DESOTO COUNTY, MS (abc24.com) - The sheriff's department has given up building a firing range in DeSoto County, but deputies have a brand new place to train.
Residents didn't want the range in their backyards, so the department found a solution by crossing county lines.
"This is a great asset for us. This facility is top of the line," says Sheriff Bill Rasco.
The firing range in Holly Springs is what Rasco has been waiting for. He's wanted a place for the department's deputies to train, the question has been where to build one.
"This is already built, it's already got permits." Rasco says it's the answer. DeSoto's supervisors approved leasing it this week.
"It's been sitting there for a while. We're having to get some things cleaned up." But deputies aren't waiting; they were already out shooting Thursday afternoon.
"We can take a couple guys off each shift or patrol and take them over there to do their training," the sheriff says. "Our SWAT team will have a shoot house they can train in too."
The range was originally built for advanced military training. Rasco says building a range like this would have cost millions. The county's leasing it for $2,000 a month, which Rasco said is being paid for with "money we've got off people who've broken the law traveling up and down the highway with drugs or money."
It is a 45 minute drive from the sheriff's office in Hernando, but Rasco says compromising on location is a small price to pay.
"Our area is so populated now, we were never really going to be able to build something like that where somebody's not dissatisfied with it."
He thinks this is a solution that satisfies everyone.
