Gun Club Destroyed By "Vandals"
Got this simultaneously via email from some RKBA movement friends and from Joel Rosenberg's blog: A legal, taxpaying, fully-in-compliance-with-applicable-laws gun club in Faribault, MN was destroyed in a suspicious fire Friday night or Saturday morning:
June 3, 2006
The Faribault Rifle & Pistol Club grounds and facilities were destroyed last night or early this morning.
Sometime between 9:30 PM last night and 8:00 AM this morning the clubhouse and pistol target storage shed were fully destroyed by fire. The lock on the gate was broken open to gain entry. Also the scheduled USPSA Minnesota Sectional match for today was canceled due to all the stages that had been set-up were destroyed and the range was declared a “crime scene” by the State Fire Marshal.
The "vandals" were nothing if not thorough:
The club house and target shed were fully destroyed by fire and the 200 yard rifle shed was rammed by a vehicle damaging the shed. Each of the stages for the USPSA match was destroyed along with many of the props used in the stages. Each of the over 100 target stands used were flattened to the ground. Most of the other targets and props were also destroyed. All the props in the target shed were also destroyed when it was burnt to the ground. The club house and its contents were also fully destroyed.
Vandalism is always inopportune - but this incident was worse than most:
Approximately 40 shooters for the match were turned away at the gate. Some of the shooters were from out of state. More shooters were notified by cell phone if possible as they traveled to the match. Many of the shooters that did shown up wanted to set up a small match and shoot it with the remaining props to show support for the club but were not able to due to the range being declared a “Crime Scene”.
The vandals either were very,
very thorough, or they have an eye for symbolism:
The criminals also pushed over the flag pole, still flying the American Flag. The flag could not be removed from the ground until the area is no longer a “Crime Scene”.
According to an emailer with detailed knowledge of the club and its history, "The Faribault Rifle & Pistol club had to fight the Rice County board like hell to get [the] new facility".
So - vandals?
The club has had some other vandalism over the last years. This was mainly spreading nails and glass at the entrance and the burning of the outhouses.
A source close to the club emails:
The club never had any problems before they moved to the new range. The club was at their old range for about 45 years. A landowner let them use the property for very little fee if any. The range was right on the outskirts of Faribault. The old landowner wanted to give the land to his son, the son wanted to use it for other purposes, and the club wanted to move further from town. The club then purchased the land they are currently on, about 15 miles from Faribault in a very rural area. Several people (some from the metro area) got together to oppose the range opening and delayed the conditional use permit for 2 years. In the end, a judge ordered the county to issue the permit and found the group opposing the range in contempt for the lies they told and fined them.
I wonder...
If it turns out that the "vandalism" was carried out by people with anti-gun sympathies, then it was done to advance a political agenda and intimidate (via financial loss, in this case) those who oppose that agenda. Isn't that the very definition of terrorism?
Or at least hate crime?
I hope these "people" are caught, convicted, and quartered with "Otis" the lonely lifer as soon as possible.
Posted by Mitch at
June 5, 2006 05:46 AM
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Joel Rosenberg(GunNut) reported: "Approximately 40 shooters for the match were turned away at the gate. Some of the shooters were from out of state. More shooters were notified by cell phone if possible as they traveled to the match."
Please, no more! Angryclown is near tears already. You mean a bunch of gun nuts didn't get to shoot at stuff?
So go out in the woods and set up a bunch of empty beer cans on a log. Buncha whiners.
Posted by: angryclown at June 5, 2006 08:10 AMangryclown: Seriously, your shtick got old a long time ago, but this is your nadir. Don't you have a normal thought in your head?
Posted by: Colleen at June 5, 2006 08:32 AMNope! Never have, never will.
Posted by: angryclown at June 5, 2006 08:37 AMGee, Scary Colleen, don't you think you kinda blew your credibility 'round these parts back when you were calling people "porch monkeys"?
Posted by: angryclown at June 5, 2006 08:45 AMColleen wasn't the one. It was our native American freind. I forget his name. something. And how do you think you have the standing to evaluate someone else's credibility? That's comic.
Posted by: Kermit at June 5, 2006 09:09 AMAC,
ya know, its kind of sad really. I rememeber when first you started here. It was in the hey day of PB. You were a witty sardonic liberal commentator who had his moments , and fulfilled the valuable need of keeping those on the right here from descending into an echo chamber.
Now your just sad and pathetic, sort of like the John Clese is character in the Argument sketch
Cotradiction , venom , but not a alot of thought
Good day sir
Posted by: Chaosfish at June 5, 2006 09:10 AMNo, he's not!
