Sheriff mum as gun owners ask Wake leaders to keep shooting range open to public
The Wake County shooting range may close to the public next week while county leaders figure out what to do next.
About 30 people asked the Wake County Board of Commissioners during a meeting Monday night to keep the shooting range open.
It was the first meeting since Sheriff Gerald Baker made the controversial decision to close the Wake County Firearms Education and Training Center to the public last month. At Baker’s request, the contract with the center’s vendor, Range Safety Management, will end Jan. 15 because of a “lack of profitability” and the need for law enforcement to use the shooting range full-time according to the Sheriff’s Office.
The county commissioners will meet next Monday to hear from county staff about how to keep the center open to the public. But there will likely be a lapse in service.
“The sheriff’s action to terminate the contract is already in play,” commissioners Chairman Greg Ford said. “I would be surprised if we were able to turn something around that quickly from Monday’s work session. But we want to have a resolution to this matter very quickly.”
Petition signatures
The decision to close the center to the public was met with an outcry from gun owners and a petition that now has over than 8,000 signatures.
Two days after Baker’s announcement, County Manager David Ellis and Ford announced the county would take control of the shooting range because the county owns the building.
The county will determine the “appropriate balance of use between the public and law enforcement,” according to a memo Ellis sent to Baker.
Firearms safety and training
Several speakers Monday night train or teach at the center, located outside Holly Springs.
Wei Miao teaches Asian-American business owners and residents firearm safety, concealed carry and personal defense classes.
“For us, the firearm training center is not just a shooting range,” he said. “It is very important part of our lives. We learn basic safety and training, and it’s a gathering place to get rid of our fear. In our groups we have university professors, lawyers, doctors, students and housewives. ... We have 600 families. So on behalf of 600 families, I gratefully thank Wake County for providing his resource and our great management for these years.”
Training there has saved lives, Miao said, and he hopes it can remain open.
Each speaker got three minutes to speak,
A lot can happen within three minutes, said Robert Veeder, another speaker. But there’s no guarantee law enforcement will show up at your house within three minutes of calling 911, he said.
He practices shooting at the firing range in case he ever needs to protect his family, he said.
Several speakers mentioned a recent incident in Texas where a firearms instructor shot and killed a gunman who had entered a church.
Shari Forvendel leads the Ladies Handgun League and had the “unfortunate task” of telling members that the sheriff’s office was pulling support for the public at the firearm center.
“It is my hope is that the commissioners will consider what the sheriff seems to not have,” she said. “The Wake County Firearms Education and Training Center is a public resource that has offered a plethora of opportunities for people of all ages and diversities to get firearms training and practice in a safe, affordable and incredibly unique facility with certified instructors.”
Baker stood in the back of the meeting, listening to the more than two hours of speakers.
He said he didn’t have a comment Monday night.
This story was originally published January 6, 2020 at 9:25 PM.
