Gun club might keep
its finger on the trigger

By William Kenny
Times Staff Writer

The Holmesburg Gun Club may have a round left in the chamber after all.
Formally known as the Holmesburg Fish and Game Protective Association, the organization has leased land from the city for a nominal fee for close to seven decades. The club operates indoor and outdoor civilian shooting ranges adjacent to the Philadelphia Police and Philadelphia Fire academies along Pennypack Street east of State Road.
In September, the city issued the club an eviction notice, giving it until the end of the calendar year to vacate the property, so that the Philadelphia Prison System could establish a training facility there.
At the time, leaders of the 1,400-member sportsman’s group feared the demise of their club as a unique recreational and educational resource for the area’s law-abiding firearms owners.
But a pending City Council bill may help save the club after all.
On Nov. 15, Council’s Committee on Public Property and Public Works passed a bill that, if enacted, would place the shooting range land under the jurisdiction of the Fairmount Park Commission. Such a move would put the park commission in charge of any future use of the ground, instead of the administration of Mayor John Street.
Bill No. 07093700 is due for a full Council vote on Nov. 29, according to Patrick Clark, president of the gun club. Clark understands that the bill’s primary sponsor, Councilwoman Joan Krajewski, along with co-sponsors Jack Kelly, James Kenney, Brian O’Neill and Frank Rizzo, believe that there are enough votes for the bill to pass the full Council and override any potential mayoral veto. Two-thirds of Council’s 17 members — or 12 votes — are necessary for an override.
The Northeast Times was unable to reach Krajewski for comment last week.
"I think (our situation) is a lot better," Clark said. "We have a better chance than we did a couple of weeks ago. But nobody wants to commit to nothing yet."
Even if the bill passes into law, Clark explained, there’s no guarantee what the park commission might ask in exchange for the club’s future use of the land. In fact, there’s no assurance that the park commission would allow the club to continue at all.
Still, the club feels that dealing with the park commission is their best option. According to Clark, efforts to work out a compromise with prison officials have not been productive.
Following negotiations with the club, prison officials offered the club an annually renewable lease with a 60-day termination provision, according to Clark. That is, the city would be able to issue the club a 60-day eviction notice at any time.
Under that plan, Clark added, club members would be allowed to use the facility 35 hours a week, which is much fewer than the club’s current hours. Further, club members would not be able to use their current clubhouse.
"They want to take over the clubhouse," Clark said.
Prison officials also want the club to pay for live guards at the shooting range, according to the club president.
Krajewski introduced the bill on Nov. 1. On the same day, she introduced a second bill that would remove an unpaved stretch of Pennypack Street between Delaware Avenue and the riverbank from the official city-planning map. That bill also is pending.
Previously, Prisons Commissioner Leon King has said that prison officer training is vital to public safety. Yet, the city’s training facilities are sorely lacking in size and capability. The gun club site is the only practical solution, King claims.
The prisons training bureau is based at the former Holmesburg Prison. For firearms training, the officers have scheduled sessions at the gun club range.
But the prison system has continued to increase its ranks of corrections officers to meet the increasing prison population and needs its own facilities for training and storage, King has said. ••
Reporter William Kenny can be reached at 215-354-3031 or bkenny@phillynews.com