Noise from gun range becoming unbearable, neighbours say
All Anne Gallant wants is a little peace and quiet at her country home in Millvale, P.E.I., but said she sometimes feels like she's in "a war zone."
Gallant lives near the Big Boot Gun Club in South Granville, and said the noise has become unbearable, especially when RCMP and other law enforcement use it to train.
"It's almost like a war zone," she said. "The noise is just awful."
"A lot of times I have to leave my home."
Gallant has lived in the area for six years and said she didn't know about the gun range until after she'd bought her home.
Now, she's tired of plugging her ears, and is calling on government to do something about it. She has also put up signs with the help of neighbours.
"All I am doing is asking for peace and quiet," she said. "Then I painted 15 small signs that just says, 'Peace and Quiet Not Gun Fire' and everyone was willing to put it up so people are tired of this."
One of those neighbours is the owner of Handibear Hills Horse Sanctuary. Yogi Fell said she had to get her horses used to the noise by playing an audio recording of bullets firing over and over. But she worries the noise could stop some people from visiting her horses.
"We have a lot of tourists up around here too in the summertime and they are wondering what is going on as well," she said. "And the last couple years we haven't had tourists, but this year we are going to have tourists."
Angie MacDonald, one of the owners of Big Boot Gun Club, said they are working on ways to help reduce the noise, but making changes is not a simple process.
"We're working on different things we can do just to buffer some of the noise, but again everything we do has to go through a federal regulation. We can't just start putting things up. It has to be approved by the government."
She said she tries to be considerate of the neighbours.
"There is a graveyard and a church not far from here. If there is a service of any kind someone just phones us and we will completely shut down the shooting," said MacDonald.
The RCMP told CBC News they have always done their firearms training on P.E.I. and will continue to use Big Boot Gun Range this year.
Gallant, meanwhile, is not giving up. She said she doesn't want want the gun range shut down, but she'd like the noise to be reduced.
"Let's work with federal and provincial organizations to mitigate the noise. Build a structure around the area that they shoot. They don't have to cover the whole range, cover the area. They should make it soundproof. So that way we don't have to listen to it. They get a better quality gun range and the politicians are happy."
