AUSTIN — South Texas College (STC) is partnering with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) to construct an indoor target range at the College’s new Regional Center for Public Safety Excellence in Pharr, TX.

During a press conference held Nov. 29 at the Texas State Capitol, South Texas College was awarded $307, 219 for the planning phase of a 13,300 square foot indoor 12-lane target range through TPWD’s Target Range Grant Program.

Upon completion of the planning phase and environmental compliance grant requirements, South Texas College is eligible to receive a grant for the construction of the range in the amount of $2,447,382, totaling to $2,754,601 in grant funds. This grant funding is provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, supported by sportsmen’s dollars derived from the sale of hunting licenses and by federal excise taxes on sporting arms and ammunition as authorized by the Pittman-Robertson Act.

South Texas College also plans to contribute $1,280,775 toward this project. The total combined funds for this project amount to $4,035,376.

The target range will be open to the public for firearms safety training, practice shooting, and skills development. In addition to the target range, the College will also provide educational opportunities, including face-to-face Hunter Education courses approved by TPWD and led by certified Texas Hunter Education instructors.

TPWD’s Target Range Grant Program Coordinator Renan Zambrano explains why the Target Range Program is important.

“The goal of the program is to create public access for recreational shooting opportunities and to enhance educational resources by promoting firearm and hunting safety,” said Zambrano. “We accomplish this by partnering on target range stewardship projects with nonprofit, private, and civic organizations with common objectives for providing safe, responsible and ethical firearm education and target range facilities for

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