McHenry County Blog

Neighbors of a proposed shooting ranged on Route 120 east of Marian Central High School owned by a “Franks Trust” organized so well, that the petitioner for a change in the parcel’s zoning withdrew his petition.

That’s what you see below:

Wednesday was the opening day for OnTarget, Bo Strom’s new Crystal Lake shooting range and gun shop.

The building is way, way out of my normal driving patterns, but, having found it, I can tell you how to get there.

Find Knaack Manufacturing on Route 176 and turn north on, what else, Knaack Boulevard.

Then drive as far as you can.

Past all the Crystal Lake water tanks.

The new building is right next to the high power lines.

Plenty of parking.

I walked in and saw, would you believe, guns.

There is “a fully stocked retail area selling firearms, ammunition, and accessories,” to put it in the words of a short press release that was sent out.

I looked around the store and found a familiar face.

It was Rich Young, standing behind a NRA recruitment table.

Bo Strom and his manager Tom Dosch came down from the offices above to give me the grand tour.

They took me into the rifle range, which wasn’t being used at the time.

I asked how the range was going to avoid the problem that the National Guard had in Woodstock.  They built a range with the building in the 1990′s, but had to close it because of lead pollution problems.

We walked down to the target end of the big hall and Strom explained how his facility solved the problem.

A massive triangular shaped wall composed of small pieces of rubber stop the bullets.

A machine sifts the bullets shot from the twelve lanes out of the rubber.

Strom explained that the air in the shooting range has negative pressure.

“Like a medical research facility?” I asked.

I can’t remember his exact answer, but the gist was, “Pretty much.”

“The air is filter out the back end and comes out cleaner than when it when in,” he told me.

There are also twelve pistol lanes on the south side of the building, but Strom had to get back to a meeting and I had to pick up my son.

“There are three training classrooms where we will offer a full complement of various classes,” the press release added.

“Hours are from 10 to 8 except for Sunday which is 10 to 7.”

An email about a meeting being held tomorrow night about the shooting range proposed for Route 120 east of Marian Central High School:

“First, I apologize for the confusion. Due to the high interest in this subject, we needed to find a larger space for more people. Thanks to my wonderful neighbor Trish Haynes, our meeting place can now hold as many as 50 people!!!

“We will be meeting tomorrow night May 10 at 6:30 p.m. at the Woodstock Public Library; 414 W. Judd St., Woodstock, IL 60098.

“They have a large meeting room that just happened to be available tomorrow night!!!

“Three cheers for Trish!!! Per Torling, my apology for making this change but it is best for all of us. You and your wife were very kind to open your home to our meeting and it is greatly appreciated.

“Please bring yourselves, your neighbors and all the documentation and ideas you can put together. We need to work fast but effectively to get the word out. See you all tomorrow night at the library.

“Thank you for your support and participation.”

Here’s the press release from OnTarget:

On Target Range and Tactical Training Center is opening its doors on Wednesday, May 9 at 10:00 a.m.

Ready, aim, fire!

We know that all of you have been anxiously awaiting the opening of On Target Range and Tactical Training Center and we are happy to announce that we are ready to roll!

Everyone is invited to see our new facility commencing at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, May 9 and continuing through our usual weekday closing hour of 8:00 p.m.

For those of you who have not yet scouted out our site, we are at 560 Beechcraft Lane at the end of Knaack Boulevard, just off Route 176 in Crystal Lake. Knaack Boulevard is across the street from Country Side Flower Shop on Route 176.

On Target , the first and only indoor shooting range in McHenry County specifically designed and constructed as an indoor shooting range, contains the latest, cutting edge safety, health and targeting technologies to ensure a top notch experience.

On Target Range also houses three classrooms, including one large classroom that can accommodate up to 50 class participants.

Our trainers take pride in their ability to deliver safe, professional firearm education while making the class an enjoyable experience.

Detailed information about our classes and the schedule for May and June is available on our website at www.ontargetsite.com.

We are asking for everyone’s patience with the anticipated “glitches” as we are learning our new POS (point of sale) system. All aspects of our program may not be fully operational and we still have a few ecommerce elements to work out.

Although membership is not required to enjoy all the facilities at On Target Range, members receive special benefits. These include

• reduced rates on the range,
• priority online scheduling,
• four guest passes per year,
• free use of vision and hearing protection equipment,
• discounts on select non-sale, in-stock merchandise and
• a choice of an On Target hat or polo shirt.

Our Grand Opening Celebration is planned for June 22 and 23, 2012. More information will be forthcoming for that event as the time nears.

