Thanks to increase in excise tax revenues, North Carolina is “range rich”

State has opened three shooting ranges in 2014, has plans for two more in 2015

With three public shooting-range openings in 2014, hunters and target shooters now have four state-sponsored ranges across North Carolina to practice with their rifles, shotguns, muzzleloaders and pistols.

The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, using increased federal excise-tax revenues from the sale of firearms and ammunition and responding to a growing demand for shooting ranges, is looking for more sites statewide.

The three ranges that opened – or re-opened after renovations – are Flintlock Valley in the Uwharrie National Forest near Troy, R. Wayne Bailey/Caswell Game Land near Yanceyville and John F. Lentz Hunter Education Complex at Ellerbe.

The fourth, the Wayne E. Smith/Cold Mountain range, began operating in 2008 near Waynesville.

The Commission plans to open two new ranges in 2015, in Cleveland County near Shelby and in Pender County northwest of Wilmington.

The Cleveland County range, built in partnership with the county, will be the state’s biggest. It will have a 10-lane, 250-yard rifle range; a 12-lane, 50-yard pistol range; two skeet and trap ranges; and a 3-D archery range. The Commission has agreed to contribute $1 million toward a $2 million cost that includes four proposed additional pistol ranges.

The size of the Pender range hasn’t been determined yet.

The Commission is also conducting noise tests around a proposed range on the Linville River Game Land near Morganton and evaluating a range site near Lenoir in Caldwell County.

Here’s a look at the four existing ranges and their facilities.

• At Flintlock Valley, U.S. Forest Service officials closed the range in 2010 over safety concerns. The Commission re-opened it last spring after a $250,000 renovation. The National Rifle Association contributed $25,000 and a private donor $5,000. The range, 3.3 miles west of NC 109, has seven rifle/shotgun/muzzleloader stations and a separate pistol range with four stations. The range has a full-time safety officer. Shooters pay a $3 daily user fee or can buy a $30 annual pass. Flintlock Valley allows fully automatic rifles on the first Tuesday of each month. Shooters must show their National Firearms Act Class III tax stamps required for automatic rifles as well as for firearms equipped with silencers or sound suppressors.

• The Bailey/Caswell range opened in August at a cost of $243,501. It has a 100-yard rifle range with five stations and a separate, 25-yard, five-station pistol range but no safety officer. It’s free to use.

• The Lentz complex re-opened in late October after an $87,260 renovation. It has six rifle lanes and three/six pistol lanes. In addition, the range offers archery, skeet and trap, five-stand sporting clays, 3-D archery ranges and a safety officer. Use of the range is free.

• The Smith/Cold Mountain range cost $156,000 to build. It has five rifle lanes, no pistol range and no safety officer, but it is free to use.

The increased federal excise tax money from a recent surge in firearms sales enabled the Commission to help build or renovate ranges, said Erik Christofferson, chief of the Division of Engineering and Lands Management.

The ranges should help alleviate issues caused by target practice on game lands. That has led to safety and noise concerns by adjacent homeowners and problems of litter left by shooters.

“We are seeking additional locations,” Christofferson said, on game lands as well as on private lands. “We’ll continue to build more with funding.”

Christofferson said the shooting ranges fill a growing need. In 2011, North Carolina had 335,000 hunters and 577,000 target shooters, according to the National Shooting Sports Foundation’s most recent data.