Plan are underway to build a machine gun range at a Cape Cod base used for training by the Massachusetts Army National Guard.
The proposal for Camp Edwards at Joint Base Cape Cod, the first of its kind in the state, is contained in a 100-page environmental assessment prepared for the Guard and an accompanying draft finding that says the project would have no significant impacts, the Cape Cod Times reports.
Most of the noise from the range would be contained on the base, but some noise could affect “multiple neighborhoods as well as an elementary school” located to the east of the range, according to a report done as part of the assessment.
The National Guard is currently accepting written comments from the public on the proposal. —Associated Press story in the Army Times
If the proposal for a new 200-acre machine gun range at Joint Base Cape Cod goes through, some updating of our tourist materials will be in order. For starters, we could update the lyrics to the Patti Page song, “Old Cape Cod”:
If you’re fond of sand dunes and gun smoke air,
The rattle of machine guns here and there,
You’re sure to fall in love with old Cape Cod.
If you like a blast of gunshot residue,
Blown through a window with an ocean view,
You’re sure to fall in love with old Cape Cod.
Crossing the bridge alongside new recruits,
Riding tanks in their army boots,
MMGs popping on a Sunday morn,
Called by a bugle at the crack of dawn.
If you spend an evening you’ll want to stay,
Watching gunfire flashes across Cape Cod Bay,
You’re sure to fall in love with old Cape Cod.
