Concerns About Musquash Gunfire Resurface

Last year, the Town Council held several meetings concerning complaints about gunfire. The discussion centered around the sound of gunfire believed to be coming from the Londonderry Fish and Game Club and the police firing range. But despite efforts to curb the noise, the problem remains.

On Monday, resident Stephen Homsey spoke to the council about his concerns about the amount of gun noise stemming from the Musquash Conservation Area. Much of that noise is believed to be coming from people target shooting out in the woods.

"To me, it's really become a major issue," Homsey said. "Last year, we did have gunfire from 7 a.m. to dusk and past dusk. On Saturday, the first nice day we had in a while, I can report gunfire from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. It very much is once the weather turns, it starts again."

Police Capt. Gerry Dussault said over the past three years, there have been 27 calls for shooting complaints in the Musquash area, and 39 that could be loosely associated with Musquash.

Town Council Chairman John Farrell pointed out that the council held several meetings last year aimed at addressing the problem, but there's only so much the town can do. It has reduced hours at the police firing range, but has no control over the Londonderry Fish and Game Club's shooting hours.

"We've taken it seriously," Farrell said. "We've tried to do everything we can do under the law."

Councilor Tom Freda pointed out that local towns are prohibited from regulating anything but hunting, so there's not much they can do about target shooting.

"That's distressing," Homsey said. "It's a deal breaker. Seven a.m. to 8 p.m. at night, you can only do that for so long... and it's growing. It's not going down, it's growing."