Rockland neighborhood shooting ban denied after storm of accusations, counter-accusations

The final public hearing on a lengthy Tuesday, September 15th county supervisors meeting agenda was by far the most contentious and occasionally LOUD – if not “POP, POP, POP” gunshot loud – of the evening. At issue was a request that the Clear Back Subdivision in the Rockland area near the Shenandoah Valley Golf Club be added to the list of county subdivisions where shooting firearms is illegal due to public safety and intrusive noise concerns.

Following 10 public hearing speakers, some who visited the podium more than once to contest or re-hurl personal accusations over the veracity or motivation of opposition speakers during a sometimes contentious 45-minute public hearing, the Warren County Board of Supervisors sided with a 7-3 pro-recreational shooting majority to deny the request.

‘In God We Trust’ – but practice with your gun a lot just in case, seemed to be the prevailing theme of the evening’s final public hearing. Royal Examiner Photos by Roger Bianchini – Royal Examiner Video by Mark Williams

Actually the public speaker breakdown was 7-4, but one supporter of the request, former law enforcement, and military firearms trainer Dale Orlowski, spoke to the matter during the general Public Concerns comment period near the meeting’s 7 p.m. outset. By the time the Clear Back firearms public hearing was reached at 9:35 p.m., Orlowski was long gone. During his earlier comment, Orlowski echoed previous meeting comments, calling the Clear Back shooting ban request a public safety issue, rather than a 2nd Amendment or personal freedom concern.

The vote to deny the request, on a motion by Cheryl Cullers, seconded by Delores Oates, was 4-0 with Happy Creek Supervisor Tony Carter absent.

At issue was what has been described at previous meetings as a belligerent attitude by subdivision recreational shooters, who have been alleged by gun-ban petition circulator James Harper to have refused several personal or business requests to suspend obtrusive gunfire during events like golf course-hosted weddings or a child’s birthday party at a nearby private residence.

In making his case for the shooting ban, Malcolm Barr Sr. said of the desired outcome limiting the amount of noise and potential accompanying danger in their neighborhood, “My wife and I wish it would be so in the absence of any law, but we fear not.”

Barr called the level of “gunfire” prior to the current lull after media publicity about the shooting ban request “seemingly incessant” close to his Rockland Road home not far from the Shenandoah Valley Golf Course Clubhouse. He noted his wife, Carol, underwent scheduled, daily home medical treatments for cancer that he believes have helped her beat Stage 4 cancer for 10 years. Quiet, he noted, is the desired atmosphere for those one to two-hour daily treatments.

As Royal Examiner previously reported, during August 4th public concerns comments to the supervisors, shooting ban petition circulator James Harper said, “Several weeks ago on a Saturday we all heard automatic gunfire for over 5-1/2 hours. This was non-stop gunfire,” Harper said … Years ago this was farmland, now it’s a neighborhood. Is it fair for two houses to disrupt the neighborhood?” Harper asked the board before presenting a list of signatures in support of the shooting ban for the subdivision area, including from former supervisor Ben Weddle, former town councilman Kermit Nichols, and … SVGC principal Richard Runyon. Harper recounted a story he said Runyon told him when he first moved near the golf course to introduce him to the shooting issue.

“He told me they were hosting a wedding, and they went across the street to ask them to stop shooting while the wedding was going on because it was an outdoor wedding. And they said ‘No’ and kept on shooting. That’s what we’re dealing with,” Harper told the supervisors.

Gun-ban petition circulator James Harper, above, and self-described local shooter and instructor Bryan DeNinno, below, had very differing outlooks on what is really going on in their neighborhood. Seated behind DeNinno in the photo are his son James, red mask, and other supporters.

However, the public hearing’s opening speaker, Clear Back area shooter Bryan DeNinno, his son James and others disputed such assertions, saying if asked for good reason to halt their firearms shooting, they would.

Both sides have portrayed the other as selfish in their stances on the shooting issue. Now, with the ban denied by the supervisors, and requests like Barr’s over his wife’s desire for quiet around specifically timed medical treatments at home, we may find out exactly how fruitful Board Chairman Mabe’s plea for direct, neighborly communications between the sides will be in alleviating further conflict over recreational shooting practices in the area.

Several pro-shooting rights advocates noted that Harper had his home up for sale, and asserted he had personal motive to fabricate negative portrayals of them to up the sales value of his home to city folks who might be seeking peace and quiet in a more rural setting. They also contended that Harper misrepresented the nature of his petition to acquire signatures and asserted that some signatures were from bordering areas not included in the Clear Back Subdivision at issue.