Posted by: Mr. Finney at June 5, 2006 09:15 AMYou're right, Kerm. Scary Colleen merely jumped in to *defend* calling people porch monkeys.
Posted by: angryclown at June 5, 2006 09:33 AMSo, AC - you're saying that destroying the *right* property is OK?
Posted by: mitch at June 5, 2006 09:43 AMSure , Mitch as long as It's wingnut property used for wingnut activities , Burn baby burn. Now if this has been a gay outreach center ...
Oops putting words in AC's mouth , and there really is no room there. What with that foot he's chewing
Posted by: Chaosfish at June 5, 2006 10:19 AMAC you are a stupid liberal twat. This is destruction of personal property and the parties should be arrested on the spot for this destruction
What the hell did these people do to you, Assclown...
....and you are a "porch monkey" or one in your own mind....
Posted by: Greg at June 5, 2006 10:21 AMThat's it! It was Greg!
Posted by: Kermit at June 5, 2006 10:27 AMLook Jane look. A little dog. The little dog is wearing a clown suit. Silly clown dog. The little dog is barking. Angry clown dog. Bark, bark, bark goes the angry clown dog. What a stupid little dog. It thinks it has something important to say. Look Jane, the angry clown dog is barking. Lets listen. Bark angry clown dog, bark! We're listening! Ha, ha, ha, no we are not. Who cares what a silly, stupid, angry clown dog is barking about. Bye bye little dog.
Posted by: Euthanasia-B at June 5, 2006 12:04 PMAttention right-wing idiots: nowhere did Angryclown defend arson or vandalism. If shooting firearms with a bunch of your fellow gun-nuts gives you a stiffie, by all means go to it. Angryclown simply wishes you people would stop whining about every little thing.
Posted by: angryclown at June 5, 2006 03:33 PMInteresting projection there, AC. So if private property is burned down (probably to give a clown-like person a "stiffie") that would consist of a "little thing". When would it become a "big thing"? What is your esculation process?
"Please, no more! Angryclown is near tears already. You mean a bunch of gun nuts didn't get to shoot at stuff?"
"Attention right-wing idiots: nowhere did Angryclown defend arson or vandalism. "
Of course. Now I see it. How DID those right-wing idiots miss the condemnation. My bad.
Posted by: buzz at June 5, 2006 04:20 PMOK, buzzkill, go back and read it again. Move your lips more slowly this time so maybe it'll sink in. Angryclown did not support arson or vandalism. Yet Angryclown did not get all boohoo over a bunch of you gun-nuts getting inconvenienced.
Seems like Mitch has already tried and convicted the political left for the crime. I'd imagine a smart investigator would also take a look at the amount of insurance the owner has on the property.
Posted by: angryclown at June 5, 2006 05:16 PM"Seems like Mitch has already tried and convicted the political left for the crime."
No. Merely casting well-deserved suspicion their way.
" I'd imagine a smart investigator would also take a look at the amount of insurance the owner has on the property."
Possible. Highly unlikely. But we shall indeed see.
Posted by: mitch at June 5, 2006 05:39 PMMarge Gunderson will figure it out.
Posted by: angryclown at June 5, 2006 05:45 PM"Marge Gunderson will figure it out."
Posted by: Doug at June 5, 2006 06:40 PMYaaa. You Betcha.
Nah, Marge is on maternity leave, dontcha know.
Posted by: Kermit at June 6, 2006 07:39 AMAssclown- My reading comprehinsion is just fine. You state that you have no problem with the "inconvenience" of some gun nuts. That inconvenience takes the form of a felony in which a legal activity was taken away from people who have done you nor anyone else any harm. This is de facto support for arsonists and vandels. Now if you had phrased it "while I condem arson and vandels, and wish to see the perpetrators procecuted to the full extent of the law, my small genitalia make me afraid of firearms and the people who use them, therefore I have no real empathy towards the victims of this crime" See? This allows you to show both your irrational fear of firearms AND your condemnation of crime.
Posted by: buzz at June 6, 2006 10:21 AMWell, buzzkill, after explaining it to you twice, it's clear that you are even stupider than I'd thought. Do yourself a favor and don't operate any heavy machinery, 'kay?
"no real empathy towards the victims of this crime"
Oh, boohoo. All of a sudden Angryclown has to have "empathy" for you wingnut "victims." Angryclown fondly remembers a time when he could at least respect conservatives for not being big pansies. No longer.
Posted by: angyclown at June 6, 2006 11:34 AMPreved Medved
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