Some info from AK Outdoors Shooters (which closed the thread as they are not a 2A forum):
http://forums.outdoorsdirectory.com/showthread.php/133095-Birchwood-Range-goes-anti-gun!

The Giffords & Kelly Fail Parade went and visited Alaska to put pressure on our Senators (Begich-D, Murkowski-R) who are both soft on the 2A but voted the right way last go around.

Some articles about it:
http://www.adn.com/2013/07/02/2961220/kelly-and-giffords-lobby-in-alaska.html
http://www.adn.com/2013/07/02/2961638/giffords-kelly-meet-alaska-gun.html

They went to Birchwood.  There's a picture of Kelly shooting a 10/22 (originally captioned as a "high powered rifle" and now captioned as a "hunting rifle") at our range.

On Mondays & Tuesdays, access is limited to members only; guests require approval of the board.  Mark Kelly and a media team (possibly ADN?) visited at 0715 local.  The Board is claiming they did not give permission.  See post from AKMilSurp (allegedly Dave Arieno, President of AMGA) here:  



They did find 11 Alaskans (all of whom agreed with their agenda) to dine with at the Captain Cook (swanky high rollers, I guess).  Here's an account from one of them from the same thread over at AK Outdoors forum:



Some lessons learned, potentially:

1)  The heat is still on.  We have a LOT of naive people in the "swing" states on this issue like Alaska.  Because the state is so good on 2A issues, many Alaskans have no idea what the magnitude of the threat is, and they still believe in the good faith of our political opponents.  The truth is that our political adversaries want us dead or in prison.  Just look at the language of Schumer's "Universal Background Check" bills, the failed AWB verbiage, or what is going on in the Ban States.  They would hoist the black flag in a moment and burn AR-15 owners out of their homes (well, they'd probably order SWAT to do it -- I don't see Mark Kelly or Mayor Bloomberg getting their hands dirty) if they thought they could get away with it.  

2)  Range education.  Just having a safety SOP is not enough anymore.  There need to be some policies and engagement on things like media access to the ranges.  We and our facilities are being USED.  The antis will find the weak or naive link.  In this case, the person that took them to the range is involved in some lefty environmental causes which I suspect is how they got the phone number.  I'm not intending to drag us into the Pebble Mine debate here, and I support a bunch of environmental causes in Alaska too; I'm just saying that it is a rolodex for the gun control folks to use when they need access to our facilities for a photo op.  I hate to shut down media involvement, but we need to (A) conduct ourselves like we are always being covertly recorded and (B) control celebrity PR access to our facilities so that our side gets presented too.  After all, they don't have an anti-gun range to go to, so they must use ours.  They should be using our facilities on our terms which should include presenting the pro-freedom side of the issue.

Additionally, with range policies in place and posted, it sets the stage for legal action to be taken against antis when they abuse the policy.  If nothing else, it allows the antis to be "trespassed" and removed from the property if necessary.

Yes, I am!  lol

 Not a whole lot new on this issue.  BRSP Board Meeting is tonight @ 6:30.  We'll be discussing this at length...

Basically,  they pulled a fast one on the manager.  Whomever contacted BRSP initially just asked if a Lt. Col Kelly could shoot there as a guest of an EPM.  Given the large military presence here in Alaska, he assumed it was just another guy stationed at JBER so he approved it.   He didn't put  Mark Kelly and Gabrielle Giffords together  in his head at the time--.  nor did the person who contacted BRSP mention her, OR any MEDIA accompanying!.

We (the board) would NOT have approved the visit OR media entourage--  nor did we.  In Fact, the manager didn't approve any media.  Frankly he wasn't asked permission for media to attend.

These folks and their entourage arrived at 7:00 AM as a guest of EPM "Anders Gustafson".  They told the folks who questioned them they had approval from the "Management" to attend AND bring a media entourage.    A half-truth at best.  Apparently CHannel 11 news also heard of this and tried to enter.  The Giffords entourage  tried to block their entry, saying only THEIR media had permission to attend.   About that time,  (8:15?)  one of our directors happened to show up to do a little target practice.

He notified the rest of the board.  By that time, the Giffords and their entourage had already been there over an hour shooting, etc at the range.  Since Channel 11 news has always done very positive coverage of events at BRSP,  he decided to let them in as a counter to the Gifford's "media" entourage.  THe Gifford's were NOT pleased.  

So--  THat's where we currently stand.  We're going to have a long chat with Mr. Gustafson.....  and more details will come out this evening at the board meeting.

Thankfully news coverage mentioning BRSP is minimal.  IN fact the only place I've seen BRSP mentioned is in the forums  and on the Giffords website.  And that only mentioned the venue.   Nothing about it in particular.

Thanks for chiming in, Dave.

Is this action eligible for a lifetime ban from birchwood ?

Seconded!

 

Attended the meeting of the board last night and voiced my opinion ... HERE is a bigger issue . 5000+ members of Birchwood Shooting on the roll call list
you know how many attended the meeting ....3 Including myself ...In this day and age we all need to step up to the plate and get involved , the time for sitting on the sidelines
is over ..

If I didn't work evenings during the week, you know I would have been there to "voice" my concern.

I know , thats why I call you with all the info I'm presented . I was pleased with the outcome , I will be a regular at board meetings .

um, they have meetings?? seriously when?

I would LOVE to attend, but my work schedule and wife time usually precludes this.  Keep us posted on board activities.  It was an achievement getting a highpower shooter on the board a few years ago - at least someone to look after our interests.

Will do . I know the range master for rifle /pistol he and I served together
And I have all the confidence in him , same with Dave the AMGA pres who chimed in .
The others I met made me feel super welcome being a rifle/pistol guy
I really enjoyed hearing " It's your club as much as anyone else's , you 're always welcome at meetings "
Anyone who had a sour taste about things of the past , I can say from what I saw , great things are coming
But we have vanadlism issues that need to be addressed on a reasonable an cost affordable way . Pisses me off
To know people are sneaking in shooting out lights and breaking into the storage and club houses

I love it!  Go Dave!

Begich already stated that he would definitely vote for gun control if he thinks he can get away with it.  It's time to start calling his office regularly reminding him not to even think about it, don't get complacent or it'll be to late before you know it.  Bloomberg opened his wallet and everyone is wanting to jump in it.

Any updates on the outcome of the meeting??

From an email sent to members,

On July 2nd, an organization dedicated to Congressional approval of significant additional restrictions on gun ownership, entered and used our park.  They were escorted by an EPM member, apparently for the purpose of creating stock footage in support of their cause.

This use of the BRSP facilities was conducted without the knowledge or consent of the BRSP board.

The BRSP board did not and would not have consented to such use of our facilities.  We have taken steps to insure such a use does not happen in the future.  Shoot safe.

Gary Peters.
Board President.

The terrible connection speed here at camp makes for weird responses...

Local server is down in Vancouver, and the company firewall is in Miami.