BETHESDA, Md. — A shooting arcade for pellet rifles inside Montgomery Mall sparked a neighborhood battle on social media, dividing people on gun rights.
Some angry neighbors demanded a shooting range inside the mall be run out of town. Others have been just as fierce in the defense of the small business.
The shooting range is called Aim Point. When it opened near the food court at Westfield Montgomery three weeks ago, some people were shocked.
Local realtor Eleanor Balaban posted her concerns on the social media app Nextdoor.
"Unbelievable, a shooting range has opened at Montgomery Mall!" the post stated, which the neighborhood social site has since taken down.
The social media post blew up with a tough back and forth and angry calls to mall managers. At one point, an Aim Point partner, who would only give his name as "Mike," said someone even called the police, complaining there were guns at the mall. Mike said the police just laughed after checking out the arcade.
They may look like guns, but they're not.
Instead of bullets, the airsoft rifles shoot little plastic balls. People pay a few dollars to fire the spring-loaded rifles at targets in the back of the store. The tips of the devices are marked with orange plastic and orange bands around the magazines and the stocks to distinguish them from real guns.
After a few days of controversy, mall management decided they had enough.
"Dear Neighbors," Terry Bowers, one of the shooting range's defenders, wrote on Nextdoor. "It seems that those who chose to vilify not just the arcade store, but the proprietor, have succeeded in their desires to have him and his store removed from Montgomery Mall. He will be closing in January. And they are not allowing him to open in Wheaton."
Bowers suggested the people targeting the shooting range were bullies.
"It's terrifying to stand up to bullies, but we all have to if we want to live in a free and open society," Bowers wrote.
Balaban declined interview requests, as she was worried speaking publicly could hurt her real estate business. She said Nextdoor knocked her off the site briefly after some of the store's supporters accused her of spreading "fake news," and "lies."
A spokesman for Westfield said temporary leases at the mall are written so they can be terminated without cause.
While he did not want to speak on camera, one of the co-owners said he has to be out of the mall within weeks. The co-owner said he was looking for some other place to open a new arcade.
