PSA - Wake Co. Range to close to public 1/15/20

Miss Lily

Miss Lily

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To those who use the range, the contract with Range Safety Management has been terminated effective 1/15/20 removing public use of the facility. This includes Action Pistol Matches, Bullseye Pistol Matches, Ladies Handgun League and Junior Rifle Marksmanship.

Please contact the Wake County manager and your county commissioner to voice your opinion on this action.

Edit: link to online petition to Wake Commissioners
http://chng.it/tHSh66Sxds
 
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Wow. This sucks! I wonder if this is aftermath of the recent accidental discharge. Or just part of the relentless assault on gun rights
 
DITTO the above. For those that do not know the background. On a Sunday (date seems to be in question), a "Trained" professional... EDITED 12/19....a Range Safety Management Off Duty Instructor (previously reported as a Wake County Deputy based on the story told at one of the evening leagues) ...had an AD whilst HOLSTERING his weapon. This was during the NORMAL RANGE HOURS. It was NOT part of any Training session. Later on, all the leagues were cancelled for December.

It is MY understanding that the actual wording of the press release will say.

Wake County Firearms Training Center to be CLOSED, effective, January 15, to ALL PUBLIC USE. Not just the "leagues". SO, the gates will be locked and only LEO will have access to it. Having been there when the LEO was training prior to a league shoot, I can tell you that they sounded like a bunch of cowboys.....and that any of the leagues have strict range control. The Action Pistol group is the ONLY one that draw and fire.

The Wake County Firearms Training Center is only open to the public on very limited hours, as it is....but now it be closed.....

From the rumors (and some factual), the instructor was not mortally wounded and drove himself home and did not think it was any big deal. But, he was convinced to go to the ER and the rest of the story became front page or lead story news.

The center allows various competition leagues on certain nights. This included both adult and youth programs. There are Action Pistol league, Bullseye, Air Pistol, Lady's and several others.

If we applied this logic to the following.....what would be the outcome....

A NCSHP Trooper, driving home from church in his private vehicle, runs into a ditch. He is not injured and the car is drivable....save a few scratches. After the news media gets wind of it.....ALL PUBLIC CARS ARE BANNED FROM ALL ROADS IN NC. Therefore, on the LEO personnel will be allows to drive on public roads.
 
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FYI... Ladies League has also done some draw and fire exercises.

Also, the contract with RSM is one of the no bid contracts for which the Sheriff has been under scrutiny and likely the easiest to terminate. That said, closing the range to the public has been rumored to be in the works for a while. The AD was just the "icing on the cake", so to speak, that gave the county an easy out.
 
Wow. I just had a conversation with a member of my club who shoots bullseye there and he was telling me to come on out. Glad I didnt waste an hour round trip. The tax payers should be raising hell. I believe that was part of the sell, the public would have access. Class action lawsuit anyone? I had also talked to some folks about trying to start a benchrest match there. As someone else mentioned above, the public hours were already very limited. I have no use for weeknights and weekends. I'm retired. I shoot at the ranges I belong to during the work week days. I shoot matches on Saturdays. As a taxpayer I would like to see exactly how much wake co LEO's were actually using the facility for training and qualification vs. BS'ing and plinking.
 
TomGCherry said:
DITTO the above. For those that do not know the background. On a Sunday (date seems to be in question), a "Trained" professional... a Wake County Depuy....who was also a "Firearms Instructor" had an AD whilst HOLSTERING his weapon. This was during the NORMAL RANGE HOURS. It was NOT part of the LEO Training sessions. Later on, all the leagues were cancelled for December.

It is MY understanding that the actual wording of the press release will say.

Wake County Firearms Training Center to be CLOSED, effective, January 15, to ALL PUBLIC USE. Not just the "leagues". SO, the gates will be locked and only LEO will have access to it. Having been there when the LEO was training prior to a league shoot, I can tell you that they sounded like a bunch of cowboys.....and that any of the leagues have strict range control. The Action Pistol group is the ONLY one that draw and fire.

The Wake County Firearms Training Center is only open to the public on very limited hours, as it is....but now it be closed.....

From the rumors (and some factual), the deputy was not mortally wounded and
The center allows various competition leagues on.
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So a “trained professional” LEO who is also an “instructor”, has an AD and the public should suffer? Laughable at best. ;):)o_O
 
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It would seem that there might be an argument to be made that if the public are denied access to the facility, then taxpayer funds must not be used to finance the operation.
 
Yes, I am/was a contrator for the public operations company. There will be an email annoucement from the owners to the membership within the next few days.
 
