Wiscasset Rod and Gun Club members from in and outside Wiscasset showed their support for working with the community Tuesday night, with at least two dozen turning out as club representatives responded to noise concerns.

A group whose noise was more than the club expected will not be allowed to shoot there again, executive board member Denis Hebert told selectmen. Even before a resident brought a petition to selectmen last month, the club was working on reducing noise at the Route 27 property, Hebert said.

Resident Dan O’Connell on Feb. 17 gave selectmen a petition seeking new rules on what can be fired and when at the club. O’Donnell’s name and 31 others were on the petition. What he was hearing Tuesday night was encouraging, he said during the meeting. ‘I think we were heard. I would like to continue a dialog with the club,” O’Donnell said.

He replayed an audio recording of gunfire sounds he first shared with selectmen Feb. 17. Selectmen’s Chairman Pam Dunning on Tuesday compared the sounds to a Bruce Willis movie.

The club bars shots from being fired before 9 a.m. or after 8 p.m., Hebert said. The club would like to hear from anyone who hears gunfire at the club outside those times. If neighbors contacted the club about their concerns, that could have avoided taking up selectmen’s time, club members said.

Hebert said he, too, heard the sounds coming from the club when the Weaponcraft group was there. And he lives about three miles away, he said. “I personally agree with the neighborhood that that was too much,” he told selectmen. The club’s board voted unanimously on Feb. 19 to not renew its rental agreement with Weaponcraft, according to Hebert and a letter from the board to Wiscasset selectmen.

Members also highlighted the support the club gives the community by donating to local food pantries, holding firearms safety training and fishing derbies, stocking local waterways and offering scholarships in outdoors study.

The club began planting evergreens on the club’s perimeter last spring to help reduce noise. More will be planted, he said.

The club is also looking at the possibility of capping membership, as some other Maine clubs have, he said. “We’ve discussed this and we’re ready to do this if we need to,” Hebert said.

Selectmen praised both the club’s response to the recent concerns, and O’Donnell’s  efforts with the petition.