City Council to study safety of archery in back yards
Sunday, December 13, 2009 - 11:00 pm
Updated 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 16
Editor's note: The subcommittee mentioned in this story met on Dec. 15. Another subcommittee meeting will be set for next month.
At the Dec. 9 meeting, the Council tabled a proposal, which would ban discharge of an "arrow, bolt, broadhead or any other projectile weapons or devices."
Instead, the council invited people who are familiar with archery to attend a subcommittee meeting at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday to discuss the topic. The meeting is at the city office.
Two citizens, Jim Redler and Lance Napier, told the Council that they would like to see more examination of the issue.
Redler said he didn't want the city to get involved in citing young children with suction-cup arrows for breaking the law.
Mayor Dana Trowbridge noted that the city had no intention of harassing young children who use a small bow, and he said local police know that a small child would not fire an arrow at a lethal velocity.
Napier said that his family is involved in the sport of archery. It is a safe sport and training programs are in place to teach archery at the high school level, he said
"It's not the sport that is unsafe," Napier said.
Trowbridge said he agreed with Napier on the sport's safety. He detailed some of the research he had done. He said that compound bows fire an arrow in excess of 300 feet per second which could be lethal at the range of one block or more.
He said archery practice calls for adequate distance behind targets, backstops and other safety measures.
Trowbridge said that in terms of injuries, archery is the safest high school and college sport, but only because of the "guidance and structure" of archery programs. He said most back yards lack enough space for a safe target range.
"Supervision and an appropriate place to do this is all that is on the Council's mind," Trowbridge said.
Councilman Gary Kroesing said he was concerned about people who practice target shooting in their yard without taking precautions to protect their neighbors from stray arrows.
"My problem is the guy in his back yard setting up a Styrofoam deer and shooting an 80-pound compound (bow) at it," Kroesing said.
Napier raised scenarios where archery could be made safe in the city limits. Trowbridge agreed that more study was needed.
If citizens go to the trouble to build a safe range, perhaps it could be allowed, the mayor said, and the City could also might make exceptions for an indoor range.
Councilman Bill Scribner made a motion to table the measure.
"I think we should take this back to committee and invite anybody who has an interest," Scribner said.
Napier said he would be glad to be part of the conversation.
City Administrator Joe Johnson said that the topic would be discussed at the Council's Government Subcommittee meeting at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 15.
Trowbridge said that the proposal was the result of citizen complaints about target shooting in a yard near her home.
The mayor said that a woman was worried about the safety of children and animals and older residents from nearby stray arrows. He said the woman did not want to come to the meeting, and he expressed concern that she might be intimidated by what he called a
"bully mentality" that has occurred at some City Council meetings.
"People filing complaints are not comfortable with going to face this group of angry people," Trowbridge said. "They don't want to come. That is what we have gotten to in David City, Nebraska. And it really is kind of frightening."
