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Don’t be a chicken. “Bawk-bawk-bawk.”

Any police officer — who isn’t a scaredy-cat — is invited to participate in a “Police Shootout” Monday at Gunny’s Indoor Shooting Range, 2208 E. Broadway Ave., Maryville. Co-owner David Perry sent out a a flyer inviting all officers to find out “who’s the best.”

The flyer also includes a challenge from Maryville Police Capt. Mike “Mad Dog” Johnston, who claims other local departments quit competing in shooting competitions in the mid-1990s because they “got tired of being beat by Maryville” Police Department. There was a loss of interest because ”it really wasn’t that much of a competition,” he taunted.

“My challenge is to come compete and see if you can take away the bragging rights for a year,” Johnston said.

Perry, who was a Maryville police officer for five years, has a plaque hanging at the range naming him “top shooter” from his days at the police department. He wanted to see the competitions brought back. He said he’s interested to see which departments produce the best shooters, because “Maryville says they’re the best.”

“It’s one thing to say your the best — come down and actually lay it on the line,” Perry said.

The competition begins at 8 a.m. Monday and lasts all day until 10 p.m. He said any officer can show up at any time on that day to compete and there is no need to sign up in advance. There is a $10 registration fee to join in.

“Just show up and shoot,” Perry said.

Perry, who co-owns the range with John Anderson and David Stone, said officers in Vonore and Knoxville have shown an interest in competing with the three local jurisdictions. Johnston said he will definitely be participating and hopes to see some competition from Alcoa Police Department and the Blount County Sheriff’s Office.

The Shootout will consist of three stages and officers will be scored in each stage of the course, Perry said. The first stage of the course is the “25 Rounds Slow Fire” stage where participants will shoot 15 shots at the 7-yard line and 10 shots at the 150-yard line.

In the second stage, “15 Round Speed Course Drawing From the Holster,” officers will have three timed stages of fire, shooting five rounds each at five bowling pins. The third stage is the “10 Rounds Firing While Moving Forward” course, in which shooters will have two stages of fire, firing five rounds each while moving forward.
“It’s a pretty challenging course,” Perry said.

Perry said awards will be presented to the top overall shooters — first, second and third place. Shooters who place first in each stage of the course will also receive awards.

Johnston said area law enforcement agencies participated in team competitions for several years until the mid-1990’s. He said Maryville and Alcoa Police Departments would have their own individual competitions and compose teams to compete in a shootout competition. He said the winning team would display a trophy in their department for a year.

Johnston said he “would like to see the team competition revised,” but is happy to see the individual officer shootout competition.

“It’s a skill you really need to possess anyway,” Johnston said of officers.

On Thursday, Gunny’s firing range is hosting a free practice day of shooting and all officers interested in participating in the shootout are encouraged to attend ... if they aren’t afraid.