GENTRY — In addition to individual firearms practice, police officers must qualify several times each year with the firearms they carry while on duty for the Gentry Police Department. And, last Wednesday, Gentry officers were at the range, doing just that.
In normal qualifications, officers fire a total of 50 rounds at silhouette targets from 25 yards, 15 yards, 10 yards, seven yards and three yards in the timed event and must demonstrate tactical reloads, clearing a misfired round or jammed gun and shooting from the weak hand.
Scoring is based on how close to center mass the rounds strike the target, with the maximum points per round being 10 and the points decreasing as the ellipticals expand away from center mass but still within the center area of the silhouette target. Bullets which do not strike within the marked center-mass area receive no points.
Collectively, the department scored an average of 458 points during the Wednesday afternoon shoot, according to Gentry Police Chief Keith Smith, putting the department within the sharp-shooter classification. All the officers qualified.
Joe Gregory, a newly hired officer, scored 485 out of 500 possible points, putting him at 97 percent. He qualified as an expert shooter and just missed the distinguished expert category.
In addition to daytime qualifications, officers also qualify at night, using flashlights, and firing shotguns and rifles.