“ The shooting community is vast , but we don ’ t talk about it because it ’ s not the best topic to talk about .” — PAUL MIHAILIDES
ing to corporate records .
“ There ’ s a lot ,” Mihailides says when I ask about his membership , although he declines to get more specific . “ We try to respect our members ,” he adds . Talking to Richmond residents , rumors run amuck about celebrities that pop up from timeto-time , but nobody knows for sure whether they ’ re members or just visiting . A scrub of social media shows movie star Catherine Zeta- Jones posting a video from the Preserve in 2018 .
Mihailides says privacy is part of the Preserve ’ s allure , but he also acknowledges the resort ’ s relationship with guns makes it a target for criticism and he doesn ’ t want to thrust his members into the middle of the country ’ s gun debate .
“ The shooting community is vast , but we don ’ t talk about it because it ’ s not the best topic to talk about ,” he says .
‘ CAUSING HAVOC ’
MIHAILIDES SAYS his father-in-law turned him onto shooting for sport , which has become his passion that ’ s also central to the Preserve ’ s identity and business .
He ’ s acutely aware of the sensitivity surrounding the gun debate and at times sounds conflicted on the subject .
On the one hand , he says he ’ s not a proponent of large-capacity magazines . But he expresses frustration with the fast-paced change of guncontrol legislation , saying it costs him and other law-abiding gun owners money to continuously adapt to the new rules .
Mihailides says it ’ s especially unfair to the bespoke gun community , which is essentially enthusiasts of custom-made low-capacity weapons used for recreational sports such as shooting clays — the main focus at the Preserve .
“ No one is going in and misbehaving in public spaces and causing havoc with two shotgun bullets ,” he says .
Legislative changes have also cost him money , he says , namely in 2022 when Rhode Island lawmakers passed a law banning large-capacity magazines . The ban applies to all magazines
“ They make marketing very easy ,” Evans quips about the buildings , which she says have a partnership with the J . R . R . Tolkien empire .
While visiting the many amenities , however , it ’ s hard not to notice the property is relatively empty . The Preserve ’ s landscape is pockmarked with buildings , with upward of fifty residential properties , including private homes , apartments and tiny houses . People can purchase , rent or use them part-time , depending on their membership level .
I notice one home with an SUV in the driveway , but there ’ s little sign of residential life otherwise . We pass a group of golfers and see what appears to be a couple of people shooting clays in the distance .
The gun shop has some customers mulling about , and closer to the clubhouse , a mother and her children — who look thoroughly amused — are getting a ride around the ponds . But it ’ s hardly the robust , bustling activity one might expect to see at a resort .
Evans says it ’ s normally packed during events and holidays , and Mihailides tells me membership is so strong that he ’ s looking to replicate the Preserve model in Naples , Florida .
“ This has been a great success ,” he says , highlighting the restaurant where we ’ re having lunch as evidence . Burke signed a fifteen-year agreement with the Preserve in February .
“ David Burke isn ’ t coming to Rhode Island because we ’ re in the middle of nowhere . It ’ s because of the people we have and how highly we ’ re thought of and how many people come through the facility .”
In all fairness , I ’ m touring the property on a Wednesday afternoon in early April — hardly the most popular time for second- , third- or fourth-home owners to visit . But without looking at the company ’ s books , I take Mihailides at his word on membership levels .
There ’ s little in the way of publicly available paperwork revealing a complete list of members . Last year , a slate of tax appeals filed with the town included several real estate holding companies listed with the same address as the Preserve . When compared to corporate records held by the state , they reveal a limited window into some members at the time , including names that match a doctor , a university professor , an entrepreneur and a car dealership owner .
Many of the other properties were owned by different real estate holding companies with harder-to-understand ownership structures . A good portion were under the names of companies owned by Mihailides or his family , accordwith more than ten rounds , which became problematic for some of his guns that hold eleven or twelve rounds .
“ They ’ re not really high-capacity magazines , but the manufacturers didn ’ t make ten-round magazines ,” he says , grumbling that they immediately stopped selling the weapons unlike some other gun shops that he says trusted they ’ d be protected under the Second Amendment .
“ It slowed things down for six to seven months , which essentially cost millions of dollars ,” he says .
In addition to the outside pavilions where people can shoot clays , the Preserve boasts one of the longest indoor shooting ranges in the world . In one area , Evans says it takes two minutes to retrieve the paper shooting target because it ’ s so far away .
Outside the shooting area is the gun shop , which has partnerships with well-known brands such as Beretta and Holland & Holland . In a private section , the shop becomes museumlike , highlighting the avid gun collector in Mihailides .
He owns the Italian gun company Fabrica Armi d ’ Abbiatico e Salvinelli , or FAMARS , which makes custom-designed shotguns and rifles . The company is known for its handcrafted woodwork , with shotguns starting at $ 36,000 and going up to $ 400,000 apiece .
But shooting is also one of the many friction points in the community , which is seemingly divided between factions of people concerned about how the massive resort is changing the fabric of the town versus those who want Richmond to become more business friendly .
And much of Mihailides ’ long-strained relationship with the town stems from the shooting range : A dispute that began more than a decade ago has turned into a Supreme Court battle that could lead to a potentially landmark decision for cities and towns across the state .
From Mihailides ’ perspective , the pushback the Preserve has received over the years has been unfair and is more broadly indicative of how the state treats its | | CONTINUED ON PAGE 155
RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l SEPTEMBER 2023 63