Advertisement City-owned gun range gets liquor license Liquor Control Commission promises zero tolerance Share Shares Copy Link Copy

A city-owned gun range will soon be pouring beers for shooters.The Nebraska Liquor Commission issued the license Thursday afternoon.Omaha Parks and Recreation put a rule in place allowing shooters at the Harry Koch Trapp and Skeet Range to drink after shooting but not before.Video: City-owned gun range gets liquor licenseState officials believe the rules can be enforced, and the city got what it was looking for."It's great. Usually, we have to go somewhere else to get a beer after we are done here, so we might as well give them some more money to keep the place looking good," trap shooter Mike Tucker said.Bartenders will be pulling tap handles only feet from where people are pulling triggers."Can go in and tell stories about how they beat this guy or that guy or I beat my body, and they can have one or two beers and go home," Harry Koch Range Manager Billie Beuttgenbach said.Beuttgenbach, a world-champion shooter, said beer sales will get more people to enjoy the recently renovated clubhouse.It's the same plan proposed to the Nebraska Liquor Control Commission."When they are done, and they are talking about how the day went, just like at a golf course, they like to sit around and talk about how they shot, have a bowl of popcorn and have a beer," Omaha Parks Director Brook Bench said."As we know, guns and alcohol don't mix. We like both of them but not together," Nebraska Liquor Control Commissioner Bob Batt said. "A taxpayer to the city of Omaha, I want to make sure we do not have another liability problem."To keep alcohol and shooting separate, the city will log every beer purchase in a computer."It flags them up that they already purchased a beer and then they can't go shoot," Beuttgenbach saidDrinkers won't be able to shoot for 24 hours after their last beer purchase. The safeguards convinced the Liquor Control Commission, but not without a stern warning of zero tolerance and no second chances."You can't be out here getting drunk and going shooting," Tucker said.City Parks and Recreation said it won't sell alcohol during youth shooting events. It will only sell beer after 3 p.m. for adult shoots, and possibly wine if someone rents out the clubhouse for an event.