Potential location for the Joint Base machine gun range showing earlier 1,500 yard firing lanes. Town of Barnstable
BOURNE – Local leaders applauded an amendment in the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act that would not extend funding for the proposed machine gun range at Joint Base Cape Cod, but they added that they don’t think the conversation is over.
Barnstable County Commissioner Mark Forrest applauded the move by Congressman Bill Keating that would allow funding authorizations to lapse come September, but expressed concern that a facility might still be built with existing funds on the base that could be expanded at a later date.
“We recognize that there is a need for training,” said Forest.
“There is a range almost exactly like this one being built up at Fort Devans, that is an appropriate place to continue this kind of training. We really don’t need a duplicate range on Cape Cod.”
Officials with the base have said that a range on-site would cut down on training costs as well as time, and recently scaled-back proposals call for increased attention to erosion, stormwater runoff, and other ecological impacts.
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