The Marshfield Rifle Range has been an important part of the shooting heritage and a landmark of the Marshfield area for longer than most of us have been alive.
Located a short distance Northeast of Marshfield, MO, on Rifle Range Road, it has been a place where generations of sport shooters, youth shooters, hunters, and law enforcement have practiced marksmanship, and passed the shooting heritage on to their children and grandchildren. The existence of this local landmark as a shooting facility has been authenticated to years prior to 1940 and this tract of land has never been used for any other purpose. The range has been active and operational as a shooting range from its beginning to this day. Over those years, many Marshfield shooters and their families have made use of the facility.
While generally being open to the public for shooting over the years, it has also been used by several different shooting clubs and organizations, as well as some of the local law enforcement members.
The land was owned by the Johnson family and their ancestors prior to Mr. Masteller's purchase.
The range property was sold by John Johnson to Tom Masteller in 1999. At that time, Mr. Johnson required Mr. Masteller to take full responsibility for the rifle range and all liabilities associated with it by a formal written and signed document, in addition to taking ownership by warranty deed.
Mr. Johnson was aware and supportive that Mr. Masteller had intentions to use the area as a shooting range for friends, relatives, and customers of his pawn and gun shop located in Marshfield, MO.
The range is currently being operated and maintained by the Marshfield Shooting Club, Inc., which is an affiliated shooting club of the National Rifle Association.
Mr. Mastellers rightful use of his land and the Marshfield Rifle Range are today in peril.
In 1994 two former California residents moved into the Marshfield area and purchased a place on Rifle Range Road. Their property is on the opposite side of the road and North of the Range several hundred yards.
At that time they attempted numerous methods to close the range. The Marshfield Rifle and Pistol Club had a lease on the Range, was very active during that time, and resisted their unfounded attempts to close the Range. The plaintiff’s reasons for attacking the range included what they perceived to be safety issues (but never proving or providing any evidence that a problem did exist), to noise complaints and more. In 1999 after Mr. Masteller purchased the range, they filed suit against him for similar reasons, and added the charge that he had established a new shooting range in violation of state statutes.
They have kept the range embroiled in a legal battle ever since. During this time two other local shooting organizations have joined the fight in support of Mr. Masteller and the Range. They are the Midwest Friends of GOA and the Osage Orange Sharpshooters, the latter being an affiliated club of the Civilian Marksmanship Program.
The plaintiffs, one who is a Webster County Probation and Parole officer, and the other, which is an investigator for the court system, could have gained political bias, so Mr. Masteller requested and was granted a change of Judge from another county.
On the date scheduled for the original trial, in an effort to reach some sort of a compromise at the judge's direction, an agreement was reached. After the judge's recommendations and the plaintiffs demands were considered, plans were submitted which addressed the issues in an attempt to placate the plaintiffs. Even though the plans were specific, the plaintiffs began obstructing progress and had to be forced to consider the proposals.
Based on the judge’s recommendations, the range was renovated and many improvements were implemented. The alignment of the firing range was changed so that all shooting is done at a right angle away from the existing roadway. This was accomplished by clearing trees on the West side of the existing covered shooting benches and building a new earthen impact area larger than the old impact area. The impact area is now also backed up by a 65 ft. high natural ridge on the West side of the area. One of the firing line covers was moved to the West to accommodate using the improved impact area. More gravel was added to improve the parking area.
The Douglas County judge was not only very fair but took enough of an interest in this case to come out and personally inspect the shooting range.
Public access is now controlled and restricted with new locked gates and perimeter fencing improvements. Rules and regulations were adopted and are posted at the Range, establishing among other items regular shooting and no shooting hours.
All of this was to no avail. It became clear that nothing was going to placate these individuals. With the dismissal of the Douglas County Judge, a new Judge, William Hass, was appointed, and he ultimately scheduled a hearing to expedite this case. For reasons unknown, the Defendant, Mr. Masteller, was never notified by the court or the plaintiffs counsel. After checking with the clerk’s office, they stated “... we have no record of anyone being notified and we just don't know what happened .... but we'll look into it. "
Meanwhile, since the hearing was held and no one was there to represent the Range, the Judge ruled a default judgment for the plaintiffs and issued a court order prohibiting shooting on the Range as of April 10, 2006.
The Defendant, Mr. Masteller, was notified by mail of the court order on April 13, 2006. It appears they found his address for this purpose, but missed it for the hearing notice. We hired a local attorney, Jim McNabb, who filed a motion to set aside the order since no one could produce any record of proper notification ever being sent to Mr. Masteller. This Hearing was held on May 30, 2006.
At the hearing, it was made evident that the plaintiff’s attorney had purposefully omitted contacting Mr. Masteller in an attempt to get the court order. It was overturned by the Judge, and set for trial for August 23, 2006. This week (1st week of August, 2006) the Plaintiff’s have successfully delayed the proceedings again by having the case moved to a new Court date of October 4, 2006.
Membership to the Marshfield Shooting club allows use of the clubs range during daylight hours year around except for special events.
For a membership applicaton click here.
All new and renewing members must be current NRA members also.