Since I belong to a Rod and Gun club in one of the most 2nd-Amendment hostile areas of the country (San Francisco Bay Area), I'm sympathetic, so I had a look at the history of the Sabino Canyon dispute. The simple truth is that these days, your local range is only safe if you own the land you're on, which Tucson did not. In fact, as the court stated:
“This permit is accepted with the understanding that the land involved will eventually be needed for general public use. It is understood and agreed that if and when the lands herein described are needed for this higher form of use, the permit shall terminate…”
Of course, whether or not the public needed the land for something else is subjective, but that clause was a ticking time bomb that somebody should have de-fused over four decades.
What is strange; you can drive up to Mount Lemmon and wildcat, and some did to protest. You have to recognize that unlike the Bay Area, between 90-95% of the land near Tucson is fed or state property.
The TRGC was convenient to the vast majority of east siders in Tucson and was encroached upon by home builders, one of the owners was on the editorial board of the Tucson (Red) Daily Star and called his bud in the Forest Service to close the range down on a whim because he did not like the noise. Kinda like closing down the airport because of the plane noise.
This happened on clitoons watch, our local RINO rumpranger Kolbe made multiple promises to reopen or provide public property to reopen the club. That was many years ago. Since most shooters are not poofters we dont get attention from Kolbe.
Pima county has reopened a range for profit, and a local guy has opened up a range too. Neither are set up as nicely as the old TRGC. The county charges ~$12 a day to shoot. The local guy - ~200 a year.
May just go wildcatting.