HILO — With the state Land Board designating 40 acres off the Daniel K. Inouye Highway as a shooting range, Hawaii Island gun owners now have a place to legally practice their marksmanship.
The clearings in a hunting area near mile marker 16 had long been used by hunters and other gun owners as an unofficial range, according to the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.
“The short-term plan was to mitigate an immediate need by designating the area as a public shooting range under state law,” said Robert Farrell, Division of Conservation and Resource Enforcement administrator, in an emailed statement.
“… However, the intent is to provide opportunities for the public at large and not just hunters.”
The board approved the authorization during its Feb. 23 meeting in Honolulu, making the area the only official shooting range on the island.
DLNR says that designation went into effect immediately, though no improvements have been made to the area and no rules have been posted. A valid hunting license or watershed permit is required to enter the area.
Hunting in the area is limited to weekends and holidays, but Farrell said the intent is to allow the shooting range to be used seven days a week.
No gun owners were present when a reporter visited the clearings Thursday morning.
The area is unimproved and shooters bring their own targets. A few targets, some propped up by rocks, were left behind, and spent shells are scattered on the ground.
Farrell said in the email that DLNR will make improvements to the range, including signage. A kiosk with rules also will be posted, he said.
A DLNR spokesman said more information will be available next week.
State law prohibits camping, hunting, alcohol, fires, use of explosive devices and pets in public shooting ranges.
Tom Lodge, a hunter who chairs the Hawaii County Game Management Advisory Commission, said an official shooting range was much needed for the island. But he said he wants to make sure the area is used safely and responsibly.
“This really is a huge step forward in my personal opinion and we applaud it,” he said. “But we want it to stay applaudable.”
Lodge said the Big Island Gun Club, of which he also is a member, might be able to help sponsor the range and provide a covered area and clear firing line for shooters to use.
Gun or hunting groups also could help keep the area clean, he said.
“This is our house, so let’s respect our house,” Lodge said.
DLNR also is looking at proposing an area in the Manuka Natural Area Reserve in South Kona as a public shooting range.
Email Tom Callis at tcallis@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
It’s about time. From the time i bought my home on the island almost 14 years ago, i kept hearing that we would be getting a shooting range of some sort, a story that originated years before I moved to the island. Between the protesters and poor county government it never happened. I’m amazed that someone finally got off their butts and did something even if it is NOT a great option for Kona side gun owners…
Driving time is not all that much different with the extensive slow speed limits down to Manuka.
True but An indoor range Kona side would be nicer,
Being a long range rifle guy, not my cup of tea.
You can always set up a portable target stand for pistol. 100-500 yard ranges are hard to come by.
True but i became partial to the indoor ranges in CA – easier to police brass and don’t have to walk back and forth to the targets… Of course i enjoy shooting my double barrel shotgun at a group of cans or bottles and watch them dance.
I am expecting the trash amout will be kept under strict control. This will be our range to keep clean.
An indoor range would have been great at the old Sports Authority in Kona.
Agree, good location, ample parking, easily monitored by our police department – fantastic location…
Should have been located 200 miles out into the ocean. At least it’s far from Kona. No need to train our local wanna-be school shooters and their NRA supporters.
I’m always happy to see your posts, AntiFascist. Everytime you write your drivel, you expose the soul of Antifa, a collection of thugs every bit as repulsive as the extreme right. Keep up the education!
Guns don’t repulse you even after toddlers and students are hunted with them over and over. That puts you into a special category of ‘repulsive’. Happy hunting!
Might just want to look in YOUR OWN mirror if you can sneak up on it..
Blocked antifa for the ignorant troll he is.
From what I read here, it is an older “she”. Pic I saw of her on anther website was homely as well with goofy glasses and stringy hair.
Your ignorance continues to define you as dumber than my pet rock. If MORE people actually supported the NRA and paid attention to what they say, perhaps we would be living in a safer environment today. Instead we have dimwits like you bashing something you know nothing about. Typical…
The one thing that prevents the radical left from seizing power has become an obsession with them.
Truth!
Drove by there today. Let my sons and dog relieve themselves there.
That tells a LOT about how you care for your family – perhaps we should inform the child welfare folks?
Old hag has no children, do not fall for more of her lies.
Finally blocked the idiot… It just gets old…
O, so you know the child welfare office? Of course, they investigate old male “photographers” of nude local girls.
You continue to be disgusting – does it ever get old? Reporting you again…
Note the old hag is posting as “Antifart” AND “Antifartist”.
Getting ready for yet another banning. Too stupid to know how easy it is to ID her, just as it is to know who she really is and other personal info.
must have a REALLY boring and lonely life…
So . . . what kind of range is this? Just “turret time” out in the sticks? Seems like a good way to be shot, after experiencing the type of idiots at the ranges I used in the Seattle area, like the fool who unloaded a clip of 25 auto into the ceiling next to me, kept his finger glued to the trigger until it was empty.
Without a range master, a backstop, marked distances and target stands, I don’t see any “range” at all.
yesssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss,great news…but a rangemaster is needed without a doubt…and we all know why
One or more gun clubs will strike up a deal with DLNR to run the range. A lot of qualified people with years of experience are ready to make it work. Once it gets off the ground, rules can be fine tuned with DLNR providing funding for site improvements.