Harper countered that he was not a liar, but rather was forwarding what he believes is a majority opinion of the now expanded Clear Back area residential neighborhood. Of the previous level of shooting present prior to what 18-year Rockland resident and shooting-ban supporter Malcolm Barr Sr. called a welcome lull in the recreational shooting since the shooting ban request went public in the media following the August 5 supervisors’ meeting, Harper said, “I don’t think the Clear Back Subdivision needs a militia, unless Joe Biden wins.”

But his expression of conservative Republicanism and support for President Trump didn’t help his cause with perhaps politically like-minded neighbors.

James DeNinno called neighborhood gun owners “calm, collected and good will people” and took issue with Royal Examiner’s reporting of what was described by four public speakers, five counting a submitted letter, on the topic at the August 4 supervisors meeting. Hey, we can’t help it if they said it – and how would you know they said it if we hadn’t reported it? Don’t kill the messenger, as the old saying goes.

Several speakers addressed a perceived “slippery slope” of governmental overreach in limiting their rights as Americans. “That pop, pop, pop is the sound of freedom,” Bryan DeNinno said in opening the public hearing. Several local shooters also disputed the description of “automatic” weapons fire in the area, denying possession of illegal weapons. One even worried over a potential late-night ATF raid on their home based on those descriptions leading to a potential shootout with federal agents.

The level of animosity between the opposing viewpoints – public safety and nuisance versus 2nd Amendment and property rights – was upped a notch with an appearance at the speaker’s podium by former Board Chairman and North River District supervisor Dan Murray, whose voice rose as he defended the shooting rights of his former neighboring district constituents, and occasionally directed critical comments at Harper and Board Chairman Walt Mabe.

As James Harper listens, seated in the right foreground, former Board Chairman Dan Murray gets his ‘Irish’ up as he belabors the board for even considering a recreational shooting ban in the rural area.

In fact, Murray asked Mabe to recuse himself from the vote due to Harper’s support of him in the 2018 election. Murray did not seek re-election and Oates won the battle to replace him as North River representative. Mabe was elected chairman after defeating Shenandoah District incumbent Tom Sayre.

Mabe responded to Murray, saying he would not recuse because he made no political promises in exchange for electoral support, and disputed Murray’s contention that Harper had been his “largest” financial supporter.

“I don’t consider this just an attack on the 2nd Amendment, it is also an attack on property rights,” Murray began, questioning where the evidence of danger to neighbors was – “Has there been any property damage? Has anyone been shot? If not, this is personal with an individual that wants to sell a property,” Murray continued setting his sights on Harper. “And he’s violating quite a few people’s rights … This is a travesty,” Murray said, arguing the matter should have never come before the supervisors.

His voice began rising as he said that during his eight years on the board, such an issue had never come before the board “Not once, NOT ONCE,” Murray said, escalating his tone and pitch upward as he cited Harper as forwarding a personal agenda.

See Harper try to respond, and Murray turn and yell, “Sir, I HAVE the FLOOR,” as the battle was joined in the below Royal Examiner video.

‘Excuse me, I have the floor,’ Murray turned to remind Harper, who attempted to interrupt when Murray’s attack turned personally toward him. Below, Harper leaves the podium area following his subsequent reply to attacks on his motive.

After listening to the exchanges and Murray’s dust-up with Harper, a citizen who had not signed up to speak asked to address the board. Susan Bowen is not a newcomer to the neighborhood.

“I guess I’m saddened at what I’m hearing tonight – the disrespect for those of us who live in the country. And I’ve been there for almost 75 years on a family farm, fourth generation. And I love the peace there. And I guess they have no respect for those of us who would like to live in a quiet atmosphere; to completely disregard our wish for a peaceful and quiet community.

‘I’ve lived there for 75 years and I’ve never heard gunshots like I’m hearing now from these people – I’ve never heard it before … and I’m just really saddened by it all … I don’t think you’re going to hurt anybody or kill anybody. It’s just the noise. It’s not the feeling of being safe. And I really appreciate your freedom, but don’t we count too? … Don’t we have rights too, to have a peaceful existence?

“I’m just terribly saddened tonight,” Bowen concluded to a silence she wished more prevalent at her home and neighborhood.

See the Clear Back Subdivision shooting ban public hearing and all the comments from both sides in this first Royal Examiner video: