Politics & Government

East Haddam Lawmaker Opposes Police Gun Range in State Forest

State Rep. Melissa Ziobron posted a note on her Facebook page saying the state police should consider using a brownfield site instead for the range.

Residents in the town of Glastonbury are up in arms about a proposal to bring a 30-acre shooting range to one of the oldest state forests in the country, and the echoes of this issue are being felt as far away as East Hampton and East Haddam.  

State Rep. Melissa Ziobron, who represents a section of the state that includes the Meshomasic Forest where the proposed facility would be built, wrote on her Facebook page that she cannot support using a state park in this manner.  

Ziobron posted a link to a SignOn.org petition opposing the proposed 55,000 square-foot shooting range, which has already garnered 1,645 signatures.

While Ziobron, a Republican, does not represent Glastonbury, a portion of the Meshomasic Forest does run through East Hampton, which is a town she does respresent, along with East Haddam. In her Facebook post, she mentions this relationship and the fact that she "adopted" the state forest as part of a General Assembly program recognizing these important parks in Connecticut.

“I cannot support utilizing one of our State Parks in this manner,” Ziobron wrote on her page. “If a new firing range is needed, please consider re-using one of the many brownfields in our State. That would be a much more appropriate use of our states precious tax dollars.”

Meanwhile, another state lawmaker who is closer to the issue — Glastonbury state Rep. Prasad Srinivasan, a Republican — told a gathering last week that he also opposes the shooting range.

"Granted, a facility is needed, but I think the scope we need to look at avenues (that) will not have the impact that this facility will have in our neighborhood," Srinivasan said in a video of the gathering posted on YouTube. "People who bought properties there, people who will call it their home, people who will call it their homes for years and years to come, they have to put up with all of what's going to happen in terms of noise, in terms of traffic, and that is a concern."


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