Meade County Commission approves shooting range complex

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KEVN) - If you want to train your aim with your gun, you might be in luck.

The Meade County Commissioners approved a request from South Dakota Game, Fish, and Parks for a shooting range Tuesday afternoon.

This approval comes at the end of more than two years of debate and planning on whether Meade County should have a range, with many area ranchers and land-owners expressing concerns about the proposal.

The South Dakota Shooting Sports Complex is set to go in off Elk Vale Road, north of Elk Creek Road.

The commissioners asked Game, Fish, and Parks officials a series of questions from the motivation for the project to what precautions they will take to prevent inconvenience to surrounding neighbors.

“Seems like there is a lot of determination to get this high-end shooting range built so what exactly is the purpose of why you’re moving ahead with this,” said Ted Seaman, Meade County Commission.

The planning process involved GF&P making sure that they had the correct permitting to build.

With the permits settled, the commissioners focused their questions more on the utility of the construction.

”A lot of it comes down to providing our public, our constituents a safe place to shoot,” said John Kanta with South Dakota Game, Fish, and Parks. “A place where their families can go out and have an opportunity to have an afternoon that they feel safe in. Recreational shooting has expanded across this country, and we do not have a safe place for people to shoot.”

Game, Fish, and Parks say they expect to break ground on construction in May and to open the facility in October of next year.

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