2/26/20 – Annual Membership refund checks are flying!

If you had a paid membership to the Wake County Firearms Education and Training Center prior to the closure of public hours on Jan 15^th be assured your refund check is on its way today.  The county has a list of the memberships and has prepared and mailed your refunds so you should see your check in the next few days.  If for some reason you haven’t gotten your check by March 5^th or so, send an inquiry to kim.lorbacher@wakegov.com.

As Commissioner Holmes noted elsewhere this is "particularly for government, exceptionally quick turnaround".  Thanks Kim!

UPDATE 2/18/20 - End of the interregnum

And there it is.  The Wake County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to allow the North Carolina Wildlife Resource Commission to run the public (non-law enforcement) operations of the Wake County Firearms Education and Training Center for up to a year.  This means that there is now a definite glide path to the range opening back up as advertised on March 15.   You have to be impressed with the speed at which this whole thing blew through several local and state bureaucracies.  In the column on the right side of the page is the email address of each Commissioner.  It might be a nice gesture to ping them a quick and tasteful thank-you for their prompt action in restoring public use of the range. 

The VIDEO of the Monday meeting is now available HERE and below.  The pertinent parts start at 01:49:53 and end at 02:16:19.    

There’s been a facile little verbal sleight-of-hand going on here that might ought to be discussed.  There’s a cadre of folks who are frankly livid that their Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights have been taken away from them.  On those nights there were generally Leagues (like Action Pistol and Bullseye, Marksmanship and Ladies leagues) going on and, even though it’s classified as a “special” event by some and not tallied in official public documents, it is in fact the public (non-law enforcement)  who’s populating those hours too.  Thus, those folks are not wrong that the “public” has actually lost hours at the range and are thus properly peeved but let’s look at a couple of numbers, shall we?

     0 

        The number of weekly public hours at the Wake County Range since January 15th

28

The number of weekly public hours at the Wake County Range after March 15^th

This is a win for the smile. If you’re a shooter, you know that smile – when a new shooter shoots a gun for the first time – that great big smile. For those among us who were desirous of restoring the smiles to the Wake County Range this is unquestionably a win.  No one has said that there will NEVER be any training at the range again so there’s no reason that in the days ahead we shouldn’t continue the push to restore the training and education part of the use of the range.  It can be done. In the meantime how about let's enjoy a little quality time with our shooting buddies again.

Make plans now to be at the re-opening of the Wake Range on March 15^th.  It should be a good time for the shooting family of our area.  More details to follow as more is known. 

See ya there.

Oh, and BTW, apparently refund checks for unused WCFETC annual memberships should be mailed to you by the county sometime around March 9^th.  They already have the list so no need to call.  More info to follow soon. 

#Macsalmostback

2/14/20 - Valentine's Document Dump

The Agenda for the Wake County Board of Commissioners regular meeting set for 2pm on Monday, February 17th is posted and has all kinds of interesting information in it.  Item # 20 is of particular interest.  If you click on that, it takes you HERE. As you'll see, that page has ALL the pertinent docs - WRC Contract, WCFETC SOP's, even a floor plan.  There are 9 documents in total, some of which you've proably seen before. Check them out and please put any observations, praise or gripes in the comments and we'll pass them along. And don't forget to cross your fingers that this actually happens. Just sayin'...

Range Four

UPDATE - 2/12/20 - Video and half a loaf

The video of Monday's Commission Work Session was posted earlier this morning.  It went pretty much as expected based on the presentation included in the agenda.  The pertinent parts run from 15:25 to 36:59.



So, public hours will tentatively resume on March 15th.  The public hours will be

Friday 5p to 9p

Saturday 9a to 7p

Sunday 9a to 7p

Monday 5p to 9p 

Like a lot of ranges these days, you’ll have to watch a video, sign a waiver and get a card. It's thought that all 4 ranges will be open but nothing concrete on that front yet.  Also nothing concrete on the training programs and leagues.  It's hard to have an Education and Training Center without education and training but know that it will take some time to re-build that part of the business at the range.

And yes, it will be FREE to the public just like all the other Wildlife ranges. 

At this writing it's been 28 days since the public last fired a shot in the WCFETC but as of now, in less than 30 days there is a plan on the table involving State and County agencies to open it back up. Commissioner Holmes notes (26:03) that this is "particularly for government, exceptionally quick turnaround".  She's right about that.

2/11/20 - Still on track

Not yet having to been able to view either the livestream OR the archive video, many of us are still a little in the dark on the actual happenings at Monday’s Board of Commissioners meeting.  All reports are that the proposed plan to re-open the range to the public is proceeding and that the proposed opening date of March 15 is still on track.  Like a lot of ranges these days, you’ll have to watch a video, sign a waiver and get a card.  More details will follow as they become available. 

The next and possibly final bureaucratic hurdle for awhile is the Commissioners next week.  It’s projected that the necessary contracts and agreements will be agreed to and signed at that meeting. Once all that's behind us, the work of putting the public hours and training schedules back together again will begin in earnest. We’ll know more in the days ahead.

Good news it seems. 

2/9/20 - LIVESTREAM and archive video of 2/10 WCBOC work group

Hopefully we'll get a first glimpse of what re-opening the WCFETC to the public looks like. 

You can find the  LIVESTREAM and ARCHIVE VIDEO HERE. The meeting begins at 2pm on Monday.

Please try to watch it live if you can.  If not, the archive video will be posted on that same page a little later.

Cross your fingers...

UPDATE - 2/6/20 - Sheriff Baker provides a reason to be optimistic

This morning, Sheriff Baker gave a "State of the Sheriff" speech.  It announced some important promotions within the WCSO, some discussion of clearing a permitting backlog and this tidbit about the Wake Range:

In December, Baker abruptly cut ties with a private contractor running the Wake County Firearm Education and Training Center outside Holly Springs, alleging the center was not making enough money.

The sheriff had planned to close the center to the public and convert it to a law enforcement firing range only, but Wake County Manager David Ellis soon announced the county would take control and consider public access.

On Thursday, Baker said he looks forward to working with the county staff and N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission to opening it again.  (Emphasis mine)

Seems like the Sheriff is cool with working with the Wildlife Resources Commission and re-opening the range.  That's really good news for the return of public hours.

Keep watching to see how it all turns out.


Full article at the Herald Sun  -  https://www.heraldsun.com/news/local/crime/article240035038.html

And more at CBS17 - https://www.cbs17.com/news/local-news/wake-county-news/wake-county-sheriff-gerald-baker-reflects-on-1st-year-in-office-announces-2-historic-promotions/

And more still at the N&O
-  https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/crime/article240041618.html


 

Read more here: https://www.heraldsun.com/news/local/crime/article240035038.html#storylink=cpy

UPDATE – 2/4/20 - Important Board of Commissioners Work Session next Monday!

It is anticipated that the NC Wildlife Resources Commission will be presenting their plan to re-open the Wake County Firearms Education and Training Center at a work session of the Wake Commissioners on Monday Feb 10 at 2pm.   You can certainly swing by but this is a work session – there will be no public speakers and very few seats.  Better to show up in force at their regular session on the 17^th where it is hoped something substantial like the Wildlife plan will be approved.    

You can find the Agenda and ultimately the LIVESTREAM and VIDEO HERE.

Range denizens will probably want to tune in to the LIVESTREAM next Monday afternoon as it could be the first and most hopeful presentation of our way back to public hours at the range to date . As you can see above, it's been awhile.  Keep your fingers crossed.