Boaters on Lake Erie and around the Great Lakes could be booted from their favorite fishing holes so the Coast Guard can practice with machine guns and live ammunition, a new phase of homeland security.
The Coast Guard plans to establish 34 "safe zones" around the Great Lakes, including four on Lake Erie, for target practice. Two boats will be deployed for target practice. One boat will fire at a target with mounted automatic weapons and bullets that have a 1,500-yard range. The other boat will keep an eye out for wayward boaters.
The Coast Guard will broadcast marine warnings when target practice is planned. There has been no advisory as to the frequency of target practice. The four Lake Erie zones are all in areas where Ohio fishermen can be found throughout the year. The large zones, which appear to be five to 10 miles offshore, are northeast of Huron, northeast of Cleveland, between Fairport Harbor and Geneva and between Conneaut and Erie, Pa.
http://www.cleveland.com/sports/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/sports/1157100117274620.xml&coll=2
See the zones, courtesy of Alex Sagady:
http://www.sagady.com/livefire/
Posted by Dave at September 1, 2006 06:03 AM