Guntry members upset after learning Owings Mills range trains ICE agents
Some people in Baltimore County are upset after learning that the gun range they use has a contract with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to serve as a training facility.
"We came just to do some target practice. One of my friend's birthdays just passed, so we all met up here just to shoot some guns," Guntry customer Fernando Escobar said.
Escobar said he had a great time at Guntry in Owings Mills.
He said he isn't bothered that the range is one of the facilities the Department of Homeland Security contracts with for ICE agents to use for firearms training.
"As a Hispanic male, people would probably say I shouldn't support it, but at the end of the day, I've got to get my training in as well. So whether it's a place that they train at or a place that they don't, I still got to go," Escobar said.
WJZ received tips from concerned Guntry members who said they dropped out of the club after learning about the contract.
WJZ uncovered several government documents showing the Department of Homeland Security has paid Guntry's parent company, Wolfland Inc., hundreds of thousands of dollars since 2020 for firearms training at the facility.
A contract obtained by WJZ reads in part: "This contract provides firearms training services for ICE Law Enforcement personnel. The firearms training services are mission-critical and required by all ICE Law Enforcement personnel per ICE Firearms and Use of Force Policy."
The contract also states that "The Guntry Club, located in Owings Mills, Maryland, is the only facility identified within a 30-mile radius of the field office that provides all required training capabilities at a single location."
The people who contacted WJZ with concerns did not want to speak on camera.
"It doesn't bother me because, like I said, they're not bothering me, I'm not bothering them. They're not coming here to go ahead and try to get people and deport them. They're not coming to bother me. I'm alright. They gotta train somewhere, I've gotta train somewhere," Escobar said.
WJZ stopped inside Guntry to ask for comment and was told to contact the owner.
The owner has not yet responded.
WJZ also reached out to ICE for comment but has not yet heard back.
