Mayor Noble voices support for Rochester-based firearms law

KINGSTON – Talk of a new,
indoor shooting range has had Kingston city residents torn, between support
and opposition, during recent council meetings. The main argument for
opposition is the proposed location being within 1,000 feet of a school
and where there is said to be a lot of after-school, student traffic.
In response to that, Mayor Steven Noble said on Monday the city is looking to copy a design out of Rochester that is regarded to be of the best urban concepts for such a facility, he said.
In order to do that, the city must pass a local law.
“That’s one that we hope that will pass, and will really be able to work to meet the needs of our community; so, allowing shooting ranges, but only allowing them in certain places, with the certain precautions, and standards, that really need to be set and we want a really high bar, and the highest bar we can achieve, we think, is through this Rochester based model that the common council will be putting out for the local law,” said Noble.
The mayor added that another proposal, besides the one for the Rochester model, is also scheduled to be submitted, but would be a complete re-write of the existing local law.
The city will be analyzing that proposed local law within the next month, along with two other local laws regarding vacant housing and ethics reform.