Henry Daily Herald

Special Photo Henry County Sheriff’s Sgt. David Cody and Henry County Police Lt. Vance Rosen (far right) served as instructors for residents during target practice at the Henry County Public Safety Firing Range.

Residents interested in learning the mechanics of shooting may register for an upcoming Henry County Citizens Firearms Safety Course scheduled for June 16.

The course will be held at the new Henry County Public Safety Firing Range located at 2650 Stroud Road. The class will be taught by certified law-enforcement instructors from the Henry County Sheriff’s Office and the Henry County Police Department.

“With more citizens owning firearms, we feel it is very important to offer to them the opportunity to learn how to safely handle their firearms and educate them on current laws pertaining to firearms,” said David Foster, Henry County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy.

Interested residents must apply in person at the Sheriff’s Office, located at 120 Henry Parkway, in McDonough. The cost of attending a required class is $50. A criminal history check will be conducted and confirmation on a class will be given to authorized individuals.

The $50 fee covers the cost of the class, a criminal history check, and a photo ID. The issued photo ID will need to be presented on each visit to the range, and will be valid for one year. At the end of the year, and each year following, participants will be required to pay an administrative fee of $25 to renew their access to the range to cover the cost of the annual criminal history check and the new ID.

Participants must be residents of Henry County, at least 21 years old, have no felony convictions, have their own firearms, ammunition, targets, and eye-and-ear protection gear, and must adhere to all rules of the range, taught during a required six-hour class.

The class will address basic firearms safety, and the rules of the range. The first half of the class will be classroom instruction, then following a lunch break, will reconvene at the range for some hands-on training.

According to Henry County Communications Director Julie Hoover-Ernst, the total cost of the range was $105,370.77, which was split three ways, with $34,000 coming from the police department’s Asset Forfeiture and Seized Funds Account; $34,000 from the Sheriff’s Office, and $37,370.77 from the county’s general fund budget.

It was largely constructed using Henry County Department of Transportation, Facilities Maintenance, and Stormwater staff, to keep costs down, said Hoover-Ernst.

For more information, call Lisa Keller, at the Henry County Sheriff’s Office, at (770) 288-7127, or Christina Henderson, of the Henry County Police Department, at (770) 288-8335.