Furloughs...and now reduced hours whats next ....

starting oct 1st weekdays non furlough 12-3pm
Sat. and Sundays 9am-3pm

Howzit houdni. 
 
Check out this thread, and file your complaint to the mayors office.

http://2ahawaii.com/index.php?topic=682.0
 

Post from Oldguy:
 
I just checked with my "friend" in the Mayor's Complaint Office. 
 
So far, No One has Complained about the shorter hours at KokoHead.
 
He "suggested" that we flood the Complaints office with E mails that Require an answer.
 
Send to:  complaints@honolulu.gov
 
Squeaky wheel gets the grease.   
 
Remember, some one has to personally answer All the complaints.  Ask for the answer to be Emailed back to you instead of phone.
 

   Mayor,       It is bad enough that you require all persons to get a permit to even buy a firearm.  Now you are shortening the hours at the only Public(gov) owned shooting range.  Remember Xerox, yes of course, everybody who lived on the island then does.  The more trained law-abiding citizens that have the ability to defend themselves and others from deadly force the better off our society is.  I wonder what exactly the C&C of Oahu are trying to accomplish by:  1,  Restricting Practice time on the public range?  2,  Interfering with the invidual God-Given Right to "Keep and Bear Arms"
  Kaylorinhi     Is/Was that too much or what, feed-back please.

I like your passion Kaylorinhi.   However it's a bit... strong worded/threatening for my taste.  It's much better to coerce and persuade a politician than to try to scare or threaten them.  Especially with the instance of Xerox, where (if my memory serves me) Brian Uyesugi and/or his father had multiple legally registered guns, one of which was used in the Xerox shooting.  Xerox is an anti-gun event for the state of Hawaii.

I'm not saying I could do better, but mentioning the Xerox shooting is baaaad mojo.

Hrm... wtf is Xerox? (Other then the copier company)

Hrm... wtf is Xerox? (Other then the copier company)

Hawaii's mass shooting.  A disgruntled former employee entered the building and killed 7 people.  Lots of brouhaha about the fact that he had legally registered guns even though he was obviously insane.  However, trial found him to be sane enough to be convicted.

Like most mass-shooting incidents, it worked because he was the only one with a gun.  That point never seems to pierce the skulls of the antis, though.  Xerox continues to have a no guns policy at all of their workplaces.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xerox_murders

Couple of things....

The City & County may be responsible for the range hours, but it is the State that promulgates the firearms laws, which is where the training requirements come from.

I would agree that mentioneing the Xerox shooting at this point would probably be counter productive.

Yes, Uyesugi had mental problems. The problem was that despite being "prohibbited person based on his mental health history, that was not reported to the State and therefore the State could not act upon it.

The most maddening point is as Tom mentioned...folks fail to comprehend that it boils down to only the "bad guys" having the guns and involuntarily disarming all the law-abiding folks who just MIGHT be able to make a positive impact if a similar situation occured....

If you are interested, here is what I wrote....feel free to use it with your own personal modifications.

To Whom It May Concern:
 
I am extremely concerned that the reduction of operating hours at the Kokohead Shooting Complex will be detrimental to the efforts of lawabiding citizens to obtain the State mandated training to obtain a handgun and will adversely affect the ability of those that already own guns to maintain the desired level of proficiency.
 
As the only public shooting range in Hawaii it is often very busy during operating hours and reducing those hours will congest the range even further. Firearms sales are up dramatically and those new owners need a place to safely shoot and reinforce recently learned safety habits.
 
I would appreciate a response on why the hours of this critically important facility are being reduced.
 
Thank you. 

 

Mayor,       It is bad enough that you require all persons to get a permit to even buy a firearm.  Now you are shortening the hours at the only Public(gov) owned shooting range.  Remember Xerox, yes of course, everybody who lived on the island then does.  The more trained law-abiding citizens that have the ability to defend themselves and others from deadly force the better off our society is.  I wonder what exactly the C&C of Oahu are trying to accomplish by:  1,  Restricting Practice time on the public range?  2,  Interfering with the invidual God-Given Right to "Keep and Bear Arms"
  Kaylorinhi     Is/Was that too much or what, feed-back please.

