POSITIVE PRESS FOR TFA IN RANGE PETITION STORY

[Pat McGarrity]

Please join me in thanking Fayette County TFA Director, Reggie Howard, for the outstanding work we is doing for all of us in lobbying for our new range. To get positive press from the C.A. is quite an accomplishment in of itself!

Thanks Reggie!

Sincerely,

Pat McGarrity
Director - Shelby County, TFA

http://www.commercialappeal.com/mca/loc ... 63,00.html

Firing range sought

By Cassandra Kimberly

July 25, 2007

As the suburban and unincorporated areas of Shelby and Fayette counties grow, a concern for public safety in parts that were once hunter-friendly is growing as well.
"We're not a rural unity anymore," said Fayette County Sheriff Bobby Riles. "(Hunting) hasn't really been a problem, but I foresee it to be a problem."


Recognizing the need for safer shooting facilities for long-range firearms, members of the Shelby and Fayette County chapters of the Tennessee Firearms Association began collecting signatures earlier this month petitioning the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency for an outdoor firing range.
"With more and more people moving out, what used to be a safe area to shoot might not be safe anymore," said Reggie Howard, director of the Fayette County chapter of the TFA.

Howard hopes to gather 1,000 names on a petition for a new range. Currently the only public outdoor long-range facility in West Tennessee is the Natchez Trace State Park Firing Range near Wildersville.

The Fayette County Commission voted Tuesday night in support of a resolution for the new range.

While local laws make it illegal to discharge air or pellet guns, slingshots, air rifles, weapons or firearms within city limits, cities like Lakeland have attempted to accommodate hunters in rural areas by allowing shooting on agricultural land in excess of 20 acres.

It is not illegal to hunt on any land during open season, according to an opinion by the Tennessee attorney general. But residents can be cited and arrested for recklessness.

As the hunting season approaches, Lakeland and Fayette County employees have seen an increase in complaints of gunshots too close to homes.

"That's why I want to get these petitions and signatures," said Howard. "I prefer people to go somewhere where it's safe."

He will be collecting signatures during the Gun and Knife Show on Saturday and Sunday at the Mid-South Fairgrounds.