How close is too close? Montville residents complain about backyard gunfire

Montville ― Isaac Tait, a 41-year-old U.S. Marine veteran, said he would not have moved out of town, had it not been for neighbors' shooting in their backyards.After all, he said, the East Lake Road house that he and his family had purchased in 2021 had everything they were looking for.They were able to buy it at a good price, the town had a good school system for Tait's then-4-year-old son, and the house was surrounded by plenty of "beautiful forest" to satisfy the family's plan to tap trees for maple syrup, grow mushrooms and berries and build a tree house. It also bordered the 266-acre Morgan R. Chaney bird sanctuary.But Tait said those positive aspects ultimately did not outweigh his concerns for his family's safety, and for peace and quiet."When I left, you heard shooting at least once a week," he claimed. "Sometimes it was multiple (gun) ranges at the same time, so you felt you were surrounded by people shooting."After being hesitant to speak out while he lived in town due to fears his neighbors might retaliate, Tait recently voiced his concerns. He also showed maps he'd made that plot his neighbors' gun ranges on East Lake and Turner roads, and videos depicting sounds of loud shooting.Tait was one of several residents who'd called Mayor Leonard Bunnell this year to voice concerns about what the mayor has called "reckless target shooting." At a Town Council meeting in July, Bunnell informed residents he had begun discussing the issue with the state attorney general's office.On Thursday, Attorney General spokeswoman Elizabeth Benton could not immediately provide any information about the result of the discussion.In July, the police department released reports from six calls it had received since July 1, 2023, that reported gunshots or loud booms. In three of those instances, officers canvassed the areas where the noises were heard and found nothing. In another, they found bullet casings. In the other two, officers went to homes where people were shooting but deemed that the shooting was being done safely. What does the law say is safe? On Dec. 30, 2023, a female caller to police reported walking on Oak Hill Road, near Dr. Charles E. Murphy Elementary School, and hearing gunshots in the area that sounded like a shotgun. The report said officers then responded to nearby 467 Chesterfield Road, where they found Richard Cullen shooting on his property."Richard owns 16 acres of land and is out shooting at targets with friends," states the report. "Richard has a safe backstop from where they are shooting. ... Richard owns the only house around and has a driveway longer than 500 feet away from Chesterfield Road... All safe."State law prohibits hunting within 500 feet of any building occupied by people or domestic animals, or used to store flammable or combustible material. But that rule doesn't apply to target shooting, Montville Police Lt. David Radford said."There is no regulation for 500 feet when target shooting on private property," he wrote in an email. "Just in a safe manner, i.e. safe back drop and direction."There is nothing in the state law about having a safe backdrop or shooting direction. Meanwhile, the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection says target shooting on private property is legal unless town ordinances ban or limit it.Asked how the police department responds to complaints of backyard shooting, Radford said the department inspects the private range and makes sure there is a safe backdrop to block bullets and shooting is in a safe direction.Radford said Tait had "made one complaint to police about his neighbor shooting on his own property," which officers vetted, and found to be no issue, because the resident was following proper safety measures.Tait disagreed and claimed the neighbor was shooting from 900 feet away across his property lines. He said the neighbor then knocked on doors in the neighborhood looking for him. "He came and found me," Tait said, adding the neighbor was "visually upset" about having the police called on him, and "honestly did not understand what the problem was." Tait said he explained to the neighbor that he hikes with his son on trails behind his home.Police receive complaints On Sept. 23, 2023, resident Heather Cubeta reported to police what she thought were four gunshots in her neighborhood at 7:45 p.m. The report said officers went to the area of Cubeta's home and investigated. She said she never received a follow-up call from police about whether they had found anything."Just something so we know what's happening," she added.On Dec. 1, 2023, Saint Bernard School Headmaster Don Macrino reported sounds of gunshots coming from nearby apartments. Macrino said the school is sensitive to any sounds that may be gunshots. Police arrived, he said, and determined that it was people hunting in the woods behind the school and adjacent apartments. Police determined that, based on the distance from the school, it was not a threat, he said.On Nov. 19, 2023, a unnamed caller reported hearing gunshots from the area of Massapeag Point Road. According to the summary report, officers responded to the 264 Derry HIll Road home of James Ridenour, a backyard target shooter who police deemed to be "shooting in a safe direction with a safe backstop." Police advised Ridenour to call them before he began shooting again in the future to avoid having officers show up at his home.Ridenour, who moved to Derry Hill Road about three years ago, said he owns about 5 acres of land. In the backyard, he shoots a variety of guns, including assault and hunting rifles, and handguns with foldable stocks and tripods. He said he is now teaching his boys, 13 and 9, how to properly care for and handle the guns safely. Ridenour said he shoots about once every two weeks, for two to three hours at a time, at exploding targets with a hill behind them that acts as a backstop.One neighborhood, 14 ranges On East Lake and Turner roads in the Oakdale section of town, Tait said he'd counted 14 backyard gun ranges, compared to three when he first moved there. The number could not be confirmed, but two residents said that many of their neighbors shoot in their yards."Everybody in this area shoots," said Brittany Burchwell, who lives on East Lake Road, just down the street from Tait's former home."I'm not doing anything illegal or against the law," said Burchwell, who shoots with her husband a couple times a year. "And if anyone has a problem with that, they need to take it up with the state and the town. And I think everyone here would agree."Her neighbor, Lori Sfakios, a nurse practitioner at Lawrence + Memorial Hospital, and her family shoot a .22 caliber rifle about once a month ― for 45 minutes at a time ― at tree targets in their backyard. Behind the targets are metal backstops and trees. In her driveway, a sign reads "Warning, protected by 2nd amendment security." "My neighbors also shoot," Sfakios said, adding a lot of the neighbors are active or retired military. "People have a lot of land over here."Sfakios, whose family moved here in December, said part of the reason she and others sought out the area is because the yards offer ample room for shooting.Tait urges states to adopt regulations Tait said he has talked to the nonprofit organization CT Against Gun Violence, and the attorney general's office to try and get the state to adopt regulations on backyard shooting. He said he is not opposed to residents owning and shooting guns, but rather against the minority of gun owners who are doing it in an unsafe way."The state needs to come up with a regulation for this," he said. "Because if you're leaving it up to an individual, then this is what happens. They have three acres of land, and they think that's enough to have a shooting range on. You cannot build a safe range on three acres of land. It's impossible. You can't build a safe shooting range on 10 acres of land."Burchwell, Sfakios and Ridenour said they would not oppose changes to local or state law that would prevent shooting across neighbors' property lines."I love the guns, but there's definitely responsibility that comes with them," Ridenour said."Me personally, I wouldn't shoot across someone else's yard," he said. "I would never shoot towards anybody's house. Like I said, there's nothing behind my house. Except, like, 400 acres of woods. I don't think anybody should be shooting across anybody else's yard."Jonathan Ferloe, director of programs and communications for CT Against Gun Violence, said the group is in the process of trying to better understand issues like Tait's and how to ensure people shoot safely on their property. "Isaac's case is not isolated, we have heard similar instances elsewhere," he said, adding that towns in the state are a patchwork of local ordinances from none at all to completely prohibiting shooting within town borders."We are really just looking into this," he added. "But from our point of view, the solution is not to ban private shooting ranges, but rather, to look at are there some kind of minimum safety requirements to make sure that neighbors are safe on their property."d.drainville@theday.com