Kaylorinhi,

Perhaps a little too strong for the sensitive political types.

Here is what I wrote:

 Hours of Operation for Kokohead Shooting Complex.

The furlough   days where one way to reduce operational costs of Kokohead Shooting   Complex.  The new reduced hours are unfair to the shooting public.
  The original hours, in my view, where not satisfactory.  Tuesday to   Friday 12-3pm and Saturday and Sunday 8am-3pm is not enough range time   for the amount
of people using this public facility.  People living   on the far side of the island, such as I, cannot use this facility   during the afternoon hours on the weekdays.  Because of Hawaii law and   the rule of
  my employment, I am unable to travel to Kokohead and return to my home   to properly store my firearms, then report to work.  The mileage and   traffic make such a trip prohibitive.  Therefore, I can only
safely   practice on the weekends.  With the new hours and very congested range,   on the weekend, makes this trip more prohibited as well.
 
Perhaps the hours of 8am-3pm Wednesday-Sunday, with furlough   Fridays, would be better, so that people who live far from that side of   the island can have a chance to practice, in a safe
shooting environment.

  Also, some have suggested that a nominal range fee of no more than $5.00   may be charged to help with upkeep and usage of the range.  I, for one,   feel our tax dollars are already paying
for this service, as these   dollars also pay for the upkeep of other public parks and beaches, but I   would not be opposed to such a fee provided that the funds are NOT   redirected
  to other city and county services and used solely for the purpose of upkeep and range service.

A reply to my concerns will be greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

I wanted to add some alternatives, and personal experience, instead of just ranting.  Also, more coolheaded text is always more productive.  It is a natural reflex for people to shut down and go one the defensive, if they feel threated or belittled. JMHO

This is what I wrote. Nothing fancy, I spared the poetics. Just wanted to make sure they received something. Maybe I will write them a pretty poem later and send from another e-mail.

To whom it may concern,

I am writing in regards to the recently shortened hours of operation at Koko Head Shooting Complex. We, gun owners, already have a very limited choice of gun ranges for us to practice at to begin with... I fear if the hours of operation continue to be reduced, one day we will have no where to go. As it is, not all facilities at the range are open all the time. For example, skeet and trap shooting (shotgun) and the silhouette range are only open on the weekends. The bullseye pistol and rifle range are only open Wed - Sun, 12 p - 3p. The range is not open to the public on Monday and Tuesday. The KHSC is a great place to shoot - the view is great (lucky we live Hawaii, ya?), the range masters do a great job in seeing that everyone stays safe and best of all, it's free of charge. With that said, I would have no problem paying a nominal entrance fee to ensure the range stays open and the hours are restored, maybe even extended to full-time hours. If you ask around, I'm certain that everyone would not be opposed to this idea either.

Very respectfully,

Stegosaurus

Here is the letter I received from the parks department:

  Thank you for your email of September 30, 2010, regarding your concerns of  reduced hours of operation at the Koko Head Shooting Complex.

As you may already know, the current condition of the City's finances has placed

budgetary constraints on all City departments. The furloughing of staff and reduced

hours of operation at most Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) facilities have

been set in place as temporary fixes to address the City's budget crisis.

Users of the Koko Head Shooting Complex and other DPR facilities have shared

their ideas on the willingness to be charged a fee. The idea behind this would be that

the monies collected for use at the facility would be re-funneled back into funding the

operational hours and maintenance. Unfortunately, the City's current fiscal procedures

do not allow monies collected at our DPR facilities to be placed in special accounts for

each facility. Presently, all monies collected for facility use go into the City's general

trust fund. Our staff will continue to pursue the option of "fee for service" as one

possible venue in generating revenue for facility operations.

Our staff understands your concerns and will continue to work towards providing

the services you need even with the current fiscal constraints. We appreciate your

understanding and patience as well as your suggestions on how we can provide

optimum services with our current resources. [/l]

It was signed by Lester Chang, Director

This is what I wrote. Nothing fancy, I spared the poetics. Just wanted to make sure they received something. Maybe I will write them a pretty poem later and send from another e-mail.

