I heard a lot of rumors during my range time this last Sunday. I cannot attest to the validity of the sources. Nor can I say if they are rumors upon rumors. But......

A person who I talk with a lot  told me that there was some sort of interview with the guy in charge of the parks dept recently. During the interview someone asked him about the range and he admitted how much it costs to run the range. Then that person asked how much money is allocated to the range and he admitted how much. And when was asked why the huge discrepancy he gave some explanation. He did say something about repairing or updating the range. Is it possible to do a search for this and find out if this is true?

This same person told me that Mike's (in charge of the range?) boss asked him to figure out how much it would cost to go back to the hours the range used to be open. Not saying it will but if a study is being done this could be good news.

The rumor upon rumor mill (my opinion) came up with the range on the west side is still on the city/county plate. While I heard this from one person, another person said the insurance was going to keep it from being a reality. Both claimed they knew something that the other one didn't.

I don't normally pass around rumors but the first two were from someone I consider credible. The last one came from two people I don't know very well but thought it was worth re-hashing here in the forum.

^^^The best way to get the God's honest fact and get it to the public would be through a reputable news organization.  That being said I don't believe the local guys (be it TV or the paper) have that sort of will to perform actual investigative journalism.

With regards to the west side range that was proposed in Barbers Point.  I have difficulty envisioning how it would be set up so that a stray bullet would not escape the range.  If the primary direction is towards the ocean, then it's not as bad, but you do have boaters.  If the primary direction of shooting is inland you have housing and the longer the range is open the closer the housing will get.  I do see it being a viable place to shoot skeet/trap though.

I guess the best model for how the shooting would be is Puuloa.  Maybe Teichi or Ren can go into more detail on how Puuloa is set up and what added safeguards need to be in place for them to shoot out there.  Now keep in mind that this is with guys who know how to shoot.  With the number of beginners you'd have at a public range you would have to figure there would be even more safeguards that would need to be enacted.

One of the range officers told me that KITV news was at the range on Sunday and that the segment was to air later that night.  Did anyone catch it?

As some of you recall, last week there was a poll in the Star Advertiser on whether the increase in firearm registrations made us feel safer. The very next day,
the Star Advertiser's "Off the News" section had the following article:

"Keep shooting skills sharp

Whatever the reason for the big annual increases in firearms registrations in Hawaii in recent years, probably the best take away is that the hours of operation at
Koko Head Shooting Range ought to be expanded, and possibly a second public firing range be built in the Leeward Oahu area..."

It went on for a paragraph or so, but I can't log on right now so I won't post it. It was really short, but something is better than nothing. Did the results of the poll from
the previous day affect the opinion of the Star Advertiser staff? Who knows? But when a newspaper with thousands of readers acknowledges a need for expanded
hours, it's hard for the Council and Administration to sweep the problem under the rug. Let's hope that the rumors are true.

^^^The best way to get the God's honest fact and get it to the public would be through a reputable news organization.  That being said I don't believe the local guys (be it TV or the paper) have that sort of will to perform actual investigative journalism.

With regards to the west side range that was proposed in Barbers Point.  I have difficulty envisioning how it would be set up so that a stray bullet would not escape the range.  If the primary direction is towards the ocean, then it's not as bad, but you do have boaters.  If the primary direction of shooting is inland you have housing and the longer the range is open the closer the housing will get.  I do see it being a viable place to shoot skeet/trap though.

I guess the best model for how the shooting would be is Puuloa.  Maybe Teichi or Ren can go into more detail on how Puuloa is set up and what added safeguards need to be in place for them to shoot out there.  Now keep in mind that this is with guys who know how to shoot.  With the number of beginners you'd have at a public range you would have to figure there would be even more safeguards that would need to be enacted.

Haha, the Navy does qualification shoots at Pu'uloa, the vast majority of those guys barely know which end the bullets come out of!   

^^^I believe when they shoot at Puuloa there are guards posted on the beach to prevent guys from using it.  The water outside is fairly well free of boat traffic.  There are no divers/fishermen that I've seen.

All this IMHO is different if the range moves forward at Barbers Point as there are a lot more people out there using the beaches, water, boating, etc.................just something to think about.

We post beach guards at both ends of the beach at Puuloa at a cost of $150 per day. A Notice to Airmen and Mariners (NOTAM) is posted a week prior by Marine Corps Base Hawaii to not use the waterways and airspace within the impact area. Range is called ceasefire anytime a boat, diver, or surfer wanders into the impact area (3600meters). There is also a big warning sign "DANGER IMPACT AREA" written on the backstop that people ignore.