3/12/20 - WCFETC Re-Opening is postponed, COVID-19

As luck would have it, like so many other public gatherings, the re-opening of the Wake County Range has been postponed until further notice because of the Covid-19 virus.  Any further information is not available right now but it’s anticipated that we should know more soon. There are of course more important things to think about than getting back on the range so like most of you, we will be hunkered down at the hacienda in self quarantine.  If we see or hear anything that represents progress in getting the range opened back up rest assured we’ll post it up straightaway right here.  Another good place for updates is the Wildlife Resources Range-finder. 

Be safe, have fun.

Mostly, be safe.

NC governor declares state of emergency as state deals with coronavirus   

3/5/20 - So here’s where we are…

Against conventional wisdom, the range will in fact re-open to the public on March 15^th.  The shooting public of Wake County will again have a proper public place (three 50's and a 100 INDOOR) to go to shoot and hang out with shooting friends. 

Let’s look back for a moment and remember that it was on December 15^th , only 10 short weeks ago, that the publicly owned management and staff were learning that their contract was being cancelled  by the Wake County Sheriff and they were out after almost 20 years of service to the shooters of Wake County.  The County Commissioners found out about the abrupt contract cancellation shortly thereafter.  Since that day:

1)      Wake County took back control of the range

2)      The Wake County Commissioners found a different vendor – NC Wildlife Resources Commission

3)      NC Wildlife Resources Commission developed a plan to re-open the range

4)      Wake County Commissioners, Wake Sheriff and Wake GSA developed plans to re-open the range

5)      Everyone decided they could quickly implement their plans and re-open on March 15^th

Now you have to admit that rebuilding all that in such a short time with so many people and agencies is actually pretty phenomenal and entirely contrary to most folks perception of government entities as just slightly glacial.  A lot of people did a lot of expeditious work to make all this happen.  They deserve a fanny-pat in all this too.  To that end, make plans if you can to get your range card on Sunday March 15^th between 9am and 7 pm.  A full parking lot (on video!) and a HUGE number of new range cards issued is an easily understood “thank-you” to all the local and state government folks who hustled a little faster than is customary to get this done for the shooting public.  It’s also a sign to those who are not so thrilled about the current state of public hours at the range that the public interest is not to be ignored. 

 

Send a message, make a difference. A lot of folks talk about doing that. You have a chance to actually do it!

Hope to see you at the Wake County Range on Sunday the 15th!

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