Voter's guide 2022

Oct. 25—The owners of a private gun range at a Wolters Lane residence in Lower Alsace Township say they plan to file a legal challenge against recently passed rules banning private gun ranges in much of the township.

The supervisors on Oct. 13 voted 2-0 to enact new rules tightening the language around when guns can be shot, only permitting shooting from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The ordinance adds a requirement that all private gun ranges obtain a permit to operate, and it would prohibit ranges on properties smaller than 5 acres.

In addition, the rules restrict where private gun ranges can operate, banning private ranges in all areas that aren't within a rural conservation zoning district.

The rural conservation district includes 53 residential plots in the southern and northwestern corners of the township, in the areas of Neversink Mountain and Antietam Lake.

All properties outside those areas would not be allowed to operate a private gun range — with or without a permit — including the Wolters Lane gun range.

The rules were drafted after residents living near the range complained the shooting was disrupting their lives and threatening their safety.

But the owners of the range said there hasn't been shooting outside the hours permitted by the township, that the homeowner who built the range is National Rifle Association-certified in range safety and their use of the range aligns with NRA safety standards.

"Everything that we do is a problem," said Al Dempster, owner of the Wolters Lane property and gun range. "There are other people in the neighborhood that shoot. But the thing is, when we're shooting, all of a sudden it's unsafe."

Dempster and his family bought the property in February.

Complaints about rampant shooting on the property began in May, according to township officials.

Police were called to investigate over the summer but found no evidence of illegal activity.

"We didn't find anything other than they were shooting at a range they'd set up," said Ray Serafin, chief of the Central Berks Police department, which covers the township.

Dempster's sister Victoria Drayton said residents' claims of unsafe shooting at all hours amount to a misrepresentation.

"The police came here on several occasions," Drayton said. "They said, 'We can't fine you guys, we can't do anything' because what we're doing is legal."

Dempster and Drayton denied that shooting was done outside of township-approved hours at the time.

At the time of the shooting complaints, guns could be fired in the township starting two hours after sunrise, and shooting had to stop an hour before sunset.

In a statement given to the township before the vote, Hamill Dempster, also a resident of the property, said he is an NRA-certified range safety officer and built the range to NRA standards to ensure no bullet or bullet fragments would leave the range.

"Before I constructed this range, I spent countless hours reviewing the laws and restrictions of the local municipality as well as the state of Pennsylvania," Hamill Dempster said. "I am in no way a danger to the community, nor am I being disruptive."

A legal complaint the Dempsters submitted to the township asserts the new rules violate the Second Amendment and contradict state laws and precedents set by the Commonwealth Court banning townships from infringing on constitutional rights.

The complaint highlights cases of Pennsylvania municipalities repealing or declining to pursue rules regulating the use or possession of firearms following legal challenges, including three Berks cases in District, Centre and Washington townships.

Al Dempster said Lower Alsace's new gun range rules were pushed through without giving township officials time to consider the legal issues he raised.

The Dempsters said they believe the complaints against them are racially motivated.

"What about the safety of everybody else's shooting? Who is investigating that? Why is it us they're coming after? What, Black people can't shoot and it be safe?" Al Dempster said. "This is definitely about race. When we came to the meeting, everybody was staring at us like they couldn't believe we are Black."

Township manager Don Pottiger said residents told the township the complaints were motivated by safety concerns after hearing high-powered weapon shots.

"As far as I know, nobody came up and said, 'We don't like them because they're not caucasian,'" Pottiger said. "What they did say was, 'We're fearful because we hear these high-powered shots and we're concerned about being able to sit out on our property and not be struck by those weapons.' The first time I saw the family was at the meeting, and yes, they are non-Caucasian, but I don't think that had anything to do with why this was pursued."

He said he reached out to the Dempsters when the complaints first began to set up a meeting with township officials and discuss solutions but they declined.

Al Dempster said his family was contacted by township officials and declined the meeting because they felt they were under no obligation to discuss shooting at the range, as they believed it is within their rights as property owners.

"I think some of the issue was a matter of communication when there's two sides and we're only hearing one," Pottiger said. "I think there may had been some way to resolve this with discussion (a meeting). That did not take place ... so it (the ordinance) is the action that supervisors, on advice of counsel, decided to take."

Pottiger said the township's solicitor, Mike Setley, believes the new rules have legal standing and that Setley is prepared to defend them in court.

Setley did not return a request for comment.