RON HICKERSON I STAFF
Carla Noe aims a .22-caliber handgun at a target, participating in the Shootout for the CSRA Heart Walk shooting competition at Shooters Indoor Range and Gun Shop.
By Ron Hickerson, Chief Reporter
In order to raise money for the American Heart Association, a local gun competition is trying to blast away heart disease.
The Shootout for the CSRA Heart Walk is now underway, meeting at Shooters Indoor Range and Gun Shop, located at 1025 Patriot’s Way, every Tuesday night in February from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Randal Gossert, the security operations supervisor for the Georgia Regents University Medical Center and the coordinator of the event, said the fundraiser made sense for his department to host.
“We figured, ‘We’re security,’” Gossert said. “‘We’re police-oriented. Police carry guns. Let’s go ahead and use them.’”
Now in its second year, the fundraiser acts as a shooting competition with an admittance fee of $10 that gives competitors the chance to fire 10 rounds at a target 50 feet away. People seeking to join the competition do not have to worry about renting guns or ammunition at the range because Gossert provides them. Letting people use his own handguns and ammunition allows him to raise more money for the Heart Walk.
“If you give me $10 to enter and fire ten rounds… that $10 goes to the CSRA Heart Walk,” he said. “None of that money goes to ammunition. None of it goes to Shooters. It’s 100 percent to the Heart Walk and the American Heart Association.”
Each Tuesday evening, Gossert brings with him a “small arsenal” of .22-calbier, .25-caliber, .380-caliber, .357-caliber and 9 mm handguns, giving the competitors a variety of guns to choose from.
Buddy Lichty, the owner of Shooters, said his store reserves one lane in the shooting range for the competition free-of-charge and also provides the targets needed to compete ever since he was solicited to host the competition.
“They came in and asked, and it’s for a good cause, so why not?” he said. “It’s part of the community.”
Last year, Gossert said the shootout raised $250. This year, the first week of competition raised $50, and Gossert said he expects a significant increase in participants competing than last year.
“By the feedback I’m getting from other staff in the hospital and from the facilities maintenance (staff), you see a lot more interest,” he said. “There are quite a few staff nurses that sound excited to be able to learn a little bit about self-defense and protection through firearms and were encouraging other staff members to come out and at least learn.”
In fact, the second night of the fundraiser hosted more people than it ever has in one night, said Divisional Leader of Facilities Management Jim Pruitte.
“Tonight is the best response we’ve had,” he said. “It’s going to get better over the next two nights.”
One of the competitors who came to the range was Carla Noe, a nurse manager for the Georgia Regents medical site. She said she loved the fundraising event.
“It’s a good cause, and I like to shoot weapons,” she said. “(It’s) just a chance to come out and have fun.”
Though this was her first time participating in the Shootout, she said she plans to come back again sometime during the next two evenings. She also said she has been trying to get the word out by sending e-mails to her coworkers, asking them to support the event.
Gossert said the majority of people who have participated in the fundraiser have been staff members and their families, but out of those people, there were a few people who had never even held a gun, much less fired one.
“Last year the (vice president) for facilities brought his wife and his son,” he said. “It was the first time his son had held a handgun, period.”
By bringing less-experienced shooters to the fundraiser, the competition also becomes an opportunity for learning more about gun use.
“This year, I’ve heard a lot more staff members say, ‘Hey, I’ve heard you’re doing this, can you show me how to fire?’” Gossert said.
But as a result of having more less-experienced shooters compete against more knowledgeable competitors, he said, two top scores will be recognized: the highest score a person has after firing 10 rounds and the highest cumulative score for people who pay to compete multiple times.
“Even if you’re not such a good shot, you can enter more than once and accumulate your score so that if you really want to try for that grand prize you enter more often and up your score,” Gossert said.
This year, Gossert said the grand prize was a $370 Dewalt impact driver power tool.
Along with the Shootout, Pruitte said there are six fundraisers that have been benefitting the Heart Walk, like one with the help of Maryland Fried Chicken. The restaurant will donate 10 percent of a dinner’s cost every time someone leaves his receipt with the restaurant as a part of the fundraiser.