The Redding City Council told frustrated homeowners there is nothing it can do to alleviate the problem of stray bullets flying by and in some cases hitting their homes nearby a shooting range used by Redding police.
Redding police Chief Robert Paoletti told the council he doubts that any stray or ricochet bullets are leaving the Record Range, which sits just west of Redding city limits near the Mary Lake Subdivision. But story after story was told by neighbors about bullets being found in nearby yards, playgrounds, and even in a wall of a child’s bedroom.
But the range isn’t owned by the city, and it doesn’t even sit inside of the city limits. Because it’s a private gun range used by several law enforcement agencies, the city council says there is nothing it can do. And Paoletti says there’s no where else that is suitable for the kind of training that his officers need.
But Councilman Gary Cadd said that bullets are threatening nearby residents who do live in the city of Redding and gave a personal example of finding a stray bullet in a parking lot that overlooks the range.
“It’s a bullet that’s a .40 caliber that undoubtedly must have come from the pistol range.”
Paoletti again said if there are stray bullets, they aren’t from any of his officers.
“When we utilize this there is a range master here with the officer making sure that his weapon is down range and into the berm at all times and there is a range master here watching the overall,” Paoletti said. “So when you’re firing that bullet into the sand, I don’t think there is a possibility of there being a ricochet.”
The Shasta County Peace Officers Association, which operates the range, is planning on placing a new barrier that may help alleviate the problem, but for neighbors who live nearby, that can’t come soon enough.