'One vote, one voice'

PALMER — Hundreds of second amendment enthusiasts staged a rally at the Mat-Su Borough building on Friday.

Many of the protestors holding signs and firearms opposed to the borough’s draft ordinance to regulate commercial, educational and nonprofit gun ranges. Sparked by a video online, gun-toting rally attendees walked peacefully in and out of the borough building lobby, ate hamburgers and spoke against the proposed ordinance.

“We are not in any way shape or form trying to take away any rights granted to us by the second amendment or by state laws,” said MSB Development Services Manager Alex Strawn. “Commercial outdoor shooting ranges do have potential to cause lead contamination that can pollute the soil and surrounding water table. It can cause stay bullets and of course there’s potential for noise impacts that can affect the rights of others in the surrounding area to enjoy their properties peacefully.”

Strawn released a video on the borough’s Facebook page after another video had gone viral. Friday was the last day for the public comment period for the draft ordinance to create a Conditional Use Permit for outdoor shooting ranges. The ordinance will go through another draft and must appear in front of the Planning Commission once and the assembly twice more before passage. The project took guidelines from the National Rifle Association outdoor shooting range recommendations and will not affect existing shooting ranges.

“One vote, one voice, one eight minute video of me standing behind my computer fed up turned into this. I have thousands of thousands of thousands of views on my video guys. You guys are the reason for that you’re sharing this. We are being heard,” said Luke Howard “You can’t move to Alaska and be way the hell out of city limits and expect there never to be gunfire.”

The assembly voted on Sept. 19 on a resolution to direct staff to prepare the CUP for outdoor shooting ranges on a 4-3 vote with Assemblymen Ted Leonard, George McKee and Jesse Sumner voting in opposition. Sumner was among the handful of assembly members in attendance and said he will offer up a resolution at the assembly meeting on Tuesday. Taking a break from the legislative session in Juneau, Rep. David Eastman and Sen. Mike Shower also attended.

“Very glad that he’s [Howard] grabbed the banner and run with it and invited a lot more people to come out,” said Eastman.

Eastman said that the second amendment is very important to him and got wind of Howard’s video on Facebook. Howard stood on the sidewalk in front of the Borough building holding a .338 Federal he built himself. As an owner of a business that builds firearms, Howard passionately spoke to a gathered mass of people assembled in the parking lot of the Borough building. Many carried firearms and guns were raffled off at the rally.

“We don’t need to be overly regulated as a people,” said Howard. “The most pivotal thing anyone can take away from this meeting is patriots are united. We’re silent no more.”

Howard said that the frustration among gun owners came when a private property owner down Palmer-Fishhook road attempted to set up a safe gun range on their own property and neighbors were displeased with the noise. The Borough’s website states that the project does not regulate the discharge of firearms where the property is not open to the public on a commercial, educational, non-profit or membership bias and does not abridge the right to bear arms in defense of self or others. While Howard reiterated the thoughts he voiced in his video over an amplifier to an armed rally, Strawn discussed what the ordinance would regulate with concerned residents.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Strawn. “I got to engage a few people and they’re very knowledgeable about this subject so it’s been a good chance for me to listen to what they’re saying and for them to listen to what’s in the ordinance and what’s not in the ordinance.”

The ordinance is in its first draft period after the passage of the September resolution. To pass, a second draft will be produced that will go before the Assembly and be reviewed for up to 90 days the the Planning Commission, with the earliest vote coming in late April or May.

“The thing I’m after here is I want these ranges left alone, mostly because I want gun safety for people,” said Mike Alexander. “I want them to learn to handle the things in a safe manner. Gun ranges can provide that the training and all that and getting rid of the guns doesn’t really stop the violence.”