Monroeville council delays decision on Range USA indoor gun range after safety and oversight questions

Council members agreed Monday to keep the public hearing open for Range USA— a national chain that proposes a 12,100-square-foot indoor shooting range at 300 Mall Boulevard and to revisit the application at the council meeting on Nov. 11. The applicant, Kevin Ali of Range USA, outlined a plan for a retail floor, classrooms and roughly a dozen shooting lanes, a concrete block "box" for the range and a bullet trap system to capture and recycle lead.

The hearing was opened as a conditional-use request under the municipalityzoning code (Article 5, Section 504(k)) for operation of an indoor gun range. Ali said Range USA emphasizes safety and training, employs range safety officers certified through the United States Concealed Carry Association and that the company retains customers' driver's licenses while they rent firearms on site.

Residents and council members pressed the applicant and police staff on when and whether a criminal-history check is run for people who rent firearms to shoot on the range. "We do not run background checks" for renters, Ali said, adding that federal firearms license and sales require background checks but that rentals at the range have not involved the same instant check practice as a purchase. Monroeville Police Chief Cole told council that sales must go through PennsylvaniaInstant Criminal History checks (PICS) and noted departments routinely run PICS checks when returning seized firearms.

Speakers in the public record raised concerns about the proposal's proximity to restaurants and other end-cap businesses, possible reverberation and noise leakage, parking and traffic impacts in a busy mall plaza, and whether safety and ID-holding practices would prevent someone who is prohibited from possessing firearms from renting and taking possession of a gun on site. "It would just take a matter of seconds for somebody to . . . do horrific damage," one council member said when describing the public safety concern; several residents called for stronger screening for renters and for additional sound-proofing data.

Council member Rascher moved to table the hearing so staff could gather additional information, including consultations with the ATF and local law enforcement on legal obligations for rentals, sound-data or mitigation details, and examples from other Range USA locations. The motion was seconded and approved by voice vote; the hearing will continue on Tuesday, Nov. 11.

The applicant noted design measures intended to reduce noise including an internal concrete range box, mineral-wool insulated faux wall between the range and adjacent tenants, sound-absorbing rubber, spray-on insulating foam (K-13), and a multi-door vestibule. Ali said the company uses an OSHA-compliant contractor to collect and recycle lead from bullet traps and that many of Range USA's other facilities are freestanding sites; he said only a few of their roughly 50 national locations are end-cap retail units similar to the proposed Monroeville site.

Council did not vote on the conditional-use request itself; the continuation is for fact-finding and to allow staff to return with formal recommendations and any conditions council may consider.