Quote

To whom it may concern,

I am writing in regards to the recently shortened hours of operation at Koko Head Shooting Complex. We, gun owners, already have a very limited choice of gun ranges for us to practice at to begin with... I fear if the hours of operation continue to be reduced, one day we will have no where to go. As it is, not all facilities at the range are open all the time. For example, skeet and trap shooting (shotgun) and the silhouette range are only open on the weekends. The bullseye pistol and rifle range are only open Wed - Sun, 12 p - 3p. The range is not open to the public on Monday and Tuesday. The KHSC is a great place to shoot - the view is great (lucky we live Hawaii, ya?), the range masters do a great job in seeing that everyone stays safe and best of all, it's free of charge. With that said, I would have no problem paying a nominal entrance fee to ensure the range stays open and the hours are restored, maybe even extended to full-time hours. If you ask around, I'm certain that everyone would not be opposed to this idea either.

Very respectfully,

Stegosaurus

I'm sorry if I laughed but I just imagined you writing that and signing it Stegosaurus. LOL. Unless that's really your name....

just be glad its still free....i foresee a fee coming our way... just a bad mojo feeling...

Fee is a Good and Bad thing.
 
Good, because we can complain more that we're not getting what we're "paying" for. 
   Better maintenance, more women's rest rooms, landscaping, target frames included in fee(in the old days, the range supplied both pistol and rifle frames).  Restaurant, better parking, better Handi-Cap accessibility.  Lots of stuff golfers have that we don't.
 
   OK, now your turn, tell us why it's Bad.

Quote from: stegosaurus on October 04, 2010, 12:52:00 PM

This is what I wrote. Nothing fancy, I spared the poetics. Just wanted to make sure they received something. Maybe I will write them a pretty poem later and send from another e-mail.

Quote

To whom it may concern,

I am writing in regards to the recently shortened hours of operation at Koko Head Shooting Complex. We, gun owners, already have a very limited choice of gun ranges for us to practice at to begin with... I fear if the hours of operation continue to be reduced, one day we will have no where to go. As it is, not all facilities at the range are open all the time. For example, skeet and trap shooting (shotgun) and the silhouette range are only open on the weekends. The bullseye pistol and rifle range are only open Wed - Sun, 12 p - 3p. The range is not open to the public on Monday and Tuesday. The KHSC is a great place to shoot - the view is great (lucky we live Hawaii, ya?), the range masters do a great job in seeing that everyone stays safe and best of all, it's free of charge. With that said, I would have no problem paying a nominal entrance fee to ensure the range stays open and the hours are restored, maybe even extended to full-time hours. If you ask around, I'm certain that everyone would not be opposed to this idea either.

Very respectfully,

Stegosaurus

I'm sorry if I laughed but I just imagined you writing that and signing it Stegosaurus. LOL. Unless that's really your name....

Hehe.. no, my name isn't really Stegosaurus and I sent the email with my real name  Just put that for kicks since that's what you guys know me by.

I received an email today with the same form-letter response as HiCarry.

- Alex

Man im almost positive I paid some money at that damn pistol range..... when I signed in.

At which pistol range? Some of the sections (like the steel target range) of Koko Head are run by clubs, and they do charge a small fee. But that isn't the same thing as the State (City?) charging for use.

- Alex

To the *Far* right of the rifle range.  I was shooting steel pigs and rabbits and stuff.  I am almost certain I paid five bucks to shoot, but I had to sign all the regular rules sheet etc.

To the *Far* right of the rifle range.  I was shooting steel pigs and rabbits and stuff.  I am almost certain I paid five bucks to shoot, but I had to sign all the regular rules sheet etc.

Yep.  The silhouette portion of the range is run by a club.  That is why they charge, for the up keep of the steel targets and such, and that is why they are only open on the weekends. Same as the skeet/trap side.   Ever notice how much nicer it is on that side?   Bulls eye pistol and rifle range are run by the city.