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Amid Funding Shortfall, OK's Oldest State Park Considers Adding Gun Range

Lake-Murray.org

Oklahoma is considering installing a gun range in the state’s largest and oldest state park. NPR member station KGOU reports that state tourism officials are weighing plans for an outdoor sports shooting complex, which would be built at Lake Murray State Park. The proposal has generated complaints that the gun range could disturb the park’s ambience.

The idea comes at a time when the state Department of Tourism and Recreation has suffered deep funding cuts. Falling tax revenue has raised the prospect that some parks could be closed.

Lake Murray is near Ardmore in the southern part of the state. It was founded in 1925 and built with the help of the Depression-era Works Progress Authority. Nearly 1.5 million people visited the park last year.  The shooting complex is being proposed by the National Wild Turkey Federation.