Wake County to close shooting range to the public in January amid financial concerns
Wake County will close its firearms training center to the public in January.
The Wake County Sheriff’s Office ended its contract with Range Safety Management (RSM) LLC’s because of the company’s “lack of profitability and a review that fees and funds collected by RSM were not accounted for accurately,” according to a Sheriff’s Office news release Wednesday.
“To the responsible gun owners who use the facility, I understand your concern,” Sheriff Gerald Baker said. “This decision was not made in haste. We will continue to review how to use this training center that works in the best interest of all citizens, while saving taxpayer money. Unfortunately, the current agreement only met the needs of a few.”
The Wake County Firearms Education and Training Center, located near Holly Springs, is used by the Sheriff’s Office and other law enforcement agencies for training, and has been open to the public for shooting and classes.
Mark Valletta is a member of a pistol league and shoots at the range twice a month. He started a Change.org petition demanding the center remain open. It had gained more than 1,100 signatures in under 24 hours.
“We will have nowhere to go,” he said. “We will have to try to find other facilities, if they even exist.”
But Fred Stough, one of three partners of RSM, said the sheriff’s statement was inaccurate.
The center was opened to the public from the beginning as part of a compromise over the county’s gun ordinance and was never meant to be profitable, he said. The county prohibits people shooting a gun within 100 yards of a home without permission of the homeowner and within 100 yards of a “public building” likely to be occupied. Giving the public access to the then-new firearms center gave people a chance to practice their shooting.
A resident has to complete a range safety class
before being allowed to shoot at one of the ranges, which include 50
yards for pistols and rifles, and 100 yards for rifles. More than 25,000
people have completed that course and become members since the range
opened in the early 2000s, Stough said.
Some people shoot regularly and others come once a year to check their rifle scopes before hunting season.
Memos sent to the Sheriff’s Office from Wake County this summer outlined a number of concerns within the sheriff’s department including how “both the firing range and general WCSO offices” were not following the county’s policy of handling cash. The sheriff’s office recently rebutted those memos with nearly 200 pages of his own documents.
The county’s cash-handling policies were recently revamped after the former Wake County Register of Deeds was charged and found guilty of embezzling money from her department.
Wake County did have concerns about how money was handled at the firing range, but none was ever missing, Stough said. The firing range doesn’t have an office, and the money for classes is collected from an off-site post office box and processed at RSM’s office, also off-site.
“We understand they had some concerns and talked
to us about it, but they did a full accounting every month,” he said.
“There was never a nickel missing when it was supposed to be there.”
Last month a civilian firearms instructor at the center accidentally shot himself in the leg while putting his gun back into his holster, The News & Observer reported.
It was the first accident where someone was shot in nearly 20 years, Stough said, adding he didn’t know if the incident contributed to the sheriff ending the contract.
“It’s not a matter of if, but when there is an accident,” he said. “Firearms are dangerous.”
Future plans at the center
There is a need for more training space for local, state and federal law enforcement agencies, according to the Sheriff’s Office news release.
“We are living in dangerous times,” Baker said. “We need to have an ability to provide increased training opportunities for our officers, so that they are prepared to face the dangers that may await them every day they protect our neighborhoods.”
This year’s budget includes $100,000 to study whether a “simulation training facility” could be added to the Wake County Firearms Training Center.
“The Sheriff ’s Office has requested the construction of a training facility that will allow their employees to conduct real life training in a simulated live ammunition environment that would include configurable interiors for various scenario training,” according to the budget approved by commissioners this year.
Simulation buildings and projectors are frequently used as training tools for officers, including when there is an active shooter threat.
A “simulation building” at Wake Technical Community College’s Public Safety Education Center was part of a $349 million bond approved by voters in 2018. Officers already use a room that looks like an apartment to investigate mock crimes like shootings and domestic violence crimes.
Wake Tech’s proposed simulation building would allow for a mock city with streets, first-floor apartments, kitchens, police and fire stations, The N&O previously reported.
The Wake County Sheriff’s Office ended its contract with Range Safety Management (RSM) LLC’s because of the company’s “lack of profitability and a review that fees and funds collected by RSM were not accounted for accurately,” according to a Sheriff’s Office news release Wednesday.
“To the responsible gun owners who use the facility, I understand your concern,” Sheriff Gerald Baker said. “This decision was not made in haste. We will continue to review how to use this training center that works in the best interest of all citizens, while saving taxpayer money. Unfortunately, the current agreement only met the needs of a few.”
The Wake County Firearms Education and Training Center, located near Holly Springs, is used by the Sheriff’s Office and other law enforcement agencies for training, and has been open to the public for shooting and classes.
Mark Valletta is a member of a pistol league and shoots at the range twice a month. He started a Change.org petition demanding the center remain open. It had gained more than 1,100 signatures in under 24 hours.
Center finances
Questions about how much money the center was getting from the sheriff’s office and the public were not answered by the Sheriff’s Office or the county Wednesday afternoon.But Fred Stough, one of three partners of RSM, said the sheriff’s statement was inaccurate.
The center was opened to the public from the beginning as part of a compromise over the county’s gun ordinance and was never meant to be profitable, he said. The county prohibits people shooting a gun within 100 yards of a home without permission of the homeowner and within 100 yards of a “public building” likely to be occupied. Giving the public access to the then-new firearms center gave people a chance to practice their shooting.
Some people shoot regularly and others come once a year to check their rifle scopes before hunting season.
Memos sent to the Sheriff’s Office from Wake County this summer outlined a number of concerns within the sheriff’s department including how “both the firing range and general WCSO offices” were not following the county’s policy of handling cash. The sheriff’s office recently rebutted those memos with nearly 200 pages of his own documents.
The county’s cash-handling policies were recently revamped after the former Wake County Register of Deeds was charged and found guilty of embezzling money from her department.
Wake County did have concerns about how money was handled at the firing range, but none was ever missing, Stough said. The firing range doesn’t have an office, and the money for classes is collected from an off-site post office box and processed at RSM’s office, also off-site.
Last month a civilian firearms instructor at the center accidentally shot himself in the leg while putting his gun back into his holster, The News & Observer reported.
It was the first accident where someone was shot in nearly 20 years, Stough said, adding he didn’t know if the incident contributed to the sheriff ending the contract.
“It’s not a matter of if, but when there is an accident,” he said. “Firearms are dangerous.”
Future plans at the center
There is a need for more training space for local, state and federal law enforcement agencies, according to the Sheriff’s Office news release.
“We are living in dangerous times,” Baker said. “We need to have an ability to provide increased training opportunities for our officers, so that they are prepared to face the dangers that may await them every day they protect our neighborhoods.”
This year’s budget includes $100,000 to study whether a “simulation training facility” could be added to the Wake County Firearms Training Center.
“The Sheriff ’s Office has requested the construction of a training facility that will allow their employees to conduct real life training in a simulated live ammunition environment that would include configurable interiors for various scenario training,” according to the budget approved by commissioners this year.
Simulation buildings and projectors are frequently used as training tools for officers, including when there is an active shooter threat.
A “simulation building” at Wake Technical Community College’s Public Safety Education Center was part of a $349 million bond approved by voters in 2018. Officers already use a room that looks like an apartment to investigate mock crimes like shootings and domestic violence crimes.
Wake Tech’s proposed simulation building would allow for a mock city with streets, first-floor apartments, kitchens, police and fire stations, The N&O previously reported.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/counties/wake-county/article238507413.html
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