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Firearms Students Learn To Think
BY SUSAN USHER
Taking up his handgun, Sgt. Carl Pearson turned to
the attenUve group with a stem reminder. “You’ve got to
rememtxsr, people, these are made to kill.”
Pausing, he added, “They are also a good thing. In
my opinion. But you have to think safety.”
Throughout the morning Saturday, “think safety”
was the motto for students In a firearms safety course
conducted by Brunswick County Sheriff’s Detective
Pearson and other members of the Brunswick County
Law Enforcement Association at its firing range.
Aimed primarily at women, the course introduced
participants to firearms selection, handling and clean
ing, as well as their safe usage.
Between January and March, in the wake of a series
of three murders across the county, the number of ap
plications for gun permite tripled, sheriff’s department
records show. Most of those seeking permits gave “per
sonal protection” as the reason.
“There are so many things going on.” said Lillian
Fink, who was taking the class with her husband Philip.
“It’s something we’ve been intending to do.”
They are seasonal residents of Calabash. He was
practicing with a .357 Magnum, while she chose a .22al.
revolver because “it's a little bit lighter for a woman and
deadly, but not too deadly.”
Knowing how to shoot a firearm is sometldng
everyone should learn, she added.
Mrs. Fink agreed with Don Gates, crime prevention
officer with the Brunswick County Sheriffs Department
and organizer of the class, that owning a gun doesn't pro
vide much self-defense if if s not used properly.
Gates pointed out, “It could be a matter of life and
death.”
Of the 40 persons who expressed interest in the class,
18 turned out, according to Pam Hewett of the Brunswick
County Sheriff’s Department Most were a little nervous,
but plunged ahead determinedly.
“I didn’t know anything about a gun. It teaches you
re^ct for it,” Angela Grimar said of the class she took
with fellow Ocean Forest Community Watch member
Tina Hankel.
said choosing a gun that was right for her was the hardest
part
“It’s a scary thing to think about-leamlng to use a
gun,” she added.
Some of Saturday’s exercises were intended to help
abate that fear, replacing it with some basic skills and a
deep respect for firearms.
Participants first heard classroom talks on gun safe
ty in the home and on the firing range and had their guns
checked by officers.
Simple trespassing on one's property or in one’s
home. Assistant District Attorney Napoleon Barefoot ad
vised, doesn’t constitute self-defense as justification for
shooting soiTicoriO usirig deadly force. Rather, the person
firing has to be reasonably convinced that shooting is
necessary to prevent great bodily injury or death, not
loss of property.
Afterward, class members divided into two groups of
nine each, with several BCLEA members assigned to of
fer assistance.
Standing with legs at shoulder distance apart with
their arms braced in front gripping the gun, students
practiced loading, aiming and firing. Reports echoed
across the field as Oieir bullets winged toward black
paper targets sliaped like the human torso.
“If you can point your finger at something, you can
shoot it,” advised Gates earlier, demonstrating that the
level where the gun is held also is where the bullet enters
the target
I^URIE WEBB squints as she squeezes off a round with her .21 automatic. Behind her, program coor
dinator Don Gates offers hto advice. VWI'
For some, learning to use a firearm was a recent
decision, others, like Laurie Webb of Holden Beach and
the Finks, had been intending to learn for years.
“My husband tried to teach me and we ended up in a
blg^qjgatoent” said Webb. “I dropped^e gun and that ,
was the end of if Apparently that’s sotftettilhg-you’ie ■■
never supposed to do.”
So they sought a third-party instructor.
Saturday, Webb was getting better acquainted with a
tiny, .22-cal. automatic she’d selected because it had
practically no recoil unlike a rifle she'd fired once. She
Members also learned that, especially when firing in
stinctively, bullets don’t always go where you expect. In
side the home, with other family members presenf
Rangemaster Pearson stressed, it’s especially Important
that bullets go where you aim. A bullet can penetrate the
len^ qf a mobile home, he noted.
For more practice, firearms owners have the option
of setting up their own practice sites, joining a private fir
ing range club or joining the Brunswick County I,aw En
forcement Association as associate members, with firing
range privileges.
LILI.IAN FINK loads her .22 revolver with the help of Shallotte Police Chief Don Stovall.
SIArFPHOIOSiVSUiAH UMI
SHERIFF’S OFFICER Mike Speck and class member Tina Hankel discuss her target results.
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