Paul Levin wants to share this information:

Thursday April 26 and 1:30 pm at the Government Center on Ware in Woodstock the zoning commission is having a second meeting to discuss the proposed outdoor gun range at Queen Anne and Rte. 120 on the previous Deer Run Golf Center.

I live among over 140 homes within 1/3 mile of this site and via petitions we are getting signed throughout the sub-division, the almost unanimous reception is to STOP this gun range from being a reality.

It is just too close to well over 500 homes in Bull Valley, Woodstock, McHenry County.

The noise, danger from possible stray bullets, home value degradation, disruption of our daily rural lives, pollution from spent lead shot and bullets, etc. dictate that this site is not conducive to our neighbors ways of living.

Children living in our area would be subjected to the noise from this range, as proposed, from 8 am to 8 pm, 7 days a week. We cannot allow this business to open so close to our homes.

Opponents point out that the shooting range would be 650 yards from Victorian Country/Newman Homes and 810 of a mile from Marian Central High School.

Can you assist us to stop this 50 lane plus skeet shooting gun range from becoming a reality?

Anyone else seeing this should join our outcry and attend the meeting Thursday.

A press release from a new business in Crystal Lake, OnTaget:

Opening April 2012

On Target Range and Tactical Training Center is scheduled to open in April 2012. Check out our construction progress on www.OnTargetSite.com as we are updating our photo gallery weekly!

This 20,500 sq. ft. indoor range will offer

• a 12-position 75-foot Pistol Range,
• a 12-position 150-foot Rifle Range,
• a large Retail Store,
• Gunsmith Shop and
• several Classrooms.

Everyone is welcome at our range, from first-time shooters to experts looking to maintain or improve their skills.

Member or not, you can come with nothing and we will outfit you for your time on the range.

On Target Range and Tactical Training Center will host a fully stocked retail firearms store and will provide the full range of gunsmith services.

Classes are designed to meet a wide range of skills from first time shooters to those seeking training at the expert level.

If you are ready to buy that first gun or thinking about adding to your collection, you will want to look over our large selection of new firearms or try out any of our rental guns that interest you.

You don’t have to be a Member to enjoy our facilities.

However, Members benefit from many perks such as reduced rates at the lanes, priority on-line scheduling, guest passes and a discount on select merchandise.

As an added Bonus Shot, the first 200 persons to purchase an annual Membership will be entered into a drawing for a Ruger SR1911 with a suggested retail price of $800. The winner will be announced at our Grand Opening and will have the privilege of firing the first shot on our range!

You can complete your membership application on-line at www.OnTargetSite.com or come to the construction management office, Charles River Development Group, at 600 Dakota Street, Suite B, Crystal Lake 60012 – just two blocks from the gun range site.

All of us at On Target Range and Tactical Training Center have been working tirelessly to design a safe, inviting venue for all levels of shooters to enjoy. Come join the fun and become a member today!

The firm that provided the ammunition that is supposed to disintegrate upon impact was sued by McHenry County Sheriff’s Deputy Eric Woods in Federal Court on January 25, 2011.

McHenry County Blog obtained the purchase orders through a Freedom of Information Act request and published an article on April 30, 2010.

International Cartridge Corporation of Reynoldsville, Pennsylvania was the supplier.

In his suit, being represented by Rockford attorney Kevin P. Justen, Woods asks for more that $75,000, apparently a needed threshold for gaining Federal jurisdiction, for what happened on the McHenry County Sheriff’s Department’s Shooting Range on March 15th.

The brief points out that ICC’s bullet “fragments of the frangible bullet rebounded and ricocheted into” Woods as a result of a “manufacturing defect…the  bullets did not disintegrate on impact.”

There was not adequate warning of this “hazard,” the suit says.

The “defects that rendered the frangible bullets unreasonably dangerous to its intended users were the proximate cause of the personal injuries and damages sustained by” Woods.

And what was he impact of the injury on Woods?

“Woods

• sustained severe and permanent bodily injuries,
• resulting in the Plaintiff incurring medical bills and expenses in endeavoring to treat and cure his injuries,
• has caused him great pain and suffering, and will cause him in the future great pain and suffering, and
• he has lost great gains that would have otherwise been made and acquired and will in the future lose gains he would have made and acquired and he has and continues to be impaired from going about his daily affairs,

all to his damage.”

The nature of the injuries are described as

• personal,
• pecuniary and
• permanent

You can read the original filing here.

A press release from those building a shooting range in Crystal Lake:

On Target Breaks Ground in Crystal Lake

Range & Tactical Training Center Targeted to Open in March of 2012

CRYSTAL LAKE, IL – Area business leaders, elected officials, and local residents joined the founders of On Target Range & Tactical Training Center this morning to break ground in the Terra Cotta Tech Business Center in Crystal Lake. On a rainy Monday morning, the attendees found much to be excited about.

