HARTFORD–Willington residents are firing back against a proposal to move the State Police firing range into town.
They held a rally in Hartford Tuesday to let leaders know they don’t want the facility in their backyard.
The current gun range, located near the Farmington River in Simsbury, consistently floods, so the search is on for a new location.
Pieces of land in Willington and East Windsor are on the table.
“We are unclear how the solution to the problem of flooding became the need for the state to spend at least $12 million to build a new training facility five times the sight of the current facility,” said Un-Willington member Mitzi Horowitz.
There are a number of reasons those who live in the town are against a shooting range, saying surrounding property values could diminish, and so would quality of life with gunfire disrupting the town’s historic district.
The rally happened just before Gov. Dan Malloy spoke with reporters on state matters.
He was asked about the gun range issue.
“Local concerns have to be heard in those deliberations,” said Malloy. “There is absolutely no decision that’s been made with respect to where this facility will go, nowhere near a decision. The process has to play itself out.”
