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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Campaign signs may seem obsolete as soon as the last ballot is cast, but workers at one Utah gun range say they're perfect for another purpose: target practice.
The shooting range operated by the Lions Club in Bountiful collects thousands of out-of-date campaign signs starting Nov. 5 every election year.
The repurposing puts politics by the wayside, though, because the corrugated plastic placards are used to hold paper targets that cover up the original candidate message, range master Mitch Dalby said.
"We take them from anybody," Dalby said. "We don't care whose name is on it or what it says. We're just using it as a backer."
Dalby came up with the idea about five years ago, when he realized the placards were made of the same material as the tough plastic sheets the club buys to hold paper targets.
The target sheets normally cost about 75 cents each and are usable only for a couple days, so recycling the signs is a big cost savings for the range north of Salt Lake City that gets about 25,000 shooters a year.
The Lions Club saves up to $4,000 a year using the signs. That money is donated to places like the Moran Eye Center to help prevent and treat blindness.
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