Noise From Firing Range

Remember air raid sirens? They were mounted on tall poles so their warning could be heard all over a neighborhood. And what about church bells? Well, they were placed in lofty steeples so their call to worship could reach far into the countryside.

So why would the city of Ventura choose to maintain a noise generator like a pistol range right in the middle of a residential area, on a cliff much higher than any pole or steeple? So that the maximum number of residents, taxpayers, voters would have their yards and homes invaded by the disturbing sound of gunfire?

Why does our City Council permit this aural graffiti to continue day in and day out?

What’s especially irksome is that most of the recreational shooters and all but one of the 15 law enforcement agencies that create this noise blight come from outside Ventura. Why can’t the Santa Paula Police Department dump its noise pollution in Santa Paula? Why can’t the IRS (Internal Revenue Service), the FBI, the ATF (federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms) and the rest of the feds who use the Grant Park range shoot it out on one of the local military bases? And why should even one recreational gun enthusiast from Santa Barbara or Van Nuys be permitted to degrade the quality of life of thousands of Venturans?

It’s time for the City Council to respect the people who live on the west side. The folks in Ondulando wouldn’t tolerate such a noisy intrusion in their neighborhood, and we shouldn’t have to either.

We won’t be quiet until the guns are silenced.

JOHN W. WAGNER

Ventura