COVINGTON, Ga. — Dwayne Chaney tells those he trains they should try to stop any threat without shooting.

But he also wants them know how to stop a threat if it comes their way.

“It’s about awareness,” he said.

Chaney and his wife, Sunshine Jones-Chaney, own and operate Always on Point LLC, which includes AOP Virtual Shooting Range and Always On Point Personal Protection Consultants.

The Chaneys recently celebrated the grand opening of their business on Wheat Street in Covington.

It is dedicated to training and preparing a wide range of gun users — from the beginner to public safety personnel who must recertify annually.

Dwayne Chaney is certified to train experienced shooters to be National Rifle Association instructors, if desired, he said.

He also teaches personal protection through his Always On Point Personal Protection Consultants.

Chaney said he decided to create a facility only for training because of the time and expense needed to operate a traditional, live shooting range.

The business includes a classroom and three training rooms that use simulated shooting and plastic guns to teach students about proper techniques before they begin using real handguns.

It offers them a safe place to learn about firearms before spending the money and being exposed to the potential health hazards of using live ammunition at a shooting range — including such problems as inhaling the fumes that guns create when ranges are not properly ventilated, he said.

Always on Point’s training rooms include one in which the shooter can learn from a bench rest position.

Another, named for his late mother, Geraldine, features stationary targets, voice commands and a camera linked to a computer to help train the student.

The third is the Bill Boyd Simulation Room, named for a Covington man who planned to help Chaney with his business but died in 2016, Chaney said.

It features more than 1,000 types of scenarios — from one that simulates flying targets, to interactive scenes that use videos of actors to simulate what a person would face when confronted with a person with a gun.

The guns are Shot Indicating Resetting Trigger, or SIRT, pistols from which a red dot appears when firing — showing what is being shot at and providing a score.

SIRT allows the shooter to move around and learn such skills as control of a trigger and how to sight a gun, he said.

Chaney does not recommend any type make or model of handgun because the individual user needs to decide what is best.

“The gun needs to fit the person,” Chaney said.

He said people should be prepared to defend themselves in places they often don’t expect to have to do so, such as in their own homes or walking to a vehicle in a parking lot.

Both business owners are Marine veterans with extensive service in areas related to the military.

Mrs. Chaney served for four years in the Marines. She now has the rank of lieutenant commander with the United States Public Health Services at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta.

Chaney is a native of Thomaston who eventually lived in Florida and Atlanta before going straight to the Marines from high school — serving for 22 years.

He worked in aviation, became certified as an anti-terrorism instructor and worked in that field before retiring in 2000.

After moving from North Carolina to Atlanta, Chaney worked as a mechanic and test pilot for Lockheed Martin Aeronautics in Marietta as a flight line mechanic and ground test pilot for 16 years before retiring in 2018.

Along the way, he became National Rifle Association-certified to become a training counselor. He also became certified as a state firearms instructor and classroom instructor, and earned U.S. Concealed Carry Association certification to become a home defense instructor.

Hours of operation are Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and Sunday, noon to 6 p.m.

For more information, call 770-530-2169, email chaneydf2@att.net, or visit always-on-point.com.