This page is for our past, present and future supporters. It will be dedicated to current events involving our range. Please know that you are VERY important to us and deserve to know "what's up" so I will post as often as I can to keep you in the loop. We know that our supporters will not be the only ones reading this page so some details will not be released until "after the fact". We will be smart. THANK YOU.
Unfortunately, as of July 2021, Lumpkin County has shut down the "live fire" portion of The Complete Combatant. Never fear, we are appealing this decision with the help of John Monroe Law, P.C, Georgia Gun Rights Attorney. We have moved our live fire classes to Georgia Mountain Shooting Association and to Pickens County Sportsman Club for now. They are both located in the beautiful North Georgia Mountains. Same great instruction, just a different location. There will be a $20 range fee per person, per day, that will be collected by the range that hosts us. This is common practice so bring cash!
All NON live fire classes will still be held at our range here in Dahlonega, GA.
Unfortunately, as of July 2021, Lumpkin County has shut down the "live fire" portion of The Complete Combatant. Never fear, we are appealing this decision with the help of John Monroe Law, P.C, Georgia Gun Rights Attorney. We have moved our live fire classes to Georgia Mountain Shooting Association and to Pickens County Sportsman Club for now. They are both located in the beautiful North Georgia Mountains. Same great instruction, just a different location. There will be a $20 range fee per person, per day, that will be collected by the range that hosts us. This is common practice so bring cash!
All NON live fire classes will still be held at our range here in Dahlonega, GA.
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CLICK HERE: Hi all! First off, Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you are surrounded by friends, family, food and laughter this week! As always, we are grateful for your support and we give thanks every single day that we have such a wonderful, strong and generous community standing with us! We are very blessed.
It has been a while since we had any new info to report but today there was some activity about us on the frontpage of The Dahlonega Nugget. "Lumpkin County is in the crosshairs of a lawsuit filed by the owners of The Complete Combatant after their self defense business was ordered to cease all training that involved shooting at the Porter Springs gun range. It was at this month’s work session that the Lumpkin County Board of Commissioners announced that they had been served with the suit in response to their rejection of the company’s Special Land Use Application (SLUA) request. The decision came after complaints from around the community over Brian Hill’s self defense program for the “armed citizen,” a business that has been located on Porter Springs Road since 2017"........... |
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We are very proud to announce WHO our attorney is.....hold onto your hats because some of you will know him as "the HAMMER"!
John Monroe has been practicing law since 1993. He devotes his practice to issues pertaining to gun laws. He regularly represents individuals and small businesses whose rights to keep and bear arms are being threatened either by governmental action or by private parties that are hostile to lawful possession and use of firearms. During his career, John has litigated cases against the ATF, the FBI, the State of Georgia, and many counties and cities in Georgia and other states. John has successfully sued several probate judges in Georgia for refusing to issue weapons carry licenses to eligible clients. He also has defended clients criminally charged with murder, aggravated assault, carrying weapons in unauthorized locations, and others. He has argued and won cases before the Supreme Court of Georgia, the Court of Appeals of Georgia, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, and other state and federal trial and appellate courts. He has a law degree from the University of Wisconsin – Madison and a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Vanderbilt University. He is licensed to practice law in the Supreme Court of the United States, several federal appellate and trial courts (including all federal courts in Georgia, Wisconsin, and other states), and all state trial and appellate courts in Georgia and Wisconsin. |
He is the chief legal counsel for GeorgiaCarry.Org, Inc. and Wisconsin Carry, Inc. two grass roots organizations devoted to fostering the rights of its members to keep and bear arms. In addition to representing clients, John drafts proposed legislation on behalf of GeorgiaCarry.Org and testifies before the legislature on the details of the proposals.
He has edited multiple books on gun laws in Georgia, has been a guest lecturer at both Georgia State and John Marshall law schools, and is a frequent speaker in both public forums on gun laws and in continuing legal education seminars on Second Amendment issues. |
John Monroe Law, P.C. is the premier gun rights law firm in Georgia. It has litigated more gun rights cases in Georgia than any other firm. The firm concentrates its practice on issues pertaining to gun laws, including licensing issues and civil and criminal litigation. When other lawyers have questions about gun laws and how to handle gun cases, John Monroe Law, P.C. is where they call.
