Roy Exum: Let’s Embrace A Firing Range

  • Tuesday, September 15, 2015
  • Roy Exum
Roy Exum
Roy Exum

It has been said, with sage wisdom, that “good gun control is hitting your target.” Every time America’s bleeding left hears it they get so mad they could strangle a puppy. In the same tune, when Chattanooga Police Chief Fred Fletcher pointed out the firing range for our law enforcement officials is so dilapidated it may not be able to be certified, the Moccasin Bend National Park backers turned into Chicken Littles, running in tight circles and wildly predicting the sky is falling.

My experience has been it anything scares you, run to the roar. Confront it – it is never as bad as you thought – and never forget while thunder makes all the noise, it is the lightning that does the work. So when you remove senseless emotion and ill-informed critics, the facts will show that everybody who is actually involved is determined to remove the firing range from Moccasin Bend as soon as possible.

To be candid, the firing range was long in place before the idea of a beautiful national park came along. It is also just as stark a fact the firing range is a vital part of efficient law enforcement. Sadly, our entire nation witnessed that first hand during the tragedy on Amnicola Highway.

Guns are never going away. It is estimated that well over 300 million guns are in the United States and they are owned by one in every three Americans. Of today’s Republican aspirants to be the next president, only two in the herd doesn’t own a firearm. I say it is time to acknowledge gun ownership instead of the crazies and make a huge effort towards safety instead of head-in-the-sand insanity.

We should first be rational. We need to spend upwards of $300,000 to continue to train our officers to be both safe and effective and must do so immediately. But let’s look past at a much-larger picture – let’s build a world-class firing range with far greater worth. Right now there are 23,900 persons in Hamilton County with valid handgun carry permits. Further, the state’s Department of Safety says that in 2014 alone there were 131,506 legal handgun permits issued in the state of Tennessee.

Face it, we have good and honest people “packing heat” who would have never dreamed of carrying a weapon 10 years ago. It makes perfect sense to me that in a state where there are today – get this right – 513,498 valid carry permits, we should run towards the roar rather than fear it. We do that by reinforcing firearm safety and eliminating the anxiety of carrying a 9-milimeter automatic in your hip pocket that you have fired only five times.

I envision a firing range where our law enforcement officers would have every available means to become the safest and most adept users of firearms in the world. Any athlete will tell you that only constant practice yields success. Our officers deserve the best. Then there is another great need that has become obvious with a far-greater propensity than our fledgling Moccasin Bend National Park.

We know the Moccasin Bend location is no longer viable. As fast as can be reasonable, what should be a huge factor in creating a world-class facility are the 23,900 legal-carry people in our county and many more in our surrounding environs. These people – all willfully playing by the rules -- need hands-on practice, further instruction, and heightened safety awareness if we are to divert some terrible accidents.  

Sure, give law enforcement every priority, but then – with fees that would, in turn, help offset costs – let’s allow licensed handgun owners access to further training by professionals and the ultimate safety that accompanies every facet of common-sense education.

I am fortunate in the fact I can, and do, take my handgun to a big piece of property our family owns and practice with it. It makes a mighty noise and has a kick. What I worry about is the man or the woman who has a gun, gets the permit, but is then unable to develop the necessary experience to handle the gun, especially during chaos. Too many gun owners have no place to “learn” their weapons and that is clearly dangerous.

Think of the possibilities. We could have an area where deer hunters ‘center’ their scopes, a skeet range, and a non-intimidating skeeting where a huge number of women who now have permits could learn more about what caliber of guns are best suited for them. Without prior practice, the experts believe the typical person is overcome by the power of a weapon at the very worst time you can imagine. Do you realize this? From 2010 through 2014, females were issued 29 percent of handgun carry permits in Tennessee, or – better put – a 141-percent increase over the past.

A Chattanooga-Hamilton County Firing Range and Gun Safety Center would be an invaluable asset in our community. I got my permit at Sportsman’s Supply and Services on Hixson Pike and what off-duty SWAT officers taught us were incredibly insightful. But I’ve had a lifetime of experience with firearms while some who were there had never before fired a gun. (You should have seen their faces!) I truly believe further lessons and safety instruction are imperative to anyone who has a handgun. Let’s capitalize on that dream and I promise the public will gladly support it.

The Hamilton County Commission and the Chattanooga City Council should have a real good grip on “The Rule of Three” in working with Fred Fletcher and Jim Hammond to develop a Firing Range and Gun Safety Center: The rule is, “Ninety percent of all firearms confrontations happen within three yards or less, you get off three rounds, and it's over in about three seconds.”

That’s pretty sobering, especially when we have over half-a-million gun-carry permits in the state of Tennessee alone. There are many who own guns without a carry permit who would adore being able to use them in a safe, well-guided center. One in three Americans own guns and we’d be doing everybody in our community a favor if we could offer a much-safer environment to shoot instead of the county dump.

All we need to do is run to the roar. If we embrace the idea and do it right, gun owners will join others in the belief we are the greatest city in America. If we don’t, I can offer Memphis and Atlanta as cities that don’t have a clue. Let’s run to the roar instead of away from it. We have a huge need and we must fulfill it.

royexum@aol.com

 

 

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