Residents and visitors to the north end of the county may wonder about a barrage of firearms noise off in the distance at night for the next couple of weeks.
The sounds will be originating from the work of those tasked with protecting and serving the community.
Burnet County Sheriff’s Office deputies and select personnel will have their hands full with a series of “night-fire” exercises at a range off FM 963 just outside of Burnet.
The agency is scheduled to conduct four sessions of the annual firearms qualification exercises, officials said.
“We apologize for the noise, but the reality of law enforcement is that most officer-involved shootings occur in reduced lighting conditions,” according to a statement from the agency. “We owe it to our deputies and to the public to train for this reality.
“This is structured training with lesson objectives and standards to be met,” the statement continued. “We deliberately schedule this training late in the year so that we can get a few hours of darkness before the hour gets too late.”
The aim of the notification is to alert the public which hear sounds that could trigger alarm. Firing weapons at night outdoors – for practice, hunting or other recreational purposes – is typically prohibited due to potential safety hazards. Private individuals can also be faced with noise complaints from neighbors.
However, state requirements hastened the need to carry out the critical training for the law enforcement agency in a real-world setting.
“Our goal with these sessions is to complete the training as close to 8 p.m. as possible, and we will cut-off training at 9 p.m. We believe this is a reasonable goal and we hope our neighbors will agree.”
For more information, call BCSO at 512-756-8080.