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I am happy to announce that we have made the decision to appeal. We did our homework over the last several weeks and we have chosen excellent counsel. They have advised us to be silent throughout this process and to only offer updates when appropriate and when cleared by them. Obviously, you understand why.
We have already contacted some of the wonderful people that had donated to the "Save Our Range and Noise Reduction" fund to confirm that we have permission to use their generous gifts for legal expenses now, and in the future. We are proud to announce that 100% said "YES"! TIME SENSITIVE: If you donated to our "Save Our Range" fund for the sole purpose of noise abatement, and do not want your gift to go towards legal expenses, then please email me BY OCTOBER 31st, 2021 and I will gladly return your donation. If I do not hear from you by then, I will assume you want us to "let it ride"! THANK YOU ALL VERY MUCH! |
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Just a quick update on a few things:
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CLICK HERE: The Dahlonega Nugget- Gun Range Proposal Shot Down.
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#1. There are a couple things that Brian and I would like you to know. I will not be vague but it will simply be the facts.
We HAVE met all of the requirements per Planning and Zoning. This is on public record. On Tuesday, Aug. 17th, 2021 Planning and Zoning opened up the special 6:30pm hearing with a verbal presentation and slides of our property. They went over each requirement (see the purple section on the right side) in detail.
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Code of ordinances that applies to the shooting range:
G. The following commercial land uses shall meet the additional requirements described below: I. Outdoor recreational facilities, such as driving ranges, shooting ranges, batting cages, go-cart tracks, etc., shall meet the following requirements: a. A 100-foot buffer shall be required for all components of the use. b. All building structures shall be 200 feet from any non-residentially used or vacant property line, and 500 feet from any residentially used property line. c. A plan for ingress and egress must be approved by the planning department. d. Parking areas must be a minimum of 25 feet from any property line. e. The property shall be enclosed by a security fence of not less than six feet in height along the side and rear property lines. Such fence shall be opaque along property lines adjacent to residential uses. f. Uses that have a high risk of injury on adjacent properties, such as golf driving ranges or batting cages, may require additional screening or fencing at the discretion of the planning department. The planning staff requires a 12 ft minimum fencing or skeleton framing system around the shooting range in order to hang weather resistant high density sound barriers, blankets or panels. (In accordance with Section 27-51 (G.) I., f.). This is something that the Planning Department feels will be a productive way forward to help mitigate the sound that the range produces and per our code, we are requiring this. |
#2. On Monday, September 20th, 2021 we received an email from Planning and Zoning. It was called SLUA Requirements Under Consideration. I will not give out details of the email but they asked us for concessions and additional items to take under consideration. We agreed to ALL but one (needed a bit more discussion) and even added MORE concessions than what was asked of us. We did not tell anyone because there was a bit more to discuss at the public hearing but as you can imagine, Brian and I we very pleased that since we agreed to their terms, we would be able to keep the live fire portion of The Complete Combatant in tact....so we thought. You can now also image our shock when we were not allowed to speak at a PUBLIC HEARING and then they voted NO with no communication.
There is so much more to this but these are just two things that we wanted YOU, the people that trust us, train with us, and support us, to know....
There is so much more to this but these are just two things that we wanted YOU, the people that trust us, train with us, and support us, to know....
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THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING!
We have been using GFM and the Change.org petition to post updates. Bobbi has researched when they automatically go "offline/delete". We want to keep these both "active" for many reasons but the main reason right now is because they tell a "story". Please jump on either one of the links above to read the timeline and details of this nightmare.
We have collected just under $35,000 in donations to save our range. We wanted everyone to know that we have NOT spent one dime of the money that has been donated. The GoFundMe, Venmo and Cash App donations have been deposited into our account. The checks have not been cashed. Decisions need to be made for both you and I.
Brian is heading to the ASP National Conference located in Kansas so we have not made any decisions on "what's next". We will dive into this next week. At that time, we will decide if we want to pursue another avenue. If so, what will the goal be? You guys need to decide if you want to be refunded or if you want to let your donation "ride" and we use it to fund the other avenue. This is 100% your decision.
