Photo: Shaun Penner

By Shaun Penner

Dunes on 17

Possible stray bullets from gun club causing near misses at Dunes on 17

May 13, 2019 | 3:31 PM

Stray bullets believed to have originated from the Wapiti Shooters Club have become a major safety concern for residents of the Dunes on 17 subdivision.

Bullets that are reportedly not being contained within the perimetre of the club have been found on the deck of the clubhouse at the golf course, as well as having gone through homes and narrowly missing people using the trails adjacent to the club.

This issue is one that has come up before. During a golf tournament at the Dunes Golf and Winter Club in August of 2018, a golfer was struck with a bullet that strayed away from the range, which was hosting a shooting tournament of their own at the same time. The golfer was taken to hospital and was treated and released the same day.

The Homeowner’s Association from Dunes on 17 presented to County of Grande Prairie Council this morning, where they were looking for some answers as to why this is happening and how it can be fixed in a timely manner.

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The association listed several events that have happened over the years that involve bullets being found around the subdivision, that have narrowly missed people and have hit homes. Just this past month, a bullet struck a house that had previously been hit in 2003. At the same time, another resident reported hearing a bullet nearly hit them while they were walking on a trail in the area.

“Bullets are coming into the neighbourhood, and as I mentioned, one of our neighbours, it struck his house,” said Ron Arnason, President of the Homeowner’s Association at Dunes of 17. “I mean, I could be laying in my bed getting shot from it, from the angle from the gun club to my house, I am right in line.”

Regional Enforcement Services is now tasked with looking into the situation and coming up with a solution as to how the County can respond to such a matter. Manager of Regional Enforcement Services Stuart Rempel says he and his team are going to look at all facets of this situation to find a solution.

“We have grown as a municipality, and we have recreation users, we have homes, we have trails all around the Wapiti Shooters Club and frankly, we’ve got a lot of incidents of perhaps dangerous activities that may or may not have come from the shooters club,” said Rempel. “So, my job is to research this now and bring back some recommendations to council.”

The RCMP have been notified and have investigated these matters. The Homeowner’s Association feels though that they have not gotten enough feedback on what those investigations concluded.

Gun ranges are both provincially and federally regulated through the Chief Firearms Officer, under the Firearms Act. Enforcement Services will be reaching out to the CFO’s office, Occupational Health and Safety, the RCMP and the Wapiti Shooters Club to understand the full scope of the situation and investigate the root cause of these incidents. Once the research is complete, they will present their findings to council and make a recommendation of how the County can act on the matter.

“My main result is to make it safe, to ensure that safety continues,” said Rempel. “I’m going to work with the team and hopefully learn what I can as to what is actually going on.”

No representative from the Wapiti Shooters Club was present for comment.