ORLANDO, Fla.,None — Officials at the Orlando-Sanford International Airport are building their own shooting range. Passengers traveling through the airport will help pay for part of it.
Some wonder if a shooting range could be a risk to airport security.
"No way Jose! I mean, no, absolutely not. Not near planes," said airport traveler Ethel Somers.
Officials say it'll be fenced off with barbed wire and have cameras everywhere.
In as little as three months flying bullets will be landing on airport property. The unmistakable sound of gun range gunfire will soon pop at a most unlikely spot, the Orlando-Sanford airport.
Airport executive Larry Dale, who is also commander of the airport police, is planning a $70,000 outdoor shotgun range on a far eastern corner of the property.
Most police agencies in Seminole County practice at a shared gun range, tucked away near Lake Harney.
WFTV checked online and found the airport police are actually the closest police force in all of Seminole County to that practice range, 14.8 miles. Altamonte Springs officers, for example, have to travel 25 miles.
But Dale says that range just doesn't provide what he needs. The new range will offer shotgun training on clay pigeons to Dale's 11-person police force, and ten other staffers charged with fending off bird flocks that can be dangerous to planes.
"That sounds just fine. I would not have a problem with that, one bit," traveler Linda Somers.
Shooting clay pigeons is usually associated with hunting, which is one of Dale's pastimes. The new range will be paid for with tax dollars and airport user fees.
"Just seems dangerous to me to have rifles shooting in the air when you've got planes flying overhead," said Jennette Smith, airport traveler.
Dale says the range has nothing to do with hunting practice and is unquestionably far enough away from planes and people to be safe.
It'll cost $8,000 or $9,000 a year to maintain.
WFTV
