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JUNE 12, 2014
Vol. 58 No. 36
niles
coMMUnity
Gun range gets OK from village zoning board Sportsman’s Club and Firearms Training Academy would feature an 11,800-square-foot firing range By Alex HernAndez staff reporter
ahernandez@buglenewspapers.com @TheAVHernandez
PHOTO BY ALEX V. HERNANDEZ/ STAFF REPORTER
Wally Bielicz, 16, of Chicago, performing BMX tricks at Hinkley Skate Park in Park Ridge.
The Niles Plan Commission and Zoning Board voted in favor of a proposed gun range for the village’s manufacturing district. Sportsman’s Club and Firearms Training Academy would feature an 11,800-squarefoot firing range and 2,500 square feet of retail space at 6143 Howard St. The range would also feature secure gun storage, gun classes and would eventually solicit individual shooters and organizations, like Olympic rifle shooting clubs, to use their facilities. “We know this is a controversial issue,” said Myles P. Cunningham Jr., Sportsman’s president and self-described “career entrepreneur,” to the commission on June 2. Cunningham and investment partner James Oraha are the owners of Chicagobased Level Builders, a company whose resume includes Bucktown’s Goorin Bros. and River North’s Kinzie Chophouse. Cunningham is a shooting enthusiast and said he and his partners all took gun courses focused on concealed carry after the state law was passed. “What we found is that the classes we took were training us to get the license,” said Cunningham. “They weren’t training you how to be a responsible individual with conceal and carry.” >> see zoning | pAge 23