"Promoting safe use and ownership of firearms through
education, litigation, and legislation"
MCRGO MONDAY E'NEWS
Shooting Ranges During Stay Home
We covered gun stores in an earlier Monday E'News. Today we turn our attention to the question of whether shooting ranges may be open during COVID-19 under the extensions to Governor Whitmer's Stay Home orders, most recently Executive Order 2020-59 released this past Friday.
Regarding the question of whether staffed hunting, shooting or target sports facilities are open to the general public, the answer is no. A business, range, or club cannot require workers to leave their residence unless the worker is "necessary to sustain or protect life or to conduct minimum basic operations" which do not include serving the public. Whether indoor or outdoor in nature, employees of these types of facilities are not considered critical infrastructure. Consequently, staffed ranges open to the public remain closed.
Regarding private, unstaffed, outdoor ranges such as those belonging to a conservation club, the current executive order allows individuals to leave their home or place of residence, and travel as necessary to engage in outdoor recreational activity, consistent with remaining at least six feet from people from outside the individual's household.
Personal ranges on one's own private property are not impacted by Stay Home.
MDNR staffed and unstaffed ranges remain closed to the public through May 15, 2020.
