Eagle considers firearms use areas, future of shooting sports park
It’s business as usual, for now, for firearms use in Eagle.
The Eagle City Council declined to approve an ordinance change that would have restricted the use of firearms to specific areas in the city’s foothills. In tandem, the council unanimously voted against a resolution to adopt a map designating allowed shooting areas, including a specific portion of Bureau of Land Management land east of the Valnova development.
Ordinance 942 would have altered the city’s code so that firearms discharge could only occur on areas of land specifically designated by the city. The city’s current code states that firearms discharge cannot occur within city limits, except on parcels larger than 20 acres and on BLM land.
After hearing public testimony, council members expressed concern that it was inappropriate to change the ordinance without offering an alternative area where people could engage in shooting.
“I feel bad — I don’t want to restrict the space that firearms can be used, unless we have an alternative space that firearms can be used, and so I’m not comfortable supporting this as is right now,” Council Member Craig Kvamme said.
In June, city staff told the council that the potential ordinance change stemmed from developments, including Valnova, moving closer to foothills shooting areas. Residents have expressed concern that shooting in areas with close proximity to developments no longer feels safe, as BoiseDev reported.
Confusion over proposed shooting areas map
In weighing whether to adopt the ordinance changes, the council considered a potential map showing where shooting would be allowed in the city’s foothills.
The map showed a purple hatched area that designated a section of BLM land where shooting would be permitted. It also showed a green hatched area representing Avimor land and saying that shooting would be “allowed with permission of land owner.”
An image shows a proposed map of where firearms could be allowed in the Eagle foothills. Map: Via City of EagleEagle Development Director Bill Vaughn clarified, however, that even if the city designated that area as allowed for shooting, individual prospective shooters would still need to get permission from Avimor’s owner to do so.
Public testimony also indicated that the Avimor development has restrictions on where shooting is allowed to occur.
Some members of the public and council questioned the viability and accessibility of the specific portion of BLM property designated for shooting. Former Eagle City Council member Charlie Baun told the council that the BLM property’s only access point is at the end of Hartley Ln. Baun said that putting the allowed shooting area miles east could encourage people to trespass through other private property to get there, instead of accessing it through Hartley Ln.
Future of shooting sports park uncertain
Multiple members of the public said they would prefer the city defer from changing the ordinance until it could offer another place to shoot instead. Several urged the council to consider completing work on the city’s shooting sports park.
The city discussed an 80-acre shooting sports park on Willow Creek Rd., north of Beacon Light Rd. By 2024, the city said that it did not have funding to complete the portion of the park for firearms practice. That same year, a construction company sued the city, alleging that the city breached its contract by not paying the company for designing later phases of development for the park.
Council Member Mary May said that the city just recently emerged from a lawsuit regarding the park but had not yet discussed if the project could be moved forward.