If we decide NOT to move forward, then the donations will be returned (unless specified otherwise). We will know more over the next couple (edited on 10-04-21 12:18pm - it will take longer than a couple weeks to gather info) weeks.....research needs to be done on what transpired last night.
The Lumpkin County Commissioners are not truthful people. After the 1st hearing they gave us "busy work" that would lead nowhere and we feel that they manipulated us from the beginning. Last night they provided inaccurate information, changed wording, and in the end, they passed the buck because this is a difficult situation. No respect was given to us so pay attention Lumpkin County Residents, you may be next. What a sad night for not just us, but all the small business owners in Lumpkin County that work from home or don't fit in their "plans". They have opened the door to telling everyone what they can and can't do...all they have to do is change county laws if you don't fit in the box. 2nd Amendment supporters? I think not.
If we weren't so devastated we would probably feel sorry for the neighbors that complained. We will not stop shooting on our property . We will still practice, have friends over, family gatherings, Clean & Pew, etc. that involve shooting (edited 10-04-21 12:20pm - this all involves recreation and is not business related). As long as we don't profit from "live fire" as a business, we are free to continue on. If the Commissioners had voted YES, we would have spent $35,000 to reduce noise and all that went with the negotiated YES (we had a contract ready to sign with Environmental Noise Control plus we had TONS of concessions). Since the vote was NO, we will not reduce noise but we will still practice, have friends over, family gatherings, etc. The neighbors will pay the price for the Commissioners lack of communication with us.
We may have been the first to feel the Commissioners power, but we are not the last.
Brian and Shelley
We have been using GFM and the Change.org petition to post updates. Bobbi has researched when they automatically go "offline/delete". We want to keep these both "active" for many reasons but the main reason right now is because they tell a "story". Please jump on either one of the links above to read the timeline and details of this nightmare.
- GFM will be active until until we close it. "Your fundraiser will remain live until you choose to turn off donations or remove the campaign altogether. Most organizers leave their campaigns active indefinitely to refer back to the kind comments and support they received". GFM
- Change.org petition will be active until August 22nd, 2022.
We have collected just under $35,000 in donations to save our range. We wanted everyone to know that we have NOT spent one dime of the money that has been donated. The GoFundMe, Venmo and Cash App donations have been deposited into our account. The checks have not been cashed. Decisions need to be made for both you and I.
Brian is heading to the ASP National Conference located in Kansas so we have not made any decisions on "what's next". We will dive into this next week. At that time, we will decide if we want to pursue another avenue. If so, what will the goal be? You guys need to decide if you want to be refunded or if you want to let your donation "ride" and we use it to fund the other avenue. This is 100% your decision.
If we decide NOT to move forward, then the donations will be returned (unless specified otherwise). We will know more over the next couple (edited on 10-04-21 12:18pm - it will take longer than a couple weeks to gather info) weeks.....research needs to be done on what transpired last night.
The Lumpkin County Commissioners are not truthful people. After the 1st hearing they gave us "busy work" that would lead nowhere and we feel that they manipulated us from the beginning. Last night they provided inaccurate information, changed wording, and in the end, they passed the buck because this is a difficult situation. No respect was given to us so pay attention Lumpkin County Residents, you may be next. What a sad night for not just us, but all the small business owners in Lumpkin County that work from home or don't fit in their "plans". They have opened the door to telling everyone what they can and can't do...all they have to do is change county laws if you don't fit in the box. 2nd Amendment supporters? I think not.
If we weren't so devastated we would probably feel sorry for the neighbors that complained. We will not stop shooting on our property . We will still practice, have friends over, family gatherings, Clean & Pew, etc. that involve shooting (edited 10-04-21 12:20pm - this all involves recreation and is not business related). As long as we don't profit from "live fire" as a business, we are free to continue on. If the Commissioners had voted YES, we would have spent $35,000 to reduce noise and all that went with the negotiated YES (we had a contract ready to sign with Environmental Noise Control plus we had TONS of concessions). Since the vote was NO, we will not reduce noise but we will still practice, have friends over, family gatherings, etc. The neighbors will pay the price for the Commissioners lack of communication with us.
We may have been the first to feel the Commissioners power, but we are not the last.
Brian and Shelley