Despite multiple shakeups in management in recent weeks, the Wake County Firearms Education and Training Center in Apex registered more than a dozen new members last week.

After seven years, Sir Walter Shooting Services, an affiliate of the Sir Walter Gun Club, has ceased its contract with the county to manage public use of the range.

At the same time, county management also is changing; the range now will be overseen by the Wake County Sheriff's Office instead of the county's public safety department.

The switches have triggered concerns from users of the range who fear higher membership fees and less time for public use in favor of law enforcement training.

Range co-manager Eric Shuford assures patrons they don't need to worry.

"There's no reason for the public to be concerned," Shuford said. "There's no difference in the range. It's the same people but just in a different company."

Not everyone from the days of Sir Walter management is returning. Keith Miller, the head coach of the N.C. State rifle squad, was not given a contract extension with the range, meaning the range's popular ladies handgun defense class will be led by a different teacher. Miller expressed disappointment in the decision and hopes that the range will continue expanding in a direction that serves the public.

"If it's only driven by making sure everything is perfectly profitable and lucrative, we're going to actually discourage rather than encourage further usage of the facility," Miller said.

But Shuford insisted that this wasn't the case.

"It'll generate some revenue, but that facility is never going to generate enough," he said, adding that the range generates more than any of the county's other parks. "The more people that use it, though, the less the cost to taxpayers."

According to Shuford, there were concerns within Sir Walter Gun Club about the liability that came with running the range, which has grown to more than 4,000 members. This led to Sir Walter Shooting Services, the training and competition branch of the gun club, to opt out of its contract with the county. Instead, four members of SWSS, including Shuford, formed a new company -- Range Safety Management LLC -- to bid on the range.

At the same time, Wake County, which has been undergoing a major reshuffling within its infrastructure, moved the firing center to the jurisdiction of the sheriff's office at the start of the fiscal year on July 1.

The simultaneous but unrelated switches led to confusion among members. Lach Kincaid, who oversaw the range for the public safety department, said the plan to move within the county had been in the works for years.

"It's nothing brand new or off the cuff," he said. "It just so happened that the convergence of that transition coincided with SWSS opting not to continue to contract with the county for provision of management."

David Stoenner, from Fuquay-Varina, has been going to the range for six years. He started out as a leisure shooter but now participates in two competitions -- the NRA highpower and the .22 rimfire sporter, which is held at the range.

Stoenner goes to the range once a week. He said it's a stress-relief necessity.

"It's an awesome, fabulous public facility open to us," he said.

The sheriff's office is working on more specifics about the changes but said it hopes to increase public use as well as private law enforcement training. The number of concealed-carry classes and hunter safety courses will also increase, said Phyllis Stephens, spokeswoman of the Wake Sheriff's Office.

Stoenner suggested adding more lighting and offering an even longer range. He knew about the transition but said he didn't care because "the names and faces stayed the same."

"Sir Walter brought professionalism and safety measures, and that's being carried on as far as I can tell," he said. "Safety is the most paramount."

Shuford said the sheriff's office was encouraging the creation of more training programs, including 20 more classes over the next six months, and more special events, such as team-building workshops for companies.

More classes are just what Wade Allen, 59, a resident of Apex, said he wanted to see. Allen became a member in January after moving to the area. He has been a member of four other gun ranges, and he said that the Wake range is the best. He wasn't aware of the changes, but it's important to him who runs the range because of how professional and family-oriented it has been in the past.

"They have top-notch range officers here, which protects me, you and everybody else," Allen said.

Allen said he would like to see more training classes offered that would allow more people to get involved. And even though he comes in each of the four days the range is open to the public, he wouldn't mind more hours.

"It's my entertainment," he said.