They’re raising a ruckus in the sleepy Hampshire County hilltown of Chesterfield, where officials are threatening to shut down a longtime camp on a Boy Scout reservation in a dispute over a temporary summer shooting range.

Although I don’t intend to research and devote a lot of time to the case — surely, much to the chagrin of those who will scream bloody murder that it’s my duty as a hook & bullet columnist — it is local and, thus, worthy of mention. So, I’ll just be the messenger. No more, no less. Anyone previously unaware and so inclined can get involved.

To summarize briefly, a Chesterfield neighbor or two has complained about the summer noise emanating from the camp and other issues pertaining to guns and the antis who loathe them. The clamor reached town officials’ ears long ago, and now, after two years of bickering, the town has ruled in favor of the plaintiffs by, 1.) prohibiting the Scouts from allowing others to use their property, and 2.) limiting firearm use to small-caliber rifles.

Unhappy with the town’s decision, the Boy Scouts have filed a federal-court appeal, and the Gun Owners Action League, a state firearm association that runs the shooting camp along with MassWildlife, has jumped into the fray to offer its support. It won’t be long before the National Rifle Association appears, if it hasn’t already, so expect a long, drawn-out fight and media barrage when the NRA reaches into its deep pockets to support the Scouts’ right to continue using their rifle range as pleased.

This dispute has a lot to say about the way times have changed in our Hampshire/Franklin hamlets, where outfits like this Massachusetts Junior Conservation Camp in tiny Chesterfield ran smoothly and out of harm’s way for generations, no complaints from tolerant backwoods residents who owned guns, probably hunted and had no fear of gunfire. Now, the same expansive hilltown farms these simple agrarian folks maintained for centuries have fallen into the hands of fancy-pants metropolitans, accustomed to gangs and drive-bys, committed to gun-control and political correctness. They don’t buy second homes in the country to put up with gunfire, the poor souls. That’s why camps like the one under fire in Chesterfield cannot escape challenges. Sad but true. And take it to the bank, there will be more.

Is it right? No. Not from this perch. I say live and let live. But count me out of this battle. While I believe strongly in my right to bear arms, there is nothing else about which I agree with right-wing organizations like the NRA. As a kid, I found Charlton Heston entertaining in his Western films; as an adult, I viewed the aging actor as frightening when exposed to his wild-eyed NRA rhetoric.

Sorry, fellas, I know its sacrilege, even blasphemy, coming from a gun-owner and hunter. But that’s the way I feel and I’m not ashamed to admit it. Simply stated, NRA and GOAL politics are not for me. So let someone else carry their water.

I’m not religious or self-righteous, don’t have a Southern twang, am pro-choice, pro-union, and antiwar. So how can I support the NRA?

Impossible.