Top Gun Shooting Range Permanently Closed? What Happened?

I've been going to the 500 yd range in Leonard (North of McKinney) for several years now. Message on answering machine says they are permanently closed? It was such a great place to practice for those long range hunting shots.

Anybody know what happened?

I was there a couple of weeks ago ..

what happened?

Their website says, closed for renovations starting March 17th.

Heard a guy was building a house behind them, and wants it shut down.

Building a new water plant right down the street too.

I'd tell him build a big berm...we were here first....

not nearly as remote as their customers from rich suburbs believed. 500 yd range on 501 yd piece of land. Many families in the area, and They were there first, not TG. ... and all day Sunday?.... that day is for rest and Church, not 7 hrs of large caliber, small berms and no soundproofing.

Some people move next to a landfill then start complaining about the smell.

I spoke to Top Gun about this. There are multiple items in play.

So will they reopen ?

Water treatment plant is miles down the road, and years away

They are considering all options right now. For the next few weeks (3-4 weeks), they will be closed. I was asked not to disclose the details, so I'll honor that.

The same as idiots who move near an airport and whine about the aircraft noise.

This happened to one of my former agencies in the Bee Caves area of Austin. Our agency's gun range had been out there for years. Then people (probably liberals) started building houses nearby and complained about the range noise. My first FTO (1987) told me the secret of life: "People are just stupid."

Too bad, great place and really nice people.

North Texas Shooters Association had a similar problem and as a result curtailed all their early morning and late hour shooting. The range was there first.

The gun range in McKinney was shut down by the city, ostensibly because they wanted to expand the airport. The gun range was in place before the airport's planned expansion.

This range in Kaufman has had repeated issues. http://www.terrelltribune.com/community/article_a20554a6-098b-11e5-8884-ab2007bc683e.html The range was the late comer, but that really isn't the issue. The issue is that valid and legal lawsuits can be brought against the range and harm operations while being very expensive. Just looking at the picture of the range, I would say that the neighbors have a lot of reason to be concerned about safety. It certainly does not meet NRA standards for range construction. http://www.northeasttexastactical.com/

You can google 'texas gun range shut down' and find all sorts of examples where gun ranges are getting shut down, mostly due to safety issues. It doesn't matter who came first.

Sorry to hear about this, it's my favorite place to shoot albeit an hour drive for me. Nice folks and good quality shooting benches now.

We quit forgetting there are no competent gun owners out there.... The guns just go off by themselves . The person who built their house behind the backstops are the smart one's
Welcome to 2016

Since its county, who'd have the jurisdiction to shut it down? Seems it'd end up with a judge making a ruling.I quit going when they stopped allowing fmj.Nice to have a range out to 500 though.

[quote][Water treatment plant is miles down the road, and years away/quote]
Done with 60% Design now. Will be moving dirt early next year

Incorrect on the judge topic, not a reason at all. One of the reasons is that shooters sneak in and shoot FMJ rounds. The RO's inspect their ammo, yet shooters who don't know a thing still pull out the FMJ ammo and shoot it. Top Gun has asked manyh a shooters to leave after shooting FMJ ammo. The reason ranges do not allow FMJ ammo is because of insurance reasons. FMJ's ricochet of objects, targets, berms, and travel outside of the range. Insurance companies will not allow FMJ ammo for this reason.

And most shooters shooting FMJ ammo want volume, not quality. Most of the AR shooters on public ranges can't hold a 12"-24" group at 100 yards, let alone when shooting out further.

Well, apparently the lack of competent gun owners is a problem as Chad just noted.

As for where people build their houses, they have every right to build anywhere on their property that is legal and should be able to feel safe from gunfire. Any gunfire that crosses property lines in such a case would be illegal, intentional or not. It is the responsibility of the range and its clients to see that such events don't happen.

In numerous previous cases, the judges tend to side with the victims when they can show proof and that either results in ranges being shut down or paying hefty amounts of money to the victims, often coinciding with hefty costs of renovation that should have already been implemented.

When ranges don't take complaints seriously, the costs in the long run often are much greater, just delayed.

Now were talking....The few ruin it for the many...ie "Gun control"

I had a private gun range for 35 years. I had rules. My neighbor decided to build his house 100 yards behind my berm. His right.....I never missed a lick "My right" . Then again in my book personal responsibility is a responsibility. If one person ever fired a FMJ on my place they would have faced my attorney and then a judge. I took my responsibility seriously.
My neighbor however had plenty of other areas to build.... He took the personal responsibility of placing his home behind an active shooting range.

A lot of Misinformation from the rich suburban counties... Top Gun was not 'there first'...one of the poorest counties in the state, there are NO New houses in this area, the neighbors have been there 15 to 50 years if one would look around when driving his $50k 4WD SUV or Pickup-- without a speck of dirt--from N.Dallas/Plano/Frisco/McKinney to the range. (There are no paved or chip sealed County Roads in Fannin, just the cheapest gravel.). So moving next to an existing airport or dump analogy is an ignorant one. It is such a long drive for some of the customers, don't you wish someone would build a 500yd range Right Next Door to you in your zero lot house tomorrow ?? How convenient then! Oh, now that would be different. It's all a matter of perspective.
...and as my first FTO said to me...(in 19-77). 'People are garbage"

From a poster in the know. What is the real problem with Top Gun. No new houses, no new neighbors, no airport... sounds like it should be a business as usual. Why the shut down? My assumption were based on prior post being factual. Looking forward to your actual event updates.

What do you expect to accomplish when you group all the people from the cities you mention together as rich and ignorant? I guess your FTO is right about you.

I would hate to be a gun range owner. It sound neat, but people will be shooting there.

