The Missouri Supreme Court on July 21 upheld a Franklin County judge’s decision to dissolve a 1987 permanent injunction that had tightly controlled operations at Glendale Shooting Club near Robertsville, closing the book on a roughly 40-year legal fight. The unanimous ruling wipes out long-standing limits on competitions, hours and certain calibers that had governed the club and shaped day-to-day life for nearby residents.
In its opinion, the high court said the Franklin County judge properly weighed the equities and found that changed facts at the range - especially sound-mitigation work - made continued enforcement of the old injunction inequitable. The opinion, posted on Justia, details the circuit court’s factual findings and affirms the judgment without wading into every constitutional argument about the statute that protects firearm ranges.
How the fight started
The dispute traces back to the 1970s, after Glendale acquired land for the range and neighbors went to court. In 1987, a Franklin County judge imposed a permanent injunction that limited the club to 10 competitions per year, capped the number of shooters who could fire at once and imposed narrow operating hours. Decades later, the club argued that a state law shielding firearm ranges from nuisance claims, combined with physical changes at the property, meant keeping the injunction in place was no longer fair. That long timeline is outlined in reporting by Newstalk KZRG.
State steps in and reaction
The State of Missouri jumped into the case as an intervenor earlier in 2026 to defend the statute that curbs nuisance suits against shooting ranges. After the decision came down, Attorney General Catherine Hanaway labeled the unanimous ruling “a big win” for gun-range owners on social media. Local coverage notes that court watchers have called the feud one of the longest-running civil battles in Franklin County history, according to The Missourian.
Legal implications
At the heart of the case were RSMo §537.294, a 1988 statute that shields firearm ranges from nuisance and sound-based injunctions, and Rule 74.06(b)(5), which lets a court relieve a party from a final judgment if it is “no longer equitable” to enforce. The Supreme Court reiterated that a change in law alone does not reopen a final judgment, but agreed with the circuit court’s alternative conclusion that Glendale’s mitigation measures had changed the balance of equities. The court’s full legal analysis is available on Justia.
What comes next
With the injunction now dissolved, Glendale can operate without the strict 1987 restrictions, a development that gun-range operators and neighboring landowners around Missouri will be watching closely for precedent. Neighbors and property owners who had relied on the old injunction are left to reassess their options after a decision that, as The Missourian notes, closes a case that stretched across generations of owners.
