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From time to time, I receive inquiries from Bradley citizens as to how they can go about acquiring a hand gun permit, or whether the BCSO offers any sort of gun safety and training courses. The answer is yes ~ the Sheriff’s Office does routinely offer gun and safety training. Anyone interested in taking the BCSO gun safety course, should contact Cathy Ruth at 728 7301. She will send you all the information you need. The August class is already full, so if you are interested, you will want to get your name on the list for the next class. We require a certain number of people to enroll before we commit our time and personnel, so sign up now. Although the course itself is free to Bradley County residents, there is a $5 fee which goes to the Cleveland Hunting, Rifle and Pistol Club for the use of their shooting range. Classes are held on Friday evenings and the shooting range is used on Saturdays mornings. Instructors are Richard Taylor of the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency and BCSO Capt. Jim Ruth. I have always been a big supporter of our Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. The U.S. Constitution guarantees us that right. I am completely in favor of law abiding citizens owning a firearm to secure their person, their possessions and their homes, as well as for hunting or sport shooting. However, I would also encourage people to only purchase safe, reliable, functional weapons from a reputable firearms dealer, and go through the proper channels of securing permits, training and knowledge of the law. The BCSO training course will provide you with information about gun safety, how to obtain a carry permit (which can only be issued by the state), target practice and other practical concerns. We are not obligated to offer gun and safety training, but we do so anyway because it is every law abiding citizen’s right to own a firearm. In fact, I encourage people to take the course we offer for that very reason. I own guns and my son owns a gun.
All too often, deputies must confiscate cheap, unreliable and dangerous hand guns from criminals. Most often these criminals know very little about gun safety, and they care even less. These confiscated weapons usually have the serial numbers filed off or they are in such shoddy condition that they pose a hazard to the shooter as well as the shooter’s intended victim. These deficient, unreliable firearms usually always end up in the hands of criminals, gang members or people who fail to qualify for ownership, and they pose any number of dangers to the public safety.
Obviously, once weapons are confiscated they are not returned to the criminals. It therefore falls to the BCSO to dispose of them. The law requires confiscated weapons be disposed of in one of three ways: they may be sold at auction, they may be traded with reputable dealers for other weapons or they may be destroyed. Confiscated weapons that have any worth are sold or traded to reputable gun dealers. Of course, no reputable dealer will touch unsafe hand guns or illegal weapons such as sawed-off shotguns; therefore, there is no other recourse for the BCSO but to destroy them.The Tennessee Law Enforcement Training Academy’s new Sheriff’s School, sanctioned by the Tennessee Post Commission, strongly recommends that confiscated weapons not be sold in the auction process because the potential liability to the county is untenable should a cheap, recycled weapon be used in the commission of a crime. It can be documented that guns sold at Bradley County auctions in years past have, in fact, made their way onto the black market so actual ownership could not be traced. It’s the same principle as money laundering. A weapon sold at auction can actually change hands three or four times through sale, trade or barter within hours of its initial purchase. Allowing cheap, unreliable and dangerous hand guns to make their way back into the possession of criminals in this manner is inconsistent with our job of protecting and securing lives. Therefore, it is the policy of the BCSO to follow the recommendation of the new Tennessee Sheriff’s School and not sell these types of guns at auction. Again, I believe owning a firearm to be the inherent right of every law abiding American citizen, and I encourage everyone who wants to learn more about guns and their safe operation to take advantage of the free classes offered by the BCSO. As always, I welcome your feedback. Email me at: comments@bradleysheriff.com |
