Teed-Off Critics Say Ordinance Aims at Legalizing ‘Coot Shoot’

City leaders say it’s nothing more than an update of an old ordinance, revising the city books so that residents can seek permission to discharge firearms under special circumstances.

But critics say the amendment approved Tuesday night has one aim: legalizing the “Coot Shoot,” the shooting of migratory birds at the city-owned River Ridge Golf Course.

“What they are saying is all we need now is approval from the city manager, and we can do what we want, more or less,” said Lorna Casey, who last year joined her mother in filing a lawsuit against the city to stop the shooting of coots.

The golf course management for several years has hired a company to eradicate the coots, which leave droppings on the green and damage the course. The city has a permit from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to shoot the birds, a practice the course manager said is legal and long standing.

“It is the city’s golf course and the city approved the policy 10 years ago,” Otto Kanny said. “We are just tired of hearing the same old song over and over again.”

But critics argue that the shooting violated city ordinances and that Tuesday’s amendment was a backhanded way of resolving the problem.

Gary Gillig, Oxnard’s city attorney, said the city manager and the police chief would review requests to discharge guns on a case-by-case basis. Gillig said he did not anticipate any stampede of residents seeking to fire their guns.

Gillig said the ordinance was primarily revised to reflect more modern language and legal gun use.

“The military discharges firearms during funerals,” Gillig said. “Currently that is against the law. That is stupid.”