Idaho Congressman Raul Labrador introduced a bill Wednesday that would allow a parcel of Bureau of Land Management land to be transferred to Idaho County for use as a gun range.
The 31-acre area is near Riggins, along the Salmon River in north-central Idaho. An act of Congress is needed because the land currently falls under the protection of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act.
The BLM says it’s not exactly pristine though. The area is a former dump site and already serves as an unofficial shooting spot for many locals.
Idaho County Sheriff Doug Giddings said there are no private rifle ranges in the county.
“There's really no place for them to shoot, away from everybody where there's not somebody that's going to complain," he said. "And that's very much what we were after is a place where people can shoot, nobody's going to complain. They don't even know they're shooting there.”
The county has been trying for years to turn it into a gun range.