Thunderstorms this evening followed by occasional showers overnight. Low 69F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 80%. Locally heavy rainfall possible..

Thunderstorms this evening followed by occasional showers overnight. Low 69F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 80%. Locally heavy rainfall possible.

The Hunter's Edge on Highway 11 in Ellisville.

The Hunter's Edge on Highway 11 in Ellisville.

Facility would have been open to law enforcement for free, store owners say

The owners of Hunter’s Edge in Ellisville thought they would be installing a gun range for its patrons and local law enforcement, but instead, Laurie and Lang Rogers said they got a whole lot of runaround, and now they want answers.

Mayor Lynn Buckhaults’ reasoning was that he and the Board of Aldermen determined it was not in the best interest of the city to change an ordinance to allow guns to be discharged in the city limits. But Laurie Rogers believes something seems off about the process the city used to make that decision. With the proposed facility being constructed as bullet- and sound-proof and meeting all federal and state regulations, she said that it was not a fair process. 

“They were pretty conniving and kind of went behind our backs,” she said. “They assigned an ordinance council to change the ordinance so that we could not move forward with the pistol range and get permission from the board of aldermen of Ellisville. Since Feb. 23, they were dragging their feet. I was texting Billy Browning, who is in charge of the ordinance committee, and they kept telling me they were working on it. 

“Finally on July 6, Billy texted me and said that they had voted unanimously to not move forward with the pistol range. Well, for one thing, it's not the committee who votes on the issue, it's the aldermen. I knew some of the guys who were on the ordinance committee who were very much for our pistol range.”

Rogers said that the range was going to be a huge benefit, not just to their business, but the city of Ellisville in the form of tax revenue generated by one of the five largest businesses in the city. The range would have also been made available to local law enforcement free of charge, but if the city does not want to work with Hunter’s Edge on the ordinance, they will look for another area to relocate their business to. 

“I offered the Ellisville Police Department and the Jones County Sheriff’s Department access to the ranges at certain times of the week for free,” Rogers said. “That saves them money. They would be able to practice no matter the weather conditions. They could do training in a controlled environment instead of out in the 100-degree weather.

“We’ve been looking at other places in the county, where the city has no say so in the range. If we do that, it is a very bad look for the city to lose one of its top businesses.”

She took issue with the ordinance draft that the city of Ellisville sent to Hunter’s Edge. The city wanted to mandate that Hunter’s Edge close no later than 6 p.m. every day, which would cut into prime time for the range’s usefulness. With little to no sound coming from the range, Laurie Rogers was confused as to why her business is being treated differently than others in the city.

“I asked Mayor Buckhaults, ‘Are there any businesses in Ellisville that you set the business hours for?’” Rogers said. “He told me no, so I asked, ‘Why the hell do you think you can do that to us?’ They said they were trying to meet us halfway, but what they are doing is trying to hold our business to a different rule and standard than everyone else. I provided them with everything we needed to do to make this completely safe and legal. The ordinance committee voting on the issue is illegal. That right belongs to the board of aldermen.

“I think it's a political game. I think it's them wanting to flex their muscles and show that they have power. We have been looking out in the county for different places so the city can’t control that. But the city shouldn’t have a problem with something that is going to bring revenue to the city. When we told the mayor how much tax revenue this could bring to the city, his response was that he didn’t care about the money. To me, a mayor should care about revenue coming into the city and growth.”

The nearest indoor shooting range is 67 miles away, north of Meridian. Rogers thinks that their range would bring revenue to the city from surrounding areas like Hattiesburg, Waynesboro and Laurel. 

Browning was contacted by the Leader-Call, but as of press time on Friday, he had not responded to a request for comment. Calls to Buckhaults’ office also went unreturned. Rogers said that after their request to move forward with the range was denied, she requested the minutes from the meeting where the board decided the matter.

Upon filling out a request form for public records, Rogers said she never received the minutes from the meeting, which is something that should be available to the public in a timely manner upon request. The Leader-Call tried obtaining the minutes before press time on Friday but was unsuccessful. Rogers also claims that Buckhaults quit taking phone calls from concerned citizens about the city’s decision.

“They said this was a unanimous decision to deny us our request, but I know several people on the committee who were for it,” Rogers said. “Local regulations are supposed to be based on federal regulations when it comes to firearms, and federally, we were going to have everything up to code.”

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