Don Cole, left, watches his son, Dean Cole, both of Lawrence, take target practice Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2008 at the Douglas County Rifle/Pistol Club Range at the Community Building, 115 W. 11th St.

A gun range that operated in the basement of the Lawrence Community Building for decades was closed indefinitely Wednesday by order of the city.

City attorneys told the Douglas County Rifle & Pistol Club, which leased the space and operated the gun range, to stop all activity. Lawrence Dietze, secretary of the club, said the city deemed the gun range a violation of the federal Gun Free School Zones Act, enacted in 1990.

“We were a bit surprised,” Dietze said. “Obviously we think this is a very unfortunate development. The political climate may be shifting, or it may be that just people didn’t consider the pertinent federal legislation from past review.”

Questions about the legality of the Community Building gun range arose in City Hall in January, when the City Commission was considering a Lawrence businessman’s plan for a private shooting range off 31st Street.

The plan had been rejected by the Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Commission after the Lawrence School Board contended it would violate the Gun Free School Zones Act, which prohibits any person from knowingly possessing a firearm within 1,000 feet of a school.

The gun range, proposed for a site at 1021 E. 31st St., is located about 760 feet away from the College and Career Center and the future site of the Lawrence Boys & Girls Club Teen Center.

But the proposed gun range, because it would be on private property, is exempt under the Gun Free School Zones Act. It was discovered during the City Commission’s discussion that the Community Building gun range, however, was not exempt.

The gun range, on public property at 115 W. 11th St., is located between 500 and 700 feet from St. John’s School, at 1208 Kentucky St., said Katherine Simmons, a city planner, during the January meeting.

Community Building

When Commissioner Matthew Herbert asked at the meeting about the legality of that range under federal law, Senior City Attorney Randy Larkin said, “That’s something we’re looking into.”

On Wednesday, Dietze sent an email to members of the Douglas County Rifle & Pistol Club, informing them of the closure and the end of a contract between the club and the city. The email encouraged members to voice their opinions to the City Commission.

The club’s website was down Wednesday, saying only that the shooting range was closed until further notice.

“There have been previous challenges,” Dietze said. “People have looked into the legality or legitimacy of the club before, and we’ve withstood those.”

The club board met Wednesday night to discuss its next step. Dietze said the board agreed with the city’s interpretation of the Gun Free School Zones Act.

Members are currently in conversations with city attorneys about whether the club could still teach safety classes or firearms maintenance. The group also wants to determine whether it could use air or pellet guns, or training ammunition.

The club, a nonprofit organization, has no plans to purchase a site to operate its range, Dietze said.

“Our board is going to meet to see what the next version of the club looks like, and some of that will be contingent on what the city comes back with,” Dietze said. “If they say, ‘We don’t want any gray area; we want you out of the space permanently,’ that informs our decision and limits our options.”

The club held required orientation sessions at the site and was open from 7 to 9 p.m. each weeknight evening. About a year and a half ago, the club extended its hours to Saturdays.

In his email to members, Dietze asked for people to share recommendations of any other nearby places to shoot.

Dietze said there were gun ranges in Topeka and Kansas City that some members would likely use.

“A lot of our staff and membership and visitors are (Kansas University) students or professors or other members of this community,” he said. “That’s part of the service we provided, is that if somebody goes and buys a gun and wants to go shoot it, they have a safe, well-regulated place to shoot — somewhere that’s safe, supervised, instructed and well-lit.”