San Diego

Alpine Residents Petition County to Stop Commercial Gun Range for Police, Military Training

Alpine residents voiced concerns to a county agency about a neighbor they feel is getting special treatment because of his work with law enforcement and the military.

Marc Halcon has been allowing groups onto his property for shooting sessions as guests, specifically law enforcement and military.

Neighbors say his site is unique in our county and allows special forces and other groups a training opportunity they would otherwise have to travel out of town for.

Halcon petitioned the the county to commercialize his range and, without a public hearing, the planning director approved it on temporary basis while a permanent solution gets ironed out.

Neighbors feel like they got the short end of a backroom deal and appealed to the planning County Planning Commission Friday.

“He should not be able to operate in this environment without restrictions and basically he’s been given a free for all, he can do whatever he wants and no one is going to say anything and that's what he’s been doing since 2006," said Robin Williams, a neighbor.

They brought up environmental concerns, worries of fire danger, and questions about who is regulating whether the bullets from the high powered weapons could end up in their backyards.

“Recreational shooting on an interim basis is not the same thing as saying, ‘you can come down here with as many contracts as you can pack in five days a week and do continuous shooting,’" said Marco Gonzalez, an environmental attorney.

More than a dozen activists with PETA also showed up protesting past instances of live tissue trauma training involving pigs.

Halcon says they haven't used that training for more than a year, but refused to rule out using it in the future.

The question in front of the planning commission is whether the East County land owner can turn his personal gun range into a commercial range for police and military training. 

Veterans spoke about how crucial his range is for their training, but neighbors don't think it should be at the expense of their community.

The Commission denied the appeal in a close vote. The County still has many studies to do and data to gather before they make their final decision, which could be well in the future. During that time, neighbors say they will file a lawsuit to stop the commercialized gun range.

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