The Connecticut State Police need a new gun range and training facility. Instead of an updating of the current facility, the new version of the project has swelled to a 55,000 square foot building, two control towers, four outdoor shooting ranges, an indoor range, lockers for large stockpiles of weapons and ammunition, and a garage. Off the record reports include a landing pad for helicopters, a driving range, and a possible relocation of the entire police academy. Instead of updating the current location, and using the 30-acre plot already owned by the state, Connecticut State Police are now actively pursing a privately owned parcel of land in Willington, Connecticut. This plot of land is 10 times bigger than the current facility, and would take 300 acres of land out of private ownership and into State control.
Since this is a state project, none of the construction will be subject to the democratically crafted zoning laws of the town that will house it. Zero outside oversight. Zero accountability. Zero limits.
The location of this proposed training complex is smack dab in the middle of a residential section of a rural town. It is within a mile of houses, apartments, schools, churches, and a historical district. Opposition to this proposal is not about gun ownership, gun control, or the Second Ammendment. Opposition to this proposal is not about police. What this opposition is about is protesting a massive overreach by a state entity that should not be allowed to happen in any town. This is about the troubling militarization of our country’s police force. This is about the effects of gun ranges on the environment. This is about the crippling loss of property values a small town is facing.