The Douglas Rifle and Pistol Club held an open house Saturday at the Douglas Shooting Park on East Geronimo Trail off of 15th Street Saturday in an attempt to show the Douglas Community all that the range has to offer.

Unfortunately only a handful of people took advantage of the opportunity to attend the event. Those that did attend were treated to some quality demonstrations from the U.S. Border Patrol and several members of the Douglas Rifle and Pistol Club.

Event organizer and former DRPC President Bill Wendt initially said the purpose of this open house was to allow the public to meet members of the local shooting club as well as representatives from various agencies that use the range for training and qualification.

“We felt if the people knew what the shooting range was and what it did for the law enforcement community and for the shooting community it would be a better understanding and we’d get more support,” Wendt said Saturday.

There were several demonstrations of the various shooting competitions that are held each month ranging from pistol to high powered rifle to archery.

Several members of the public who attended the event also had the opportunity to fire some of the weapons.

Currently the range is open to the public Wednesday through Sunday from 8 A.M. to 6 P.M. for a fee of $5 per day. Members of the Douglas Rifle and Pistol have unlimited access to the range.

There is a range master anyone entering the range must check in with. The range master is there to emphasize safety and make sure all shooters have the proper eye and ear protection and to make sure they use the proper range intended for the weapon they are firing with that particular day.

Wendt estimated there are approximately 165 members in the local Douglas Rifle and Pistol Club.

“It’s disappointing,” Wendt said of the turnout. “But it’s just like anything else. If you want it you have to be able to support it yourself.”

Wendt describes himself as an avid shooter who will do whatever he can to make sure to support the range.

“This range has many different uses,” he said. “Every weekend of the month it is used for some kind of event.”

The U.S. Border Patrol uses the facility almost daily to train and retrain its agents who must re-qualify every quarter if they hope to remain in the field.

In addition the Range has weekly shooting competitions.

The first Sunday of each month there is a Cowboy shooting event. The second Sunday is combat pistol; the third Sunday is high powered rifle; the fourth Sunday is small-bore rim fire on silhouette targets. There is also archery shoots held the last Sunday of each month.

“Sometimes we have a lot of participation and sometimes we don’t,” Wendt said of the weekly events.

Current DRPC president Pat Sears said he was okay with Saturday’s response to the open house.

“I’d like to see a lot more people come out and take advantage of this place and participate with us,” he said. “It is a very nice facility.”

Sears says the DRPC will have a booth at the Cochise County Fair Sept 24-28 and he encourages the community to stop by and check out their displays.

Wendt said the DRPC has an open membership which means anyone can join at anytime. For a single person the fee is $50 per year; $60 for a family and $30 for anyone over 65.

Anyone with questions may contact Wendt at 364-7677 or at Allsafe Security at 805-1970 or stop by Wendy’s Hallmark in the San Antonio Plaza.