Lt. Juan Martinez of the Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office talks to the retirees during a class on use of force and de-escalation required for renewing their concealed carry permits.
photo by Mitch Talley
Retirees gather for a group photo with Old Timer’s Shoot officials before heading to the firing range to try and earn their concealed carry permit.
photo by Mitch Talley
Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office firearms instructor Lt. Juan Martinez watches as retiree Mike Ellis and others attempt to qualify with their semi-auto pistols.
photo by Mitch Talley
Dalton Police Department firearms instructor Chris McDonald grades a retiree’s target.
photo by Mitch Talley
Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office firearms instructor Brian Pack and Dalton Police Department firearms instructor Osvaldo Sicairos watch as retired Georgia State Patrol Trooper Carlton Stallings and others attempt to qualify with their revolvers.
photo by Mitch Talley
Nearly 40 retired law enforcement officers turned out March 21 for the annual Old Timer’s Shoot hosted by the Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office at its Training Center and Firing Range on Old Prater’s Mill Road.
Among those taking part for the first time was recent retiree Rick Swiney, to whom the training center was dedicated last summer. Back for a second time as a retiree was Phillip Herren, who had overseen the Old Timer’s Shoot as training coordinator for several years.
They were joined by 36 more fellow officers from a wide range of agencies, including Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office, Dalton Police Department, Motor Carrier Compliance Division, Georgia State Patrol, Cohutta Police Department, Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Immigrations Customs Enforcement, Department of Corrections, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Central Intelligence Agency, Roswell Police Department, East Ellijay Police Department, Atlanta Police Department and U.S. Customs.
“We ended up having over 1,000 years of service with us,” said Lt. Juan Martinez, who took over in 2017 as training coordinator after Mr. Herren’s retirement.
Inside the year-old training center, the retirees listened to a block of instruction from Lt. Martinez on use of force and de-escalation before heading out to the firing range, where they were scored after using either semi-automatic pistols or revolvers to fire several rounds at targets from four distances, including 25, 15, 7 and 3 yards.
Those are the requirements, per state regulations, for these retired officers to renew their annual concealed carry permits, Lt. Martinez said..
Of course, just getting to be with other law enforcement officers, active and retired, is a lot of fun for the participants, he said.
“It’s always fun for them to be able to get together and tell old war stories and hang out and reminisce and talk to people that they served with when they were actively involved in law enforcement,” Lt. Martinez said. “Plus, a lot of us younger guys are learning a lot of neat stuff and how things have changed since back in the day.”
The day ended with participants enjoying the annual grilled hamburger and hot dog lunch, where even more memories were stoked.
Lt. Martinez pointed out that beginning May 1, with the help of drug seizure funds and the Whitfield County Public Works department, the pistol range will be updated with concrete lanes at the various yard markers.