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Part of the Chilton County Sheriff’s Office goal for keeping the Chilton community safe is equipping its residents to be properly prepared should a dangerous incident arise and law enforcement assistance be delayed.

One way CCSO fortifies its jurisdiction is by hosting firearms safety classes for local organizations.

Most recently, CCSO instructed a class for the Mineral Springs Baptist Church Safety Team on June 8 and 9.

Assistant Chief Deputy Shane Mayfield of CCSO led the training, delivering the classroom portion on June 8 and then conducting the hands-on firearms safety training at the shooting range on June 9.

The training instructed participants in the fundamentals of gun safety, “just getting them familiar with their weapons and teaching them the safety aspect of it — what to do and what not to do,” Sheriff John Shearon said.

In the case of an emergency, such as an armed intruder, Shearon said a gun handled well in the hands of the right person can save lives.

“Just because you’ve got a gun doesn’t necessarily mean you know how to use it,” Shearon said. “We just want people to be able to safely use their firearms. We want everybody that can carry a gun … to have a gun to protect themselves.”

Currently, CCSO has three deputies per shift, so delays to the scene of an emergency can be expected.

“We’re so shorthanded that it’s going to take us definitely a few minutes to get there,” Shearon said, “but hopefully they could hold things off, at least until we could get there anyway.”

CCSO offers private classes to local organizations that request them, and aims to hold a public class in the near future.

“We are always happy to teach these types of classes. The more people that are trained with use of firearms, the safer we all are,” a CCSO press release reads. “Knowledge is power!”

Participants must be at least 18 years old.

To contact CCSO about hosting a class, call (205) 755-4698.