Windham's new shooting range draws large crowd for open house - By Anne Libby

The Windham Indoor Shooting Range and Retail Store (WISR) had a ribbon-cutting ceremony and open house to mark the official opening of the store and range at 999 Roosevelt Trail. This was an opportunity for the community to come into the new space and explore what the company had to offer in terms of the fully stocked store, the twelve shooting bays, the training sessions and the programs it offers. WISR is planning on staying involved in the community with classes for women, letting the youth from the Scarborough Fish and Game Club use their space, and allowing local law enforcement agencies to train in the “largest commercial indoor shooting range in Southern Maine.”

People in attendance were able to see and speak with the highly qualified staff, ask questions and the whole event put emphasis on education and safety. 

 

“We really scoured the state to look for staff that was at the highest caliber out there for the kind of interactions that we need to have at an indoor shooting range,” Warren Dyke, president of WISR. The goal of WISR is to help the community learn safe firearm habits and use that knowledge every time someone handles a gun. The company has a long list of trainings it offers, from introduction to modern handgun and practical handgun to practical rifle, and even an interactive home defense and trauma first aid course. 

As explained by WISR General Manager Peter Joyce, “the way the shooting drills are designed is to educate the students on how to run the gun safely, and be accurate with that, use the proper techniques when their body is under stress or when they're stressed out.”

 

 WISRs Women Shooting Club is another program WISR is running, that stresses the involvement of any women, younger or older, with no experience up to sharp shooters. The women’s club as of Saturday had 32 shooters show up to the handgun class that was offered. They expect upwards of 60 at the next meeting, and safety is stressed there as well. They plan on meeting every Tuesday at WISR. Joyce is also planning on getting a co-ed shooting league up and running to have “competitions, socialization, and fun in a safe environment.”

Theresa Sampson spoke about her relative inexperience with handguns, and her gradual progress and enjoyment of target practicing at WISR. Her daughter-in-law Corinne Sampson wanted to learn more about handguns and how to use them safely.

The range has state of the art equipment to keep the air clean, the lead down range, and the targets just where a shooter wants them. The total containment trap or TCT consists of steel plates at the end of the range that captures the bullet and brings it to a stop, then drops it into a bucket for recycling. 

The air system is known as a HEPA air filtration system. Vents at the far side of the range suck the contaminated air into filters to become purified before being released back into the environment. A blowing system against the wall behind the shooters pushes the air down the range. WISR also plans on recycling the brass casings that are left when someone is done shooting.

WISR offers memberships, classes and open shooting times seven days a week. To find out more, visit www.WindhamIndoorShootingRange.com, find them on Facebook or call 892-0274.