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County Leaders Urge Gun Range Neighbors To Sue

Crawford County leaders met Monday (April 21) with some community members who say a local gun range make them fear for their lives. Quorum Court members advised...

Crawford County leaders met Monday (April 21) with some community members who say a local gun range make them fear for their lives.

Quorum Court members advised angry neighbors they should sue if they want to see results, since the county cannot interfere.

"It's hard to describe a 50-caliber gun going off,” said James Walters. “It is loud. It will rattle the windows."

Walters lives near THOR Global Defense in Van Buren. Walters said bullets fly over his home every day.

"It's terrible," Walters said.

Crawford County leaders said they can only do so much.

"You can't regulate a business as a legislative body,” said Crawford County Justice of the Peace Shane Griffin.

So, that has THOR neighbors concerned.

"What they would need to do is go through the courts," Griffin said.

“We can't say for sure (whether the bullets are coming from THOR),” said THOR Senior Vice President Max Rodriguez. “I would like to think that they’re not. There's really no way to prove it is or isn't."

THOR employees said the facility is safe, and they have plans to install a baffle system, a structure designed to stop bullets from leaving a designated area.

"We have a meeting set up with a range that has a baffle system on it to see how we can implement that," Rodriguez said.

The baffle system would prevent bullets from leaving the range, but some said that's not enough.

"They don't have a safe range for the people on the outside of it," Walters said.

THOR employees said they do not have any lawsuits filed against them as of Monday (April 21).

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