SCRANTON, Pa -- On the outside, Roll Call in Scranton may look like any other firearms store, but inside it's a multi-purpose training facility for local law enforcement and the public.
Roll Call was opened in 2007 by Tom Harris. Harris and his son Joe, a former Scranton SWAT team member, saw a need for a space like Roll Call in northeastern Pennsylvania.
"I realized that there's very limited places to do adequate training where it's actually safe. Many years we just did training in abandoned houses, and a lot of government agencies aren't afforded the opportunity to train in a nice clean, controlled environment like Roll Call offers," said Joe Harris.
Now, Inert Products, another Scranton business, is jumping on board, buying Roll Call for nearly $2 million. Inert Products develops realistic training aids such as replica explosives for law enforcement training.
"What Inert Products brings is the global aspect, our involvement in counter-terrorism, disaster management, immediate response teams that have to really get to the very specialized types of training, allows us to integrate that and really grow that porfolio," explained Dean Klipple of Inert Products, and now the new president of Roll Call.
A tactical training room is set up within Roll Call's walls, offering a catwalk for a bird's eye view of the training procedures. But it's also used for homeowner protection courses.
"That allows us to provide a very realistic setting, and that's where the training becomes more effective is when people are fully immersed in that training," said Klipple.
Customers of Roll Call say they're drawn here because it's not just a traditional shooting range or gun store. It combines multiple opportunities under one roof.
"I love it. In fact, I just picked up some more ammo right here before I go shoot. And I'm about to go up on the range in a few minutes. But I've also bought magazines for guns I've bought here, holsters, everything that I need is here," said David Russell of Old Forge.
Roll Call's new owners say they hope to continue to grow Roll Call's services to law enforcement.