Delafield gun club wants to "work with the city"

City of Delafield - In a letter to city officials, the Hartland Sportsman Club has apologized "for the burden that has been placed on you by recent events" and indicated that the membership of the gun club wants to "work with the city" in effort to regain its operating permit.

"We ask that you reconsider your June 10th decision. The city does not need to pull our Conditional Use Permit to control the Hartland Sportsman's Club. We intend to work with the city," the club said in an unsigned letter distributed to city officials today.

The Common Council is scheduled to decide tonight whether it will reconsider its vote on June 10 to revoke the club's permit. The revocation came after neighbors provided the city during an April 28 hearing with evidence the gun club was violating its permit.  Less than 24 hours later, a 31 year old pregnant woman sitting on the outdoor patio of a nearby restuarant was grazed by a bullet that escaped the gun club's firing range.

Some city officials had anticipated the gun club would challenge in court the city's authority to control gun club operations and revoke the permit. The letter, however, seems to indicate gun club members have decided they would rather negotiate with the city.

Mayor Ed McAleer and some council members have suggested they might be willing to allow the club to reopen provided its shooting activities were limited to bows and arrows, trap shooting, air guns and waxed bullets. Higher caliber weapons would not be permitted on the club's firing ranges, according to the compromise suggested by McAleer and others.