Yep. I get the argument that people move around them and raise Cain - but at the same time a bullet leaving the property is a flat out trespass. Heaven forbid if it actually hits something or, worse, someone.

This doesn't even count what might happen on the premises.....

Just a big bucket of potential liability waiting for one misstep to poke a hole in it.

Then again there are professionals who even through trying times continue to run safe gun ranges even in the center of a metroplex ELM FORK

Maybe someone knows how many people have been harmed on a gun range vs. hunting accidents, at home accidents, gun cleaning accidents, I thought it was unloaded, person hit by lighting, drunk driver, etc... Or is "gun range" safety more media driven to shut down the gun industry where the uneducated buy into a myth.

Edit: Found this article: Gun Range Safety

I it isn't a matter of which type of incident is worse or happens more often. It should not happen at all. A lot of the problem ranges are poorly designed, have poor berms, and seem to rely on the space of adjoining properties as secondary bullet traps.

Now a poorly designed range with poor berms, relying on the space of adjoining properties as secondary bullet traps is like opening a bar in the car pure Negligence and should be held accountable. Is Top Gun one of them?

That's being too generous, I'd take that back to 50yds.

I posted a link to their home page above. Check out the pic of all their targets and minimal back berms with no side berms to catch ricochet and such. If you Google the property, you see that it is long and narrow.

The same people thay move to the country and complain about hunters and the smell of cow flop.

Any updates here? I noticed Top Gun's website is down now. Are they still hosting the Cowboy Action club or the shotgun course? So sad to lose such a great place.

From another board....


Apparently the 500 yard berm is too close to neighbors property and not tall enough.
Scuttlebutt is they have to build at least one 30 foot berm at 500 and it's gotta be farther away from neighbors property.
Also heard they may have to move the firing line back farther toward entrance to permit the overhaul.

Then there are the wannabe hunters and shooters who move from the city to the country with their ATVs and YETI coolers who invite their friends to come up and drink and shoot till past midnight while yelling and having a big party on their 5 scres. Works both ways...

Today I was planning to go there and zero my brand new scope (Kahles gen3 6-24). Their site was down. So I call and found out they're close! It ruined my day. It was my favorite range. I knew Thierry and had several bodies over there. Now I need to find another range and it will be very difficult.

Anyone tried out Jacobs plain gun club? Their website says they have a 1100 yrd range for members only. I would like to check it out since its down the road from me.

I've heard and seen rifle bullets hit that pond behind the rifle range over in the shotgun range. LUCKY is the reason that place is still open...well that and the fact the ground it sits on is basically worthless because of being in the Trinity river bottom. I will say since I've seen that I believe they've added baffles to further help prevent it...it's been about 3 years since I've been on the shotgun range with the regularity that I did the 2 years prior to that.

It sucks that another option is gone...regardless of the reason. For what it's worth, I was not a big fan of Top Gun either...but I had shot there a few times.

According to their Facebook page, it seems that it's permanently closed.
I sent them an email last week and didn't get any reply.

I was there today and they are closed and will not be open again. Period.

I was there today and they are closed and will not be open again. Period.

My two visits to Elm Fork I found there was lots of concrete in the overheads but not enough dirt in the berms. As to pro's, maybe the shotgun side but the RO's had nothing going but matching t-shirts.

How's TDSA in Ferris? I'm planning to go there next Saturday. If the rifle range is decent, I'll get a membership.

Just think. As Texas grows further, economically, more people (especially anti-gunners) will come in to encroach and demand forever altering the demographics, traditions, and customs of the great state of Texas. The decades old push for everyone to go to college is the vehicle being used to undertake a systematic and fundamental change to the American way of life; a means to instill the progressive narrative that is rotting the brains of our youth. Soon there won't be any outdoor places to shoot because someone will decide to build a house or playground or strip mall near to or right behind an existing shooting range. Even indoor ranges will become extinct with cities regulating them out of existence while the courts just watch. The independence and pride that made Texas great will be subsumed by the unstoppable wave of drone-like thinking and dependence on government the current Millenial crop of Bernie Sanders supporters exhibit. It feels like it's already happening in yuppified Collin County, and growing daily with each moving truck I see.

All that is necessary is for the range to own the entirety of the backstop and impact area. Thunder Ranch in Texas did this as does the Whittington Center. If you can't do that, then you have to build berms to protect your fellow citizens from possible harm caused by your customers or range members. Gun ranges don't have the luxury or right to allow discharged bullets cross property lines. Just because a range is in operation does not mean it gets to encumber all of the properties around it.

^^Right^^

I suspected this would happen to Top Gun one day. They're extremely close to Collin County, and the building growth is spilling in all directions from the county line. When I was in search of land for y range, it was difficult. I did not want a house, barn, or even cattle beyond my range. The end if my range is a giant creek bottom. No one in their right mind will ever build a house down there. They can't insure it, and there's no utilities.

My berms are small by many standards, at 10' wide, and 6' tall. And my rules are, if you don't possess the skills to keep your rounds on the berms, then I will teach you. I am very selective at whom I allow to practice there. I've been approached by many people, whom I've never met, wanting to shoot there. I tell them all that we need to meet, and you need to show me your proficiency. It's a small portion of the population that know what they're doing beyond 300 yards. I am happy to provide a place to shoot, as long as they can show me they are safe about it. Many have not contacted me again.

I agree with the safety aspect - there are no arguments there. My argument is that there will soon be no place to shoot - safe or otherwise - period. The fact we are talking about finding places to shoot supports that.

Looking at your site right now. Not too proud to start at the bottom if I can a) find a place to shoot and b) possibly learn something new.

If you know what to do past 100 yards, show me. If you don't, sign up for the class. I don't think that's unreasonable.

I don't know if true or not but heard rifle rounds were leaving the property! Just what I heard.