Shooting Ranges

Pima County Natural Resources Parks & Recreation Department has three shooting ranges in the county; one near the town of Ajo and two near Tucson.

The Tucson Mountain Park Shooting Range was originally built in the mid-fifties and is a small twelve position shooting range for gun enthusiast on the west and southwest side of Tucson. The range has been recently renovated for improved safety and sound remediation. The Range is located approximately one-half mile north of the southern entrance to Tucson Mountain Park on Kinney Road. The range is open from Fridays through Sunday, 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. The range has 12 benched shooting positions. This historic and scenic range offers shooters with a safe and rustic flavor.

Southeast Regional Park Shooting Range was opened August of 2004. The existing range has twelve positions at one-hundred and two hundred yards for big bore shooters and 18 positions for small bore and handgun enthusiasts. Southeast Regional Park Shooting Range will be moving into a new phase this upcoming year. The bond approved by Pima County voters approved the second phase of construction that will include completion of the main range with an additional 100 yard positions, an education range and classrooms for firearms safety and marksmanship training, a clay target facility that will include trap, skeet and sporting clay courses and archery ranges that will include a site in range, a FITA, international competition range and walking courses. Improvements will begin this upcoming year.

The Virgil Ellis Shooting Range in Ajo received a make-over in 2005 with berm renovations, ramada renovations, and signage and restroom improvements. The Ajo range became known as the Virgil Ellis Range in 2005.

In the early 1930s an Army camp was established north of Ajo about six miles. A shooting range was built by the military to support training exercises for the camp. The camp was soon abandoned, and then used as a Civilian Conservation Corps camp. The shooting range was used by the CCC and the community of Ajo. Later on the range was used by the Air Force, and then abandoned once again, except the shooters of Ajo kept shooting at the site.

In the 1960s Pima County acquired property near the original range site and developed a shooting range using county and community labor to construct a two-hundred yard berm, covered ramada and restrooms. Since its construction the range has been used by Ajo shooters and several law enforcement agencies.

The shooting range has been used and abused for years. Illegal off-highway vehicle traffic wore deep ruts into the berm; the site has been vandalized and has even been used as a driving range. It has suffered from illegal dumping and other thoughtless acts.

An Ajo man, who enjoyed silhouette shooting and hunting, a volunteer Arizona Hunter Education Instructor who taught most of Ajo’s youth on the safe and responsible use of firearms for over thirty years took the range under his watchful eye and built steel shooting tables and silhouettes for the range, yard markers and voluntarily visited to shoot with his friends and three boys and cleaned and cared raised three sons in the community served as an example to others.

Today, the Virgil Ellis Shooting Range provides shooting opportunities to shooters who enjoy their ability to hone their marksmanship skill. The Ajo Lions Club provides several turkey shoot competitions for area shooters.

Ajo shooters enjoy the relaxed informal atmosphere and an opportunity to tune up their hunting rifles and practice their pistol skills. In the southwest Arizona setting, shooters have twelve shooting positions out to 200 yards.

Since the range is an informal shooting range, shooters must cooperate and work with other shooters to commence and cease fire to go down range. For years informal ranges throughout Arizona have functioned very well in an unsupervised atmosphere. Shooters respect others and can easily come to agreement on shooting periods and down range safety protocols. It has been said that, “An armed society is a polite society.” Informal shooting ranges prove that adage.

Range Administative Rules

At all Shooting Ranges; all shooters must adhered to all rules and safety signs.

Shooters must remember that safety is the top priority at all ranges. A few common practices will ensure that shooting will remain safe for everyone. Shooters must remember:

Firearms must be cased and uncased at the shooting benches with the muzzles pointed down range that means; open your gun case at the shooting benches. If the muzzles are not pointed down range, close the case and rotate the case until the muzzle is pointing down range before opening the case and removing the firearm from the case.

If you are carrying an uncased or unholstered firearm, the firearm must be empty and safe with your finger off of trigger. The muzzle pointed up until it is placed on the shooting table or bench with the muzzle pointed down range. All firearms may be moved to a shooting bench during live firing periods only. No firearms may be handled during a cease firing period.

Shooters must remain behind the shooting benches unless they are setting up, checking or retrieving their targets.

Eye and ear protections are required.

There are many folks who are afraid of guns and gun users. They read headlines and have the misperception that firearm and shooters are unsafe. According to the National Shooting Sports Foundation, “Actually data released by the National Safety Council demonstrates that unintentional firearm related fatalities continue to remain at the lowest level in the council’s history of recordkeeping. In fact, in the last decade the number of unintentional firearm-related fatalities has declined by 48 percent from 1,356 accidental deaths in 1994 to 700* in 2004. Firearms are involved in fewer than 1 percent of all accidental fatalities in the United States. In a side-by-side comparison with other forms of injury, firearms have the lowest accident rates per 100,000 population.” While this is not meant to minimize the tragedy of firearms accident, it is meant to clarify that shooting is actually very safe if done in a conscientious and responsible manner.

Shooting is safe, fun and challenging recreation. Shooting Ranges are fun, not only very safe, but they are a great place to learn and pick up shooting tips and learn more about firearms. They are a gathering of responsible, law abiding citizens enjoying one of America’s freedoms and truly great recreational endeavors. Try one of Pima County Natural Resources Parks & Recreation’s shooting ranges. Bring your family.

For more information about our shooting ranges check out our website at www.tucsonshooting.org, or call Dave Daughtry or Butch Jensen (520) 877-6000.

Gun Handling Rules

1. Always keep your gun pointed in a safe direction.
2. Always keep your firearm empty and action open until you are on the line ready to fire.
3. Always keep your finger off of the trigger until you are on target and ready to shoot.
4. Know your target and beyond.
5. Be sure your gun is safe and operational.
6. Know how to use your gun safely.
7. Use only the correct ammunition for your gun.
8. Wear ear and eye protection.
9. Never use alcohol or drugs before shooting.
10. Store your guns so that they are not accessible to unauthorized shooters.

Range Safety Rules

1. Obey all commands from range staff and volunteers.
2. All range users and shooters are personally responsible for range safety and safe shooting.
3. All shooters are responsible to immediately correct any unsafe conditions.
4. If you observe any unsafe condition, report it immediately to a Rangemaster.
5. Shooters and observers must wear ear and eye protection.
6. Firearms must be carried with the muzzle up, and actions open.
7. Muzzles must always be pointed up, or down range.
8. Firearms will be kept unloaded on the firing line until commence fire command is given.
9. Firing is permitted when all persons are behind the firing line and safe conditions exist and Rangemaster commence fire commands are given.
10. Firearms are not to be handled during cease fire periods, or when people are in front of the firing line.
11. All shooting is to be into backstops only.
12. No shooting at unauthorized targets (cans, bottles, boxes, etc.) or anything on the ground.
13. No shooting at target frames.
14. All shooting will be in authorized areas only.
15. Deposit all trash in containers.
16. Respect others and their equipment.
17. Alcohol is prohibited on all ranges.
18. Persons who have been consuming alcohol or are under the influence of drugs are prohibited from shooting.

Shooters should pick up brass before leaving. Brass may be placed into appropriate container, or retrieved for personal use.