City shooting itself in the foot with range plan

Clovis city commissioners on Thursday are expected to discuss the pros and cons of a taxpayer-funded shooting range being established at Ned Houk Park.

We think it’s time government got out of the entertainment business.

Promoters say the proposed 720-acre range would feature 100-yard and 200-yard rifle targets, an area for pistol shooting and skeet fields suitable for hosting Amateur Trapshooting Association and National Skeet Shooters Association competitions.

The state would provide up to $1 million to build the range, with the city taking on about $128,000 annually to pay staff and maintain the facility.

A few points to ponder:

• Most of our city leaders have already convinced themselves they need to raise taxes to offset about $23 million — between now and 2030 — the state will no longer be reimbursing Clovis for taxes on food, medical procedures and prescription drugs.

Are we sure we want to add another $1.8 million in new expenses over the next 14 years?

• Let’s not forget “money from the state” is not money from heaven. We pay state taxes also.

• While this is the Southwest and we love our guns, not every local resident wants to spend time at a shooting range. Why should everyone have to pay for one?

• And, most importantly, the Clovis area already has a privately owned shooting range near Ned Houk Park — Patriot Outdoors — and Target Sports Indoor Shooting Range is scheduled to open next weekend near Cannon Air Force Base.

The city opening its own shooting range when we already have two would be like the city opening a movie theater because someone didn’t like the options provided by North Plains 7.

We understand government officials are asked to provide the community with “something to do,” which is why we have a golf course, a zoo, two swimming pools and a splash park, a civic center, an events center, and other entertainment venues provided at taxpayer expense.

Tax dollars are also routinely used to supplement some private business ventures, which also make economic times harder for their Mom and Pop competitors.

Meanwhile, our government can’t figure out how to fix the roads or teach kids to read or meet minimal standards for any number of tasks it’s taken on.

Government needs to remember that some of us define “quality of life” as having the freedom to make our own decisions with our own money, and that becomes more difficult with each taxpayer-funded initiative.

Let us spend money at Patriot Outdoors and Target Sports if we choose; don’t make us buy a public shooting range.

Unsigned editorials are the opinion of the Clovis News Journal’s editorial board, which consists of Publisher Rob Langrell and Editor David Stevens.