CULLMAN, Ala. – The Cullman County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) will host a two-part Citizens’ Firearms Safety Class starting tonight, Tuesday, June 15, 2021 at 6 p.m. The classroom portion of the event will take place at Temple Baptist Church, 30 CR 1184, Cullman, of State Road 157 near West Point, with the live-fire portion the following Saturday, June 19 at 8 a.m. at the CCSO range.
CCSO Lt. Trevor Clemmons will lead the Tuesday class, which will focus on safe weapon handling, proper shooting technique, cleaning a weapon and getting familiar with a weapon. This class will be accompanied by a PowerPoint presentation.
Citizens who attend the classroom portion of the event will be given the opportunity that night to sign up for the live-fire portion. At the range, Clemmons and other deputies will offer one-on-one instruction and supervision to participants who will bring their own firearms.
Cullman County, like many places across the country, saw a surge in gun permit applications and renewals around the onset of the COVID shutdown in the spring of 2020 and following the elections that fall. Sheriff Matt Gentry told The Tribune that applications have leveled off, but are still brisk. With so many people owning and carrying firearms, many for the first time, the sheriff considers training in safety to be crucial.
Said Gentry, “In law enforcement a lot of times, we’re minutes away, where our citizens only have seconds to protect themselves, so we want them to know how to use their firearms safely and proficiently. So that was the thought process behind us doing these classes, and it’s just evolved since then.”
The CCSO offers multiple firearms safety classes this year, along with women’s self-defense classes.
The firearms classes, according to the sheriff, “make sure that the citizens have the opportunity to use their firearms at the range with an instructor, and make sure they know how to be safe and proficient.
“It’s very important; if you’re going to use any type of tool proficiently, you need to train with that tool to make sure that you can use it properly and proficiently. A firearm is no different. And so, our main goal, being one of the most pro-Second Amendment sheriffs and sheriff’s offices in the state, is that our citizens know how to do it safely — number one — and proficiently — number two.”
To register please email Deputy Chad Whaley at cwhaley@cullmansheriff.org. Citizens are not required to register, but this will give deputies an idea as to how many participants will be in attendance. For more information, call 256-734-0342.
Note: Do not bring a gun or ammunition on Tuesday, June 15. This is a classroom portion-only class.
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