SLED Qualifications today

Today was spent in class listening to a level I,II &III SLED instructor talk to us (7 men) about carrying a firearm in the state of South Carolina. After the class room instruction that lasted about 2 hours we made a trip to the ATP indoor range in Goose Creek. We were to qualify with a firearm and make a score of 170 out of 250 to qualify. My score was 236 out of 250 which means that I qualify to carry a firearm as a Security Officer in South Carolina. Now I wait for SLED to finish my criminal background check and commission me to carry the firearm as a South Carolina Security Officer.

Here is the kicker folks. The ironic part of all of this. At the beginning of the class the SLED instructor tells us that if we KNOW that we KNOW that we can not take another human life in the line of duty that no one would think anything bad if they needed to leave the room and not take the course. He reminded us of the somber responsiblity of being in a position to make a split second decision as to whether someone would live or die in the line of duty.
Some of you might be thinking that only peace officers (police officers) have to make those decisions. If you are thinking on this line of thought I can tell you from having been on both sides of the fence that Peace Officers probably have more opportunity to do this just because their jobs are to enforce the law. Security Officers are private sector security personell who protect the lives of the customer , their customers and property. That means that there is a possibility that the Security Officer may be presented with serious bodily injury or death because of the actions of some perpetrator and therefore the need to carry a firearm.

The ironic part of this is what you are paid for this type of responsibility every time you put on the uniform and place yourself in possible danger. Would you believe 8.50 per hour? Here is something even scarier than that. No one can pay you enough to take the risk of getting shot at. How much is enough? Do Police Officers get paid enough to take a risk that they might be shot by someone in the line of duty? What about our soldiers? The answer is no, no one gets paid enough to get shot at. The sad thing is that we live in such a fallen world and there are folks out there that take pleasure in preying on the general population at large. Security and Police and our armed forces are a necessary evil that we have had to put in place to help protect those law abiding families out there that are about the business of living.

You might think that I am trying to play on your sympathies or make you admire the job that these different folks do. What I am trying to do is to make you aware of the dangers that they face and that they do a job that other folks are not able to do. Not everyone is cut out to take those types of risks or make those types of decisions. Maybe you are a nurse and you do not feint at the sight of blood. Maybe you are a steel worker who walks steel beams five stories off the ground with nothing but a leather belt to hold you in case you fall. What about window washers that clean windows on skyscrapers? We all do our jobs for one reason or the other. One reason is because we have a driving need to pay bills and one reason is because we are uniquely gifted to do what we do.

Here are some pictures of my target today!


The white tape were four practice rounds