to restrict target practice
in township
Police say no law exists
to restrict target practice
in township
By alison granito
Staff Writer
What should have been a relaxing summer evening in the back yard for one Millstone family was interrupted when a stray gunshot slammed into their home.
According to Leonard Dimmick, Scotto Drive, he was outside with his family when the incident occurred Aug. 22 around 7:30 p.m.
"We were sitting on the patio in the back when we heard a couple of shots. Then, one came whizzing past our heads," Dimmick said yesterday.
"We do sometimes hear people taking what we always assume is target practice, and sometimes we can hear Fort Dix, so you kind of get used to it," Dimmick said about the sound of gunshots.
However, the Aug. 22 incident was a little too close for comfort, according to Dimmick. The bullet, which passed near his family outside, punched through the wall of their house and ended up in Dimmick’s family room.
"This was really a wake-up call. We are lucky nobody got hurt," he said.
After the incident, Dimmick said he and his neighbors were surprised to learn that there was no ordinance currently in place in Millstone that restricts the discharge of firearms within the township.
According to Dimmick, there is a "pit" on a tree farm behind his development where people can often be heard taking target practice.
However, he said, recently the shooting has sometimes sounded closer than usual to his back yard.
"You would like to think if someone is taking target practice, they are being smart about it, but I guess that is not always the case," Dimmick said.
Dimmick said that the gunshots stopped immediately after the wayward bullet hit his house Aug. 22.
"I think whoever was out there realized they really missed that time," he added.
According to New Jersey State Police Detective Charles Lowry, police removed one round from the wall of the Dimmick home, and are running ballistics tests on it.
Lowry said that police have determined that the round was an illegal hollow-point bullet, which was fired from a handgun.
"The township does not have an ordinance on the books placing any kind of restrictions on target practice. You can pretty much, within reason, go out in your back yard and shoot if you wanted to," he said.
Lowry said police have followed up with the Dimmicks and will continue to investigate the incident.
According to Dimmick, he has heard what he believes to be target practice in the pit at the tree farm at least one time since the Aug. 22 incident.
Dimmick said yesterday that he intended to ask the Township Committee to consider passing an ordinance which would place some types of restrictions on firearms in the township. He also recently wrote the committee to make the same request.
In his letter, he said, "Millstone Township has changed a lot over the years with respect to population growth, thus making the area more prone to accidents, especially where guns are involved."
"Given that the bullet traveled only 10 feet away from my family and me, I do not want to experience this frightening situation again, nor do I want to stay indoors all the time out of fear. I hope you will give serious consideration to this issue because next time it could have much more traumatic consequences, including someone getting killed," he wrote.
According to Dimmick, he would like to see the township establish "safety zones" around developed areas where it would be prohibited to hold target practice.
"We really need to take a look at this and determine the places in town that are not safe to do this," he added.