

If you like to shoot on your own property, the restriction will be changed slightly from the Article 10 printed in the Warrant. The article as moved, will require you to be 1000 feet from your property line, or to get written approval from the owners of any property which is within 1000 feet of where the gun discharge happens.

The Parkland shooting, the Sandy Hook shooting, the Las Vegas shooting, and the recent horrific Pittsburgh synagogue shooting have had a profound affect on many people. The Marches, which included thousands of school children after the Parkland shooting, and the gatherings after the recent synagogue shooting have allowed people to demonstrate their support to the victims of these shootings. An article placing modest restrictions on the discharge of weapons in Wayland will not have a direct impact on such shootings. However, it is another public way for the residents of Wayland to voice their displeasure with such shootings and to help galvanize public opinion against them.