Prison system gains
new gun training academy

By William Kenny
Times Staff Writer

For months, leaders of the Holmesburg Fish and Game Protection Association were at a loss for a way to prevent the Philadelphia Prison System from turning its outdoor shooting ranges into a new training academy for corrections officers.
But all they really needed to do was wait for a local election.
During a general meeting of the Upper Holmesburg Civic Association last Thursday, Holmesburg Fish and Game executive board member Joe Gaynor announced that an agreement has been reached between his organization, commonly known as the Holmesburg Gun Club, and the prison system for shared use of the 78-year-old facility.
Gaynor credited the new administration of Mayor Michael Nutter, including new Prisons Commissioner Louis Giorla, for their willingness to compromise in stark contrast to the previous administration.
Giorla was on hand for Gaynor’s announcement as the prisons commissioner served as guest speaker at the civic meeting.
"We were lucky to survive the John Street years and feel we’ve gotten a much better shake from the current administration," Gaynor said.
Councilwoman Joan Krajewski and Councilman Brian O’Neill advocated for the club in negotiations with Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Everett Gillison and Giorla.
"We have reached an agreement with which we feel we will be able to retain a sufficient number of our members to pay our bills," Gaynor said.
The new agreement, which is to take effect May 1, will also help the prison system keep pace with corrections officer attrition and growing inmate population.
"We’ve asked to have a substantial part of the schedule so we can accommodate our training with semi-automatic weapons, and after that, the range will be open to both members and city personnel," Giorla said.
Under the agreement, the prison system will have exclusive use of the ranges generally during the daytime from Tuesday through Friday. The ranges will be open to club members and prison employees on weekends, Mondays, weeknights from Tuesday through Friday and public holidays.
Club members will retain use of their clubhouse but yield a meeting room adjacent to the indoor pistol range to the prison system.
Though the gun club is private, its leaders say that they have a liberal membership policy that is generally open to law-abiding adult American citizens. The club has youth programs as well.
When a group of local sportsmen led by former Philadelphia Water Department Commissioner Sam Baxter founded the club in the early 1930s, the three-acre public site along the Delaware River at Pennypack Street was undeveloped and used primarily as a potash dump.
The club leased the ground from the city for a nominal fee and built it into a multi-disciplined target shooting facility with outdoor pistol, rifle and skeet/trap ranges, an indoor pistol range and a clubhouse.
As the city developed around it, the site remained one of the few areas where outdoor shooting remained practical and safe. So, while the city’s other outdoor gun clubs closed, Holmesburg thrived.
Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Police Department built its shooting range next door, but the Prison System was left without a permanent firearms training facility.
Corrections officers used the police ranges for some time and most recently were using the Holmesburg range in prearranged time slots with consent of the club.
But last August, the Street Administration and then-Prisons Commissioner Leon A. King II sent an eviction letter to the club, ordering members to vacate the premises by Dec. 31. King later explained publicly that the prison system needed the ground for a broader training program, as its existing training facility at Holmesburg Prison was too confining and limited in use.
Leaders of the gun club protested the eviction, began to lobby local elected officials for support and attempted to forge a shared use agreement with the Street Administration with little success.
Things changed when Nutter took office in January and appointed Giorla, who served first as acting commissioner then was appointed on a permanent basis last month.
Also in January, the Upper Holmesburg Civic Association offered its formal support to the gun club. Since then, leaders of the club have attended monthly civic meetings.
Also during last week’s civic meeting, Giorla told residents about a variety of initiatives he intends to implement to better manage the inmate population and to lower the rate of repeat offenders in hope of reducing the population.
Giorla wants to strengthen vocational and educational programs for inmates while requiring them to maintain strict daily routines in an attempt to prepare them for their eventual release back into society.
Giorla also said that there are no plans to demolish or reuse Holmesburg Prison beyond its current functions as a corrections officer training site and overflow holding facility during inmate population spikes.
The next meeting of the Upper Holmesburg Civic Association is scheduled for May 15 at 7 p.m. at St. Dominic’s Marion Hall, 8532 Frankford Ave. ••