I’ll bet that the range is actually a fairly significant drain on county funds ... especially the sheriff’s. It is an expensive operation from a cost stand point (management fees, utilities, maintenance, etc) compared to the fees it collects. The TAXES paid by Wake residents (and possibly state and fed training monies) are really what pays the bills for that facility and now the residents are getting locked out? If this was any other type of county owned facility way more residents would be screaming bloody murder.
 
jimmyjames8 said:
Wow. I just had a conversation with a member of my club who shoots bullseye there and he was telling me to come on out. Glad I didnt waste an hour round trip. The tax payers should be raising hell. I believe that was part of the sell, the public would have access. Class action lawsuit anyone? I had also talked to some folks about trying to start a benchrest match there. As someone else mentioned above, the public hours were already very limited. I have no use for weeknights and weekends. I'm retired. I shoot at the ranges I belong to during the work week days. I shoot matches on Saturdays. As a taxpayer I would like to see exactly how much wake co LEO's were actually using the facility for training and qualification vs. BS'ing and plinking.
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38 agencies use the facility and up to 9 in one day.
 
motoman247 said:
"marksmanship and hunting are increasingly popular in wake county"


There is no where to even hunt in Wake county
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My point was, that website has said as long as I can remember that the range was built by county taxpayers, for county taxpayers.
 
motoman247 said:
I agree completely I am just making a smart comment about how old that statement had to be
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I know you were.

I’ve shot there once in the past three years, and while I don’t consider a huge loss for me personally, they’ve got some ‘splainin’ to do.
 
motoman247 said:
"marksmanship and hunting are increasingly popular in wake county"


There is no where to even hunt in Wake county
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I hope you were being facetious there. Having lived in the area for 73 years I have seen the growth in Wake Co. and spilling over into all the surrounding counties and have a hard time understanding exactly where they are but there have been some exceptionally nice deer taken in Wake Co. so far this year. I don't think they do, but if all of Wake Co had and urban archery season some real monsters would be taken. Deer love flowers and shrubs.
 
That really sucks. :( I'm sorry to hear that's happening. Hopefully there are other comparable ranges available for people to shoot at, over there.
 
lasttombstone said:
I hope you were being facetious there. Having lived in the area for 73 years I have seen the growth in Wake Co. and spilling over into all the surrounding counties and have a hard time understanding exactly where they are but there have been some exceptionally nice deer taken in Wake Co. so far this year. I don't think they do, but if all of Wake Co had and urban archery season some real monsters would be taken. Deer love flowers and shrubs.
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He lives up the street from me, and what he’s referring to, albeit with some hyperbole, is that much of once was farmland is covered with new neighborhoods, and if it isn’t covered with new neighborhoods, they are within rifle range now. Be it Rolesville at one end, or Fuquay at the other.
 
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fieldgrade said:
My point was, that website has said as long as I can remember that the range was built by county taxpayers, for county taxpayers.
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I always heard that the range was built as a compromise to provide a place to shoot when shooting was largely restricted in the county. I agree it was built by the taxpayers for the taxpayers and if anyone should be barred, it should be LEO because apparently they are having ND's while reholstering.
 
fieldgrade said:
I’ve shot there once in the past three years, and while I don’t consider a huge loss for me personally
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Being that I will unemployed, I guess I will have more time to shoot. Oh wait, I have nowhere to shoot anymore.
 
lasttombstone said:
I hope you were being facetious there. Having lived in the area for 73 years I have seen the growth in Wake Co. and spilling over into all the surrounding counties and have a hard time understanding exactly where they are but there have been some exceptionally nice deer taken in Wake Co. so far this year. I don't think they do, but if all of Wake Co had and urban archery season some real monsters would be taken. Deer love flowers and shrubs.
Click to expand...

I read somewhere that Wake has the most deer in the state. I believe it. But all the hunting land that I personally know of is gone. Sold to housing developments.
 
Miss Lily said:
Being that I will unemployed, I guess I will have more time to shoot. Oh wait, I have nowhere to shoot anymore.
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H20 is open to the public on Friday’s and Saturdays. Holster and draw a hot gun all you want.
Coharie Clinton IDPA this Saturday. We’ll be carpooling.
H20 raindate for IDPA December 28.
 
Miss Lily said:
Being that I will unemployed, I guess I will have more time to shoot. Oh wait, I have nowhere to shoot anymore.
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I mean
fieldgrade said:
I know you were.

I’ve shot there once in the past three years, and while I don’t consider a huge loss for me personally, they’ve got some ‘splainin’ to do.
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I wont miss it for public shooting one bit. But I will miss it for matches
 
motoman247 said:
I read somewhere that Wake has the most deer in the state. I believe it. But all the hunting land that I personally know of is gone. Sold to housing developments.
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I think raw farmland is getting gobled up by builder/developers faster than at anytime I have seen it in 30 years of watching the housing market in Wake county.
 
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That really stinks.

Any idea where it is coming from? The Sheriff? The county commissioners?

Having an indoor 100 yard range when needed is (was) excellent for rimfire ammo testing.

And I have only missed a few of the action pistol matches since they restarted.
 
Sheriff policy Illegal Alien Invaders yes, law abiding citizens at 'his' range NO.
He was elected and answers to the voters. Hope his first term is his last as Sheriff and is replaced at the ballot box.
 
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NCFubar said:
The new sheriff was not a fan of “civilians” being on “his” range (the facility falls under the Wake Co Sheriff’s Office and as stated above run by contract for day to day operations by RMS) also ... wonder how much he played into the decision.
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This is it. There is a new Sheriff in town and this is exactly why he was elected. Wake Co is getting what we voted for. Things will get worse. As evidenced by our nightly news reports.
 
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