A US citizen should NOT have to pay in order to exercise their 2nd amendment right, especially for those who can not afford to pay to shoot at an indoor range. HI unemployment is at 33% right now, and probably higher since that number may not include individuals who gave up looking for work prior to the mass layoffs from the visitor sector. I'm positive that a number of our own forum members have been negatively impacted, and I wouldn't put it on them to have to make that choice. The point that has escaped many is that the new rules effectively prohibit ANYONE from fulfilling the range safety portion as required by the state from obtaining the required handgun safety affidavit. As you pointed out the alternative would be to obtain their affidavit through one of the private ranges, but that's an option for those that can afford to pay "through the nose" as you pointed out. Your ability to defend yourself and your loved ones should not be limited to those that are financially able to go to a private range.
#1 -- the State already forces us to pay for the right to own a firearm, because we are required to pay for fingerprinting and the mythical RAPBACK enrollment.
#2 - If you want a handgun, you have the free option of taking the Hunter's Ed course. I don't think it's an effective replacement for the handgun safety course -- different requirements such as no live fire -- but it satisfies the state.
#3 - No safety course required to own a rifle or shotgun.
Having said that, a range fee would be a recurring expense that could add up quickly for some. What I most dislike about the whole thing is that they know the range is not in a convenient location for many of us. To limit us to a single hour per side, especially if we're with a spouse, child or friend who doesn't have their own or the same guns as you, it just screws up the entire experience to where many will say it's just not worth the time and effort for an hour. Not everyone will go to both ranges because they don't own a long gun or need to shoot one every trip. (Maybe this will entice people to buy a long gun or handgun if they only have one or the other, just to make a range trip 2 hours long?)
I'll be interested to know if they are adjusting their cease fire schedules. Used to be 5-10 minutes cease fire after every 20 minutes of shooting. No matter whether they call cease fire just before or just after the top of the hour, either the people about to leave, or those just arriving will, get screwed out of trigger time for a target change. It's inevitable because time doesn't stand still for stupid rules.
Before, they called cease fire every 20 minutes to allow arrivals to put up their targets and those leaving to retrieve theirs. Since the window for arrivals and departures are now fixed to once per hour, are they going to stop the other 2 cease fires?
If they stop the cease fires after the start of the hour until just before the next hour, that implies late arrivals won't be allowed to shoot in their reserved time slot. Chances are, that slot will be taken by a walk-in anyway. That means you waste even more time arriving early so you don't miss your reservation. Before, you get there when you get there and wait for the next cease fire.
If you're on the pistol range, and it's close to the end of your time, will they call a cease fire during the incoming shooters' "setup 15 minute window", thereby taking 25% of your trigger time? Is that 15 minutes coordinated between the pistol and rifle sides? Is that sufficient time to take ALL YOUR GEAR FOR BOTH RANGES to the other range, take down one target and set up another? I usually have to stop by the vehicle to swap out target frames and ammo cans. Too much to carry all at one time.
Such a cluster....