Shooting range to open in fall in Piney Flats

PINEY FLATS, Tenn. – The Piney Flats community will soon be home to the area’s first indoor shooting range and training center when a new facility opens in the Tri-County Industrial Park this fall.

Hunters, law enforcement personnel, recreational marksmen and beginning shooters will all find a place at Shooters Edge, said Don Reimer, one of the center’s co-owners and general managers.

“It really is needed in this area,” he said. “Carry permits are at an all-time high … and police, fire and emergency medical services in the area are underserved in many ways.”

The 21,000-square-foot indoor range features 15 independent shooting booths, a “wet” bullet trap made of steel and cascading water, and an environment that is climate-controlled by a range master. The range master and the shooter can both control the distance between the shooter and the target – anywhere between one and 25 meters.

Joe Bush, co-owner and general manager, said he hopes law enforcement officers will use the range to train for their annual qualifying tests, as the indoor range provides an ideal weather condition, any time of the year.

“We want our local law enforcement and military people to feel at home here as well as the public,” Bush said. “We want all of them to come here as often as they can to practice, practice, practice.”

The range also will carry supplies for agencies like police, fire, and emergency medical services, as well as firearms, ammunition and clothing for the public.

The idea to build a range in the Tri-Cities area was formed about a year ago, Bush said. Bush and Reimer started the business with two of their friends – Mike Lewis, who was formerly in the military and currently works with law enforcement, and Matt Reimer, Don’s son, who is in charge of the retail side of the business.

“It sort of just grew into a beast,” Lewis said of the idea. “Once it went to a training center [from just a range] it just sort of blew up in our faces – in a good way.”

Lewis is responsible for lining up trainers to teach classes on everything from “Handgun 101” to the latest gun techniques available. Trainers include former Navy SEALs and firearms experts.

“The people we’re hiring to be trainers reads like a list of Who’s Who,” Reimer said.

Classes also will be offered that are geared toward youth, women and senior citizens, in one of the facility’s three classroom spaces. Short safety classes will be required of all shooters before entering the range.

“When you come in to shoot, safety is the number one thing,” Reimer said. “I don’t care how long you’ve carried a handgun … you’ve got to be oriented.”

Shooters are welcome to bring their own guns to the range, Reimer said, although they will be inspected at the door for safety, and again after shooting in the range, with the exception of the guns of law enforcement personnel.

But folks who don’t have their own guns can rent them at the range.

“Not only are we the only shooting range around, but you can rent firearms,” Reimer said. “You can try it before you buy it. If you’ve always fired a .38 [caliber gun] and you wanted to try a 9 mm, you’d [usually] have to go buy it … drop $500 for a gun … [and] you’d better make sure you like it. Here, you can rent it for an hour for about $9.”

Reimer said the range will offer annual and lifetime memberships, but the average person can walk in and shoot for an hour or so for about $15 to $20.

Although the range is not yet completed, a temporary showroom is open, and Shooters Edge already has had some business, Bush said. People have stopped by, although the building doesn’t yet have a sign.

“It’s unbelievable,” he said.

The showroom is currently open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday.

ON THE WEB

www.myshootersedge.com

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