Good news overpowered the bad at the weekend when — the day after being vandalised — Kalgoorlie-Boulder Pistol Club members trialled their newly approved outdoor shooting range.

The club has been running since 1961 but this is the first time since 2008 the outdoor range has been in operation.

Back then, changes to the airport meant there was no longer the 800m of clear space required legally to be able to shoot.

Owner Bob Munro said for the past nine years he and wife Michelle had worked to make sure the outdoor range was acceptable according to the regulations.

Last Wednesday, he said they received an email from police with the certificate giving them the clearance to operate.

“We wanted to start shooting right then on Wednesday morning,” Mr Munro said.

He said they needed a bullet trap that would stop bullets from going past a certain point, funding for which — as for much of the rest of the club — came out of their own pockets.

About 10pm on Saturday, Kalgoorlie police arrested two youths at the club for allegedly breaking in and causing a substantial amount of damage to the bathrooms.

Mr Munro said there was damage from an axe on the doors and windows, with some of the walls bashed in.

He said nothing was missing from the club.

The pair were charged with aggravated burglary, criminal damage and possession of house breaking implements and they will appear in Kalgoorlie Children’s Court on September 26.

Last July, the club was also broken into and severely van-dalised, with paint all over the floor, walls smashed in, the power box pried open and the burglar alarm cord pulled out, spray-can tags on just about every surface, windows smashed and the floor covered with human faeces.

The walls of the indoor shooting range are still destroyed and the air-conditioner wrecked.

“But we’ll rebuild it,” Mr Munro said.

Mr Munro said now the outdoor range was in operation, he anticipated member numbers would go up — from about 10 to 40 and 50 in the next few months.

“We’re also working on opening it up to the whole town, from next weekend hopefully, so everyone can have a go,” he said.