I get that not everyone shares the same values. Not everyone supports gun rights. I don’t agree with these people in the least, but they have every right in the world to be wrong.
What bothers me is when anyone decides that their personal feelings about a given activity, one that is legal, should dictate what a government does and doesn’t do without some really, really good arguments.
In Toms River, New Jersey, which is a pretty pro-gun place in an anti-gun state, a former mayor tried to scuttle a proposed recreational facility because it has an indoor range, and in another part, there’s a bar and restaurant. Cam covered this a couple of weeks ago.
However, the former mayor seems to have an ally in the town council vice president, who has the most amazing argument as to why the range shouldn’t be included.
A proposed indoor shooting range at the nearly $20 million Ocean County Sports Complex has sparked growing political debate in Toms River, with Councilman Tom Nivison voicing opposition to firearms being included at the new recreation and entertainment destination on Hooper Avenue.
“I don’t like guns,” said Toms River Council Vice President Tom Nivison, owner of Silverton Farms, and a banjo player in a transgender led bluegrass band. “We need to revisit the zoning and see if we can get that gun range moved off those premises.”
That’s right. He doesn’t like guns, so every penny spent so far on this complex should be tossed out the window because he doesn’t like a perfectly legal activity that the people of his community have a right to engage in. Hell, this is a city that nullified permitting fees. It’s a smaller town that had more active carry permits as of December, 2025 than Newark. But Nivison doesn’t like guns, so that should change everything.
Spare me.
The fact that he’s a banjo player in a transgender led bluegrass band is just one of those things that sounds so completely made up that I had to check and see if this was a parody. If I wanted to play to the right by lampooning the left, I couldn’t come up with a better character unless I made Nivison the transgender band leader or something.
But nope. He’s real.
What about the other criticism, though, that maybe someone might get drunk at the restaurant and bar, then go to the gun range?
Project materials describe the indoor shooting range as a standalone, self-contained building physically separated from the restaurant and entertainment portions of the complex. Despite a report in the Toms River Times claiming “guns and shots” no alcohol will be served or permitted within the gun range, and gun range operators are trained to spot impaired guests before they are given access to firearms or the range.
Developers have said the layout was specifically designed to address public safety concerns and comply with New Jersey firearm regulations, which are among the strictest in the country.
In addition to the shooting range, the sports complex is expected to feature:
- A driving range and virtual golf attractions
- Pickleball courts
- Batting cages
- A restaurant and second-floor lounge area
- Arcade games, pool tables and shuffleboard
And as Cam noted in his piece, there are ways to make sure no one mixes alcohol with guns, including a really interesting system at a private range in Arizona.
Plus, let’s be real here, batting cages being listed tells us that baseball bats will be on the premises. Is no one worried about someone getting drunk and beating a person to death with a club? What about the pool stick? Those can be deadly weapons. Same with golf clubs.
In other words, this is all a non-issue, but some people hate guns so much that they have to manufacture problems to try to prevent law-abiding citizens from exercising their Second Amendment rights. I’ll give Nivison credit, though. He was at least honest as to why he opposes the range and wants it removed. Everyone else is just making up crap to be worried about.
Editor’s Note: The radical Left will stop at nothing to enact their radical gun control agenda and strip us of our Second Amendment rights.
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