Councilwoman: Property owner wasn’t truthful in affidavit about purpose of gun range
The owner of the gun range is at the center of WSMV’s “Thin Blurred Line” investigation.
MOUNT JULIET, Tenn. (WSMV) - On June 22, 2022, Jack Byrd wrote on Facebook that he was feeling “pumped.”
The owner of Solaren Risk Management, a security company, wrote that he was at “Solaren Ranch,” showing pictures of gravel in a cleared area of Wilson County.
“Ground has officially been broken,” the post begins. “Solaren Risk Management’s special operations center that will house our training center/firing range as well as several other specialty units is now underway.”
That post is now facing new scrutiny from longtime residents, who say the gun range began operating last year on residential property, and have since heard bullets flying through their properties and discovered bullets near their homes.
This year, neighbors then captured video of what they call “tactical operations” showing people using the property for training with a Solaren truck parked on site.
Facing violations from Wilson County Codes and Zoning for using the residential site for commercial purposes, Byrd wrote in an affidavit that the property had never hosted a sanctioned training event by any corporation or commercial entity and was never used for commercial applications.
Metro Councilwoman Erin Evans, who will soon be representing several of the neighbors of the gun range due to new legislation, said the Facebook post contradicts Byrd’s own affidavit.
“I take that he wasn’t truthful in his affidavit in comparison to what he posted on his Facebook page,” Evans said.
WSMV4 Investigates asked John Nefflen, Byrd’s attorney, why his client claimed in an affidavit that the gun range was not used for commercial purposes but posted a year earlier that it would be the operations center for Solaren’s training center/firing range.
“Jack advises me the plans never materialized,” Nefflen wrote.
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Evans isn’t buying that explanation.
“Do you think he’s using this for commercial purposes?” asked WSMV Investigates.
“I totally think he’s using it for commercial purposes,” Evans said.
The gun range is also the subject of an investigation by the Wilson County Sheriff’s Office following an explosion on June 3 at the property.
A spokesman for the Wilson County Sheriff’s Office said the investigation continues.
Byrd, and his company, are at the center of a WSMV Investigation, “The Thin Blurred Line,” where former and current employees of Solaren were exposed for not being state certified law enforcement but still wore police identification.
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