Chester County man concerned over nearby gun range

CHESTER COUNTY, S.C. — A Chester County man is fighting to protect himself from gunfire that he says is coming onto his property from a nearby gun range.

Benny Etter showed Channel 9’s Tina Terry half a dozen bullet holes in his house and nearby property, and he says he’s been unable to get any help from county leaders. He’s asking them to step in before someone gets hurt.

“We bought 42 acres here and just wanted to move out in the country,” Etter told Channel 9.

Benny Etter’s dream home is surrounded by beautiful trees, the sounds of nature, and gunfire.

Pappy’s Gun Range sits several hundred yards behind Etter’s property. It opened more than 30 years ago -- decades before Etter built his home.

“The sound’s not an issue at all. I have no issue with the gun range itself,” Etter said.

He does take issue with stray bullets. He says they have traveled from the gun range and hit his property.

“So we got a bullet right here that we left in the wall,” Etter said.

He says he noticed this bullet lodged in his house about two years ago.

“See the hole in the screen,” Etter said.

Next, he showed us a bullet that hit his bedroom window. From inside, we could see the bullet still sitting in the window frame.

He even showed us a picture of a tree he says was hit while his grandkids played outside.

“I mean, when you can’t feel safe in your own yard, it’s absolutely a safety hazard,” Etter said.

On Tuesday, we went to the gun range. The owner isn’t convinced the bullets on Etter’s property came from her range, but she says she is invested in safety. She said they recently rebuilt 15-20′ dirt berms behind the targets on the range.

“We build the berms up and that takes the dirt and pushes it all the way up, so they’re higher up and that’s what stops the rounds from going past that way,” she said.

We reached out to Chester County government on Tuesday, and they sent a statement saying the gun range predates zoning codes that were implemented in 1999, and it’s grandfathered in.

“We’ve called everybody you can think of from Chester County. Nobody can do anything,” Etter said.

The current county ordinance pertaining to gun ranges requires a minimum 10-foot-high earth berm behind and on the sides of targets, and a 20-foot-high earth berm down range at the end of the property for stray bullets.

But because that business is grandfathered in, leaders say it is exempt from the current code.

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