“We’re so thankful for all the support we’ve received in McHenry County. So many people have already partnered up with us, from gun-rights groups and gun enthusiasts to public safety officials and firearm training organizations. We’re all eagerly anticipating the Grand Opening in March of 2012,” said Founding Partner Bo Strom of Charles River Group.

Taking part in the groundbreaking, Crystal Lake Chamber of Commerce President Gary Reese lauded the business.

“We are always excited to see new businesses come into town. There is a lot of positive growth happening in Crystal Lake, and I want to thank you all for being part of the economic revitalization of our wonderful community.”

There were a number of other notable individuals in attendance, including McHenry County Board Chairman Ken Koehler.

Said Crystal Lake Mayor Aaron Shepley,

“In addition to the economic benefits this new business will bring to Crystal Lake, we’re also excited because of what it will do for our police department. Currently our officers have to travel to Winnebago County for their training, but when On Target opens they will be able to complete their training right here in town. That is invaluable.”

About On Target Range & Tactical Training Center:

On Target features a 20,500-square-foot indoor range offering a 12-position 75-foot Pistol Range and a 12-position 150-foot Rifle Range.

Also located within the facilities are

• a large firearm and ammunition retail store,
• a gunsmith shop, and
• several classrooms featuring regular trainings and classes.

Hours of operation are anticipated to be 10am-8pm Monday-Saturday and 10am-7pm Sunday. For more information on On Target visit www.OnTargetSite.com or call (815) 477-2020.

Supporters of the Second Amendment are especially invited to the Max McGraw Wildlife Foundation for skeet shooting with Congressman Joe Walsh followed by breakfast.

As you can see from the invitation below, the price is steep–$250 for breakfast and $1,000 for skeet shooting, plus breakfast.

The date is September 18th, a Sunday.

Hosts are Mike Miller, Ed Tolle and Mike Ward.

Explanations McHenry County Sheriff’s Department and shooting range injured Deputy Eric Woods have offered about his shooting and the extent of Wood’s injury are challenged in press release which arrived this morning. The release follows:

INJURIES CONTINUE TO NAG SHERIFF’S DEPUTY — AND HIS BOSSES

McHenry County Sheriff’s Deputy Eric Woods continued to experience health problems more than three months after his shooting accident at the Sheriff’s range, raising serious doubts about statements Sheriff’s officials made declaring the incident over and done with, the Mike Mahon for Sheriff campaign noted Wednesday.

A published report in late May quoted Dep. Woods as saying he was back to full functioning.  But in all of June 2010, Dep. Woods did not have one single day of normal, routine duty.

Of the 30 calendar days that month, Woods’s payroll status was “injured on duty” (IOD) for 13 days and “light duty” for another five, according to a Sheriff’s Office FOIA response.

Local newspapers published two stories in late May in which Dep. Woods personally insisted that the injuries he suffered March 15 during a shooting accident at the range were not particularly serious and a few subsequent hospital and/or doctor visits had resolved them.

He also restated the official version of the incident, which was that fragments of “frangible” ammunition had struck him.

Frangible ammunition is designed to disintegrate into harmless powder on impact, preventing injury to participants during live fire exercises.

According to an account quoting Dep. Woods that was published in The Northwest Herald on May 29:

“Woods said he was functioning at the same level he was before the accident.”

That was clearly not true during the month of June.

In addition to the 18 days he was either IOD or light duty, Woods was off for seven days and carried on payroll records as either “travel” or “school” for another five.

“Even if the entire incident happened as the Sheriff’s Office maintains, Sheriff (Keith) Nygren at least owes the public some notice that Dep. Woods’s injuries were more severe than originally thought, or was conveyed to the press in May, and that there have been complications beyond those already noted,” Mahon said.

This is true particularly in view of how forthcoming with information Woods and Sheriff’s officials were to reporters of the Northwest Herald and the Arlington Heights Daily Herald in stories published May 29 and May 28, respectively, but nevertheless 2 ½ months after the accident.

Certainly Dep. Woods could not have spoken freely with reporters without permission from his superiors.

“Sheriff Nygren thought he had put this embarrassing incident to bed, but subsequent events don’t seem to be cooperating,” Mahon said.

“He should realize that the truth will come out eventually, one way or another.”

Mike Mahon has vowed to have the entire matter investigated by an outside agency if he is elected.  He has also questioned why the Sheriff’s Office has not raised the issue of malfunctioning frangible ammunition with the manufacturer, if the incident happened as described in official reports.