GODFREY - On Friday, July 21, 2017, the office of Illinois Senator William Haine (D-Alton) issued a press release regarding Senate Bill 571 (SB571).
If passed, SB571 will end a current Illinois state law, which exempts gun ranges from noise complaints - a loophole the release calls "a flaw." The proposal was filed by Haine after he said he received calls from several neighbors in the vicinity of an enclosed shooting range in Godfrey off Airport Road called Trigger Talent.
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"I stand behind our local gun ranges as a strong supporter of the Second Amendment, but they shouldn't be allowed to disrupt the day-to-day life of the local community," Haine said in a release. "This proposal fixes and oversight in current law and gives the surrounding neighborhood the peace and quiet they deserve."
Trigger Talent's Mark Maggos said Haine's assessment of the situation is "untrue." He said he has recently added an additional $10,000 worth of sound mitigation in the building, and has even taken a decibel meter to nearby properties and said, even with gunshots, the sound level never rose above a normal conversation.
"Since 2014, I have taught an estimated 1,800 Illinoisans CCW without one incident," Maggos said in an email. "I have done noise testing at all the closest homes (300-500 yards away from the range), and there was not a decibel level increase detected. You can hear the gunshots, but they do not rise above my conversational level, not to mention a nuisance level, outside any of the nearest homes. All of the data is videotaped. I've not redone it since the indoor trap was installed."
In fact, Maggos said the most vocal neighbor complaining about the noise recently wrote him a letter thanking him for the improvements in the sound mitigation. He offered to provide a copy of that letter to Riverbender.com with the neighbor's name redacted in the interest of that neighbor's privacy.
Because of complaints from the neighbors, Maggos said he installed the $10,000 worth of noise reduction, including a steel bullet trap to move all shooting activities indoors.
"I have worked hard to build successful, safe and reputable training center," Maggos said in a statement. "It is unfortunate that Senator Haine, a so-called supporter of the 2nd amendment, chose to lie about my company and has introduced legislation that seeks to put me out of business."
If SB571 does pass, it may close Trigger Talent, but Alex Maggos said he is confident Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner will veto it if it does pass through the Illinois